August 2016

Birding Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Wellfleet Bay has a universally accessible, multi-sensory interpretive trail that overlays the Robert R. Read All-Persons Pathway and Goose Pond Trail and is approximately one-quarter mile long from the Nature Center to a boardwalk at Goose Pond. You can download the Accessible Trails Booklets and the Sensory Trail’s audio tour to play on your iPod or other MP3 player. During Nature Center hours, you can borrow an MP3 player at WBWS, copies of the trail map in printed or tactile formats, and copies of a printed or Braille guide. Exploring the All-Persons Pathway, the Nature Center, and the parking lot, birders of all abilities can enjoy Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

WBWS opened a bird banding station in 2014 for the first time since the 1980s. Banding will begin again in 2016 with weekly demonstrations each Saturday morning from early September through mid-November. Demonstrations in spring run from late April through the end of May.

Tides and Timing

At WBWS—and most places on the Cape—the best time to bird the beaches and flats is on an incoming mid tide, one to three hours after low tide, or on a dropping tide, as birds fly in to feed on the recently exposed flats. For an outgoing tide, two to four hours after the high tide is most productive. The birds are concentrated closer to the beach and trails, and you can still see shorebirds roosting and feeding in the salt marsh. More importantly, the highest full moon or storm tides flood the trail and boardwalk to the beach. Before you begin your walk, check the tide charts. There’s one in the Nature Center to the right of the door leading out to the trails, and another chart outdoors on a post near the beginning of the Goose Pond Trail. On 10- to 12-foot tides, the trail is flooded at high tide, but it also may be wet on mid to low tides.

American Avocet. All photographs by Richard Johnson.

On a sunny beach day you’ll find few other visitors on the trails, but on a cloudy cool day the sanctuary gets quite crowded and finding a parking space is difficult. Plan to arrive early. When it is busy, ask the trail naturalists to point you toward the least traveled trails. They can also inform you of current rarities.

Fall shorebird migration begins around mid-July with the arrival of Short-billed Dowitchers, Whimbrels, and Semipalmated and Least sandpipers, and it peaks during the entire month of August, winding down in late September. The following walk for an optimal birding day in August at WBWS assumes a low tide between 6:00–7:00 am, but you can adjust for the tide by changing the order of how you walk the trails. Birding can be good at all tides, so don’t worry if your trip does not align with this itinerary. Plan on arriving at the sanctuary when it opens at 8:00 am and staying for either the entire morning or most of the day. You can bring lunch to eat at the picnic tables.

Parking Lot and Nature Center

When you drive up to the parking area, check the nest boxes in the field to your right for Eastern Bluebirds—resident year-round—and Tree Swallows. In spring and summer a Purple Martin gourd rack is present, which was donated by the Birdwatcher’s General Store in Orleans in 2014. As of this writing the gourds have attracted only a few scouts, mainly young males, with none yet staying to nest. The tall nest pole in the back of the field has yet to attract an Osprey, but Red-tailed Hawks, Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Flickers, and many other species use it. Judging from pellets found underneath the pole, the Great Horned Owls that usually nest in the campground woods like to use it on occasion (one such pellet consisted entirely of striped skunk fur). Spend a couple of minutes in the parking lot to look for Cedar Waxwings, Gray Catbirds, Eastern Towhees, Baltimore Orioles, and Wild Turkeys near the photovoltaic array.

In the spring and fall, the parking lot is one of the best spots for warblers and other migrants: Yellow-rumps and Ruby-crowned Kinglets in April, then Northern Parulas, Nashville, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, and American Redstarts, along with Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Blue-headed and Red-eyed vireos. If thrushes are around they are likely to be in the picnic area just off the parking lot. October is the time to find Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in the parking lot elms, and the sanctuary may be the most reliable spot on the Cape for this species. Winter brings flocks of robins and waxwings and the occasional vagrant: Bohemian Waxwings, redpolls, and both crossbills have been here during irruption years.

Baltimore Orioles frequent the jelly feeder at the Nature Center.

Head toward the Nature Center. If you arrive before it opens at 8:30 am, go through the gate near the butterfly garden to access the trails. Around the Nature Center and at the beginning of the Goose Pond Trail, you’ll find the common resident species: Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Red-breasted and White-breasted nuthatches (both species are year-round here), Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, House Finches, and American Goldfinches. Jelly feeders in the butterfly garden attract Baltimore and Orchard orioles and Gray Catbirds; Ruby-throated Hummingbirds dart to and from the nectar feeders and often perch on bare twigs in the big elm above the garden. The garden’s native wildflowers attract many butterflies, including American ladies, spicebush swallowtails, coral and banded hairstreaks, dun and silver-spotted skippers, monarchs, and Leonard’s skipper in fall.

Northern Bobwhite.

It is worthwhile to check out the feeders at the Nature Center before and after you walk the trails. The Lazuli Bunting was spotted here in February of 2012. In winter, there can be up to seven sparrow species at one time: Field, Song, White-throated, Fox, Dark-eyed Junco, Swamp, and American Tree, with White-crowned often seen during October. In summer, the mix includes Eastern Towhee and Chipping Sparrow. Of late, the feeders attract Wild Turkeys in addition to the resident passerines, but the Northern Bobwhites that once visited the feeders have not been seen or heard since 2012. Purple Finches and Pine Siskins are often seen at the feeders in October, and Rusty and even Yellow-headed blackbirds have made appearances, as have Brown Thrashers several times.

Goose Pond Trail

Follow the Goose Pond Trail past the photovoltaic array, but instead of bearing left, detour straight ahead to the split rail fence at the marsh overlook. Scan the salt marsh for American Black Ducks and Mallards, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpipers, and Great and Snowy egrets. If you visit the sanctuary within a day or two of a late August full moon, you may witness the phenomenon when the tide is so high that it floods the entire marsh, and dozens of Laughing Gulls bob in the water and fly overhead, calling loudly. Listen for nesting Orchard and Baltimore orioles, Pine Warblers, American Goldfinches, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and both nuthatch species in the nearby pitch pines. Retrace your steps, then turn right onto the Goose Pond Trail.

Barn Swallows.

Another short and productive detour is the dock at Silver Spring. Look for Belted Kingfishers and Eastern Phoebes overhead and Gray Catbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and again, both orioles in the trees (Orchards typically nest somewhere over the dock) or bathing in the shallows to your left. Recently fledged Barn and Tree swallows perch on snags and overhanging branches and hawk for insects over the water early in the season. Listen for Fish Crows overhead, and scan the trees for Green Herons and juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Herons later in the summer. Black-crowned is also possible, but Yellow-crowned has been the default late summer night-heron in recent years.

From the dock, you may also see painted turtles, bullfrogs, and green frogs. Common dragonflies at Silver Spring include slaty skimmers, blue dashers, and eastern amberwings; damselflies include eastern and fragile forktails and bluets. For butterflies, look for broad-winged skippers nectaring on the pickerelweed and water willow in July and August.

Back on the trail, scan the marsh opposite Silver Spring from the dike. The cattails right below you can host Virginia Rail, Swamp Sparrow, and the occasional Marsh Wren in migration. Clapper Rails are occasional in the salt marsh beyond but only detectable when they are calling. A Short-eared Owl did a flyby here in October of 2009.

Continuing on the Goose Pond Trail, you will pass through a tract of dead and dying red pines and spruces. Many of these European red pines that Dr. Austin planted in the 1930s have succumbed to old age or infestations of native insects, rendering this section of the property a haven for woodpeckers and other cavity nesters. Native pitch pines, white pines, and oaks are beginning to transform this woodland. Downy and Hairy woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, and White-breasted Nuthatches are common here. You will also hear Common Yellowthroats calling from the edge of the marsh here (and all along the Goose Pond and Bay View trails). In winter, this is a good spot for Golden-crowned Kinglets.

Fowler's Toads.

Goose Pond is where much of the shorebird migration action is, especially when the mudflats are exposed in late summer and when high tides cover the feeding flats out by the beach. The show is varied and variable from week to week: Green Herons, Great and Snowy egrets, and Belted Kingfishers may be perched on snags in the pond or in the surrounding trees. The herons and egrets may be hunting in the water and you’ll often hear the rattling call of kingfishers overhead. With your scope, scan the shore of the entire pond for young Yellow-crowned or Black-crowned night-herons, and the back for Spotted and Solitary sandpipers. Northern Waterthrushes are annual in July and August and can be seen walking the perimeter. The most common shorebirds are Semipalmated Plovers, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, and Semipalmated and Least sandpipers; less common visitors include Western, White-rumped, and Pectoral sandpipers. Stilt Sandpipers have been seen here multiple times in the past few years. Both Wilson’s Phalarope and a Hudsonian Godwit visited in September of 2014, providing rare point-blank views of both species as they fed at nearly arm’s length.

Mallards and American Black Ducks—sometimes hybrids—and their ducklings paddle around in June and July. Red-winged Blackbirds nest in the phragmites and Eastern Phoebes hawk insects there. Remember to look up now and then for a Red-tailed, Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned hawk, Merlin, or Peregrine Falcon. The raptors will sometimes perch on the top of the large eastern cedar next to the bench. In winter, Cedar Waxwings gorge on its fruit.

Goose Pond is also a nursery for Fowler’s toads and many species of fish, including mummichogs, killifish, and sheepshead minnows. Looking straight down into the water from the railing, you’ll often see them schooling in the shallows. When dry-downs occur in late summer and trap the fish in ever shrinking pools, egrets and shorebirds sometimes concentrate right below the bridge offering staggeringly close looks. You may also see painted and snapping turtles and the occasional muskrat here.

Before moving on, scan the salt marsh right across from Goose Pond for sandpipers, and scope farther out for egrets, night-herons, Great Blue Herons, and infrequent Glossy Ibis.

The pitch pine and scrub oak habitat of the trail is where you’ll find Great-crested Flycatchers, Blue Jays, American Robins, Northern Cardinals, and American Goldfinches. Cedar Waxwings and Green Herons have occasionally nested in the pitch pines in this area. The sanctuary’s first fisher, a mammal that has colonized Cape Cod only during the last ten years, was spotted resting in a tree right here in 2014. Where the Goose Pond Trail forks to the left, keep going straight.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.

The trees begin to thin out at the observation platform, which provides a pretty view of Cape Cod Bay, the salt marsh, and Try Island. Scope the pans for Snowy Egrets, both yellowlegs, and Willets. Walking from the platform toward the marsh cabin, look and listen for breeding Prairie Warblers, Eastern Kingbirds, Field Sparrows, Eastern Bluebirds, and Eastern Towhees, especially in the restored heathland on your left (spring and summer). Woodcocks display in the heathland on spring evenings. In case they recolonize from the surrounding areas, listen for Northern Bobwhites in spring and summer.

When you arrive at a T-intersection, you’ll be facing the wide expanse of salt marsh and Cape Cod Bay. Before you turn right to head toward the beach, spend a few moments near the bench. This sandy spot is one of the best places on the sanctuary to watch fiddler crabs—favorite food of Whimbrels—scurrying around or darting into their burrows in the sand. If the water is lapping at the foot of the bench or the tidal creek is too wide to ford easily, you’ll know that the trail to the beach is inundated; but it shouldn’t be at most low tides.

Try Island

Instead of going straight to the beach, turn right onto the Try Island Trail, which is just past the tidal creek. This is one of the most interesting trails for birders and botanists, with a spectacular panoramic view over the salt marsh, beach, and bay. Try Island, a true island in Cape Cod Bay a couple of hundred years ago, was the site of a “try works” where settlers would render whale blubber into oil. Now it is an upland remnant of Southern hardwood forest— including mockernut hickory, white oak, and sassafras—in the midst of the salt marsh. This section of marsh between the Try Island and beach trails can be one of the only places to find Northern Mockingbirds on the sanctuary and is a good place for Prairie Warblers and Eastern Bluebirds. Listen and look here for Field, Song, Savannah, and Saltmarsh sparrows. Eastern Kingbirds, Tree Swallows, and American Goldfinches are common in the salt marsh all along the Try Island Trail. American Robins, American Crows, and Eastern Towhees are common in the upland forest. Historically, Brown Thrashers and Black-billed Cuckoos occurred on Try Island.

Try Island.

At the top of the rise, the trail bears left, but detour to the right to the overlook. Pan your scope slowly across the marsh. Although they don’t breed here, Great Blue Herons gather in the marsh in summer and fall. When the tide is high, the grass hides dozens of Whimbrels. Whimbrels spend their days feeding on fiddler crabs at Wellfleet Bay then return to Monomoy Island, a presumed night roost that was confirmed by a satellite-tracked juvenile Whimbrel in 2015. When the tide is lower, scan the pans and creek banks for Whimbrels, Willets, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, and smaller shorebirds. Watch for Ospreys overhead and Northern Harriers cruising over the salt marsh. American Crows and Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed gulls are common in the marsh.

Continue along the Try Island loop. At the bench, take in the view of the beach and the bay. This west-facing bench is one of the best places to enjoy gorgeous sunsets any time of year. As you walk downhill, the trail becomes sandier and vegetation transitions to eastern red cedar, beach plum, poverty grass (Hudsonia), and goldenrods. Cedar Waxwings, Northern Cardinals, and finches are attracted to this spot.

By now, you’ve probably noticed several wire exclosures in the sand. These contain diamondback terrapin nests, many of which are concentrated in open, soft sand turtle gardens. Terrapin volunteers walk the sanctuary a couple of times a day in June when the terrapins lay their eggs so that they can find the nests and protect them from predators. In August, the volunteers are back on the trails monitoring the nests in order to free the hatchlings from the exclosures and take them to the nature center to be weighed and measured—and monitored for a few days if necessary—before releasing them back to the wild. For more information about diamondback terrapins, inquire at the nature center. If you’re lucky enough, you might see a volunteer along the trail with some newly hatched terrapins.

Saltmarsh Sparrow.

Boardwalks

Follow the two boardwalks out to the beach. The boardwalks are also a fine place to watch the fiddler crabs. Willets breed in the marsh to the left. In June and July through early August when they are raising young, you can’t miss them; they’ll be wheeling above the marsh, screeching their wil-wil-willet calls. For the rest of the summer they quietly move to the salt pans or the edge of the water. Far more subtle are the sparrows: mostly Song, but also Savannah, and in some years Saltmarsh. These boardwalks are probably the best place at the sanctuary to find Saltmarsh Sparrows. Listen for Clapper Rails here as well.

The several patches of bare ground in the marsh are the result of salt marsh dieback, likely the result of overgrazing by the nocturnal square-backed marsh crab combined with stress from sea level rise affecting the regrowth of the marsh grasses. The bare spots will pool up with the rising tide. Around low to mid tide, you may find Semipalmated Plovers, Willets, an occasional Whimbrel, or even a Ruddy Turnstone.

Overhead, Tree Swallows hawk for insects most of the summer. You’ll get some of the closest views of Tree Swallows at WBWS halfway down the second boardwalk. Early in the summer, look for a few Barn Swallows among them; look for Rough-winged and Bank swallows later in the season.

The Beach

You’ve arrived at the beach. The creek straight ahead is Hatches Creek; the barrier beach behind it and to the left is South Sunken Meadow Beach. If you arrive at low tide, the tidal flats extend out half a mile or more to Cape Cod Bay. At high tide, the run covers the flats entirely, the creek rises, and there is no way to navigate by foot between the sanctuary beach and South Sunken Meadow. Ideally, your timing is perfect on an incoming tide: most of the flats are covered, there’s a wide peninsula of beach at Sunken Meadow, and Hatch’s Creek is shallow but well defined and flowing inland.

Tree Swallows rest on Sunken Meadow Beach throughout the summer. Scope the beach behind them, where you might find nesting Piping Plovers in June and July. With a lot of patience, you may also spot a plover on the sand. By August, when the young have fledged, the Piping Plovers occasionally feed on this side of the creek. You’ll find a few Greater Yellowlegs and Willets in the water at low tide; as the tide rises, they’re joined at water’s edge by Short-billed Dowitchers, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated, Least, and Spotted sandpipers, and an occasional Ruddy Turnstone. American Oystercatchers and Black Skimmers can be irregular visitors to the beach. The skimmers, mainly juveniles, have appeared in early July as well as in late August.

Green Herons.

Look briefly beyond the bench on your left for Horned Larks and Song and Savannah sparrows. Most of the action will be to your right toward Fresh Brook, which is tidal. Lieutenant Island is behind it, and you can see Great Island in the distance to the west. When Fresh Brook is a wide ribbon of mud or only inches deep, it is full of birds: American Black Ducks, Mallards, Brant (winter), Double-crested Cormorants, Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy egrets, Black-bellied and Semipalmated plovers, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, Willets, Whimbrels, Short-billed Dowitchers, and Semipalmated and Least sandpipers. There are a handful of records of Baird’s and one of Buff-breasted Sandpiper at the beach, but they are certainly not expected. American Golden-Plover is possible in late summer. Set up your scope on the sand at the edge of the marsh; please do not walk through the salt marsh. As the tide comes in, smaller shorebirds will move up into the mudflats closer to the sand.

Laughing Gulls (spring and summer), Ringed-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls are common in and along Fresh Brook and the beach. They concentrate on the narrowing sand peninsulas as the tide rises, joined in late summer by roosting Common Terns, Forster’s Terns, and an occasional Roseate Tern. Earlier in the summer, breeding Least Terns fly over the marsh regularly. In late summer, you might see jaegers and shearwaters, mainly Cory’s in recent years, from the beach. As summer turns to fall, Forster’s Terns can become common and are the default tern in October. The high count here was an impressive 243 in October of 2012, though more typical maxima are in the range of a couple dozen.

Dunlin.

Scan the marsh behind the beach for Great Blue Herons and egrets if you didn’t do so on Try Island. Bird your way back to the Goose Pond Trail and marsh cabin. Check the vegetation in front of and next to the half-hidden cabin for passerines, including Eastern Kingbird and Prairie Warbler. A Red-tailed Hawk or a crow may tee up on the tallest cedar. If you are running out of time, or the day is hot and humid, turn left and head back toward the Nature Center. If you want a longer walk, follow the back loop of the Goose Pond Trail. It is less traveled than the main trail to the beach, and you’ll have a good chance at finding Eastern Bluebirds, goldfinches, and sparrows. When Purple Finches breed on the sanctuary, it is usually in the red cedar groves along this trail. When you reach the woods behind Goose Pond, if you hear an agitated flock of crows, look in their direction to see if they are mobbing a hawk, a Great Horned Owl, or even a fisher. A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher made an appearance on this less-visited trail in November of 2012.

Stop at Goose Pond again because a couple of hours can make a big difference. Before you get back to the Nature Center, there’ll be one more trail to explore.

Silver Spring

Turn right onto the Silver Spring trail and head into the pine woods. This side of Silver Spring is good for Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied woodpeckers along with Northern Flickers and Great-crested Flycatchers. From the hill, you can make out the long thin shape of this freshwater pond below. Scan the snags on the opposite shore of Silver Spring for Green Herons and juvenile Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned night-herons.

Silver Spring.

When you get to the bridge, check the lily pads for Spotted and Solitary sandpipers in migration, listen for warblers during fall and spring, and watch for river otters or muskrats paddling by. In fall and winter, you might find Black Ducks, Mallards, and Hooded Mergansers. Without fail, up to three Hooded Mergansers mysteriously turn up in Silver Spring every July, a season when this species is rare on the Cape. The fruiting black tupelos along the bank to the east were a favorite feeding spot for the Fork-tailed Flycatcher that visited the sanctuary in September of 2009.

Once you cross the bridge, the habitat changes from conifers to mature oaks, black locusts, and tall shrubs. During the summer, it is quiet except for robins and catbirds, but in the spring and fall, this side of the Silver Spring Trail is an excellent place for warblers and other migrating songbirds: American Redstart, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green, Blackpoll, Northern Waterthrush, and others are expected, and goodies like Mourning Warbler are occasional. Scarlet and sometimes Summer tanagers are possible as well. When birding for warblers, take the Silver Spring Trail early and first, reversing the direction from this walk, and then head down to Goose Pond, Try Island, and the beach. Be warned that during bird banding season, the section of the Silver Spring trail closest to the visitor center is closed to walkers until about 11:30 am, but it is still possible to hike most of the trail, including the bridge and much of the best warbler habitat on the north side, and then double back. Check with the front desk before you head out.

By the time you get back to the Nature Center, it is probably midday. There’s one more major trail worthy of birding that you might want to explore after lunch or save for another day.

Bay View Trail

The shorter loop of the Bay View Trail covers one mile and takes you through several natural communities: salt marsh, black cherry/locust woodland, coastal heath, and sandplain grassland, as well as offering spectacular views of the sanctuary marshes and Cape Cod Bay beyond. On calm, cool days, you can sometimes hear the moaning of the hauled-out gray seals on Jeremy Point, 3.5 miles to the west across Wellfleet Bay. You can add another half mile to your walk by following the Fresh Brook Pathway along the tidal brook and through the pitch pine woods. Especially when there are a lot of visitors, it is a quieter alternative to the Goose Pond Trail and the beach, and you should encounter the bird species that you would find on other trails. This trail is shadier and cooler in the summer, and tends to shield you from the wind in winter.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

To hike the Bay View trail, start by heading down the Goose Pond Trail to the marsh overlook, and scan the tidal creeks. The salt pans are important feeding and staging habitat for migrating shorebirds. Scan the marsh for Willets, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, and the small sandpipers, along with egrets and, rarely, Glossy Ibis.

Turn right onto the Bay View Trail. Some of the pitch pines here are about 100 years old and attract year-round residents such as Downy Woodpeckers, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted and Red-breasted nuthatches, and American Goldfinches. The pine habitat abruptly changes as you enter the black cherry/black locust/oak grove known to sanctuary staff as the maze. This woodland is historically underbirded and can hold some nice migrants in fall and spring. Bird banding in spring of 2016 produced species such as Hooded and Canada warblers, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Gray-cheeked Thrush from this woodland. In September and October, you can easily pish up warblers and vireos here, where they are drawn to the many fruiting Virginia creeper vines, among other fruiting trees and shrubs.

When you get to a fork in the trail, take a left and follow the locust grove through a transition zone of smooth sumac and other shrubs that opens up to a field on the right and open views of the marsh on your left. At the bench that faces Try Island, scan the creeks and muddy pans for Mallards and American Black ducks, Snowy and Great egrets, gulls, and shorebirds. In winter, check the barrier beaches beyond the marshes for Snowy Owls during irruption years. Tree and Barn swallows and Eastern Kingbirds hunt insects over the marsh. Northern Harriers fly low over the marsh hunting meadow voles and other small animals in fall and winter; Turkey Vultures and Osprey soar high overhead in spring and summer.

Semipalmated Plover.

Continue on to the open expanse of Fresh Brook Bay. During the hours of low water, the marsh is a maze of tidal creeks, salt pans, and sand flats; at high tide, it may look like a sea of grass. Mass Audubon and the Town of Wellfleet own the open land across the marsh on Lieutenant Island and on the far side of Fresh Brook. The south side of Lieutenant Island can host a nice diversity and number of shorebirds, including during May, when hard to find species like White-rumped Sandpiper, Whimbrel, and even Red Knot may show up among the more expected Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstones, and Black-bellied Plovers. In summer and early fall, hundreds to thousands of migrating shorebirds stop here to rest and feed: Semipalmated and Black-bellied plovers—look for the occasional American Golden Plover—Whimbrels, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, Willets, Semipalmated, Least, and uncommon Western sandpipers. Laughing Gulls and Common and Forster’s terns stage here, roosting and feeding in the marsh grass and creeks.

In winter, the salt marsh and Fresh Brook Bay are home to large groups of ducks and geese: hundreds of Brant (which sometimes stay through mid-May) are typical, along with Canada Geese, American Black Ducks, Mallards, Common Eider, Bufflehead, and Red-breasted Mergansers. Loons and gannets, and sometimes shearwaters and jaegers, can be seen from the beach in the appropriate seasons.

When you are ready to leave the marsh, look for the signpost that marks the trail junction. Turn right to continue on the shorter of the Bay View Trail loops back to the Nature Center. For a longer walk, you have two options: a detour along the Fresh Brook Pathway that returns to the Bay View Trail or the long Bay View Trail Loop for a walk in the pitch pine barrens.

Taking the shorter loop, you will emerge from the pitch pine barrens into the coastal heathland and sandplain grassland. From the top of this ridge, there is a breathtaking view of the salt marsh, barrier beach, Fresh Brook, and Cape Cod Bay.

The bird boxes in the field are dominated by Tree Swallows, but Eastern Bluebirds also nest in these boxes. The larger box was put up to attract American Kestrels, which last nested in 2009. Kestrels may be extirpated from the Outer Cape. During the day, this field is a favorite cruising ground for Northern Harriers, Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned hawks (both nest at the sanctuary) and Redtails, and at night for Great Horned Owls. In 2006, a Barn Owl unexpectedly turned up in the nets here during a saw-whet banding demonstration. In the spring, American Woodcocks display in the field and even the parking lot; they nest in the field and surrounding thicket. Check the shrub thickets on the right side of the field for breeding Field and Song sparrows as well as Eastern Kingbirds, Eastern Phoebes, and occasionally Brown Thrashers.

To return to the Nature Center, please follow the trail to the right, turn left at the intersection at the locust grove, retrace your steps along the Bay View Trail to the marsh overlook, then left up the trail to the entrance of the building.

You can find directions to Wellfleet Bay on the Mass Audubon website. Online maps and GPS units may not give accurate directions, so please use these directions. For your convenience, they are printed below:

From Boston: Follow Route 3 South and cross the Sagamore Bridge to Cape Cod. Follow Route 6 East for 45 miles. The sanctuary entrance is on the left just over the Wellfleet/Eastham town line after the Wellfleet Drive-in Theater.

From Providence: Follow Interstate 195 or Interstate 495 to Route 25 and cross the Bourne Bridge to Cape Cod. Turn off the Bourne Rotary at the exit for Route 6 East. Continue on Route 6 for 50 miles. The sanctuary entrance is on the left just over the Wellfleet/Eastham town line after the Wellfleet Drive-in Theater.

From Provincetown: Take Route 6 West to South Wellfleet. The sanctuary entrance is on the right just before the Wellfleet Drive-in Theater.

By public transportation: Public Transportation is available through the Cape Cod Regional Transport Authority (CCRTA). For information regarding standard bus routes near the sanctuary or to request a b-bus for door-to-door service, call (800) 352-7155 or visit: www.capecodrta.org.

Mark Faherty has been the science coordinator at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary since August 2007 and has led birding trips for Mass Audubon since 2002. While his current projects involve everything from oysters and horseshoe crabs to bats and butterflies, he has studied primarily bird ecology for the last 20 years, working on research projects in Kenya, Florida, Texas, California, Arizona, Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest. Mark has led birding trips to Panama and Belize for Mass Audubon. He grew up in Brockton and Plymouth and started birding at age six.

Marsha C. Salett is editor of Bird Observer, a writer, and an environmental educator. She has been a teacher/naturalist at Mass Audubon’s Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary for over 25 years and has been a volunteer trail naturalist at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for about 20 summers. Marsha wrote the All-Persons Sensory Trail audio guides for Broadmoor and for Wellfleet Bay.

Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens: A Globally Rare Habitat in Southeastern Massachusetts

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT

A controlled burn in Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge. Photograph by Catherine J. Hibbard/USFWS. (CC BY 2.0)

In the coastal pine barrens of Massachusetts, pitch pine (Pinus rigida) is the dominant pine species with an understory of scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia) and dwarf chinquapin (Q. prinoides) (Swain and Kearsley 2001). Griffith et al. (2009) described the New England Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens ecoregion as transitional between the southern and northeastern coastal zones. The Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHSEP) divides the local Atlantic pine barrens into two shrub community types and one woodland community (Swain and Kearsley 2001). The two shrub communities, “pitch pine-scrub oak” and “maritime pitch pine on dunes,” are ranked as imperiled and critically imperiled, respectively, in Massachusetts because they have few remaining acres or are vulnerable to extirpation. These shrub communities are mostly limited to Plymouth and Barnstable counties as well as the Montague Wildlife Management Area in Franklin County (Swain and Kearsley 2001). In southeastern Massachusetts, public access is possible at Myles Standish State Forest (MSSF) in Carver and Plymouth; Camps Cachalot and Squanto in Plymouth; the Mashpee Pine Barrens in Mashpee; and the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest on Martha’s Vineyard (Swain and Kearsley 2001). Among the Important Bird Areas that include pine barrens are Dead Neck Island and Mass Audubon’s adjoining Sampsons Island Sanctuary in Osterville; the Massachusetts Military Reservation; and Myles Standish State Forest.

Although pitch pine can grow tall and straight, it also can have a shrubby, crooked habit that decreases its value as lumber (Corey 2007). In New England it was often replaced with plantations of fire-intolerant species such as red pine (P. resinosa) and white pine (P. strobus). Decades of fire suppression promoted by Smokey Bear resulted in a buildup of fuel resulting in hard-to-control, long-burning, tree-killing fires. In 1957 and 1964, fires in Carver that escaped MSSF and leveled nearby homes were among several northeastern fires that eventually brought about major changes in forest management (USFWS 2010). Methods such as logging pine plantations and using prescribed burning to maintain the native vegetation are now used. In some locations, removal of red and white pines has returned the forests to the original native pine barrens. At the Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge, fire is regularly used to manage the pitch pine-scrub oak habitats, however this refuge is not open to the public (USFWS 2010).

In MSSF, red pines—most of them diseased and dying—were removed beginning in February 2014. The foresters’ objectives behind these removals included reducing fire threat and rebuilding the native habitat to sustain numerous rare and endangered species that require open habitats. The species targeted by this management strategy included eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina) and 15 species of butterflies and moths (Mass DCR 2015), notably the coastal barrens buckmoth (Hemileuca maia) and the large and spectacular imperial moth (Eacles imperialis) (Swain and Kearsley 2001, NHESP 2007). In addition, several rare plants, including broom crowberry (Corema conradii), which require open habitats with frequent fires are known only in these pine habitats (NHESP 2015).

At this point readers may be wondering what all of this has to do with birds. These fire-adapted pine habitats support numerous rare and interesting birds in Massachusetts. Eastern Whip-poor-wills are increasingly restricted to sandy areas in the pine barrens (NHESP 2007) where they nest in scrapes on the ground. Their creamy, marbled eggs blend easily with the light-colored sands (Cink 2002, Brigham et al. 2011) that are opened by fire or by land management that mimics the effects of fire. Discovering the nests or young of whip-poor-wills and other caprimulgids has never been intentional on my part, and was always a result of nearly stepping on the incubating or brooding parent who burst into flight.

Ruffed Grouse, American Woodcock, and Eastern Towhee are all in decline in Massachusetts (Kamm et al. 2013) but can still readily be seen in local pine barrens. Like the caprimulgids, woodcocks nest in a scrape on the ground which their young leave just a few days after hatching. Considered an indicator species for young forests, woodcocks prefer shrub and sapling habitats in pine barrens where their favorite food, earthworms, is prevalent (Masse et al. 2014). Throughout their range, woodcock population declines are thought to be in large part due to loss of the shrublands associated with early succession as forests grow older and canopies close (McAuley et al. 2013). Despite relative stability and even growth in other areas of Massachusetts, the Breeding Bird Atlas 2 (BBA 2) notes that woodcocks are now underrepresented in the southeastern ecoregions (Kamm et al. 2013).

Eastern Towhee. Photography by Sandy Selesky.

The second Breeding Bird Atlas notes that “there is hardly another species that has shown such a dramatic regional shift during the interval between Atlas 1 and 2” than Ruffed Grouse (Kamm et al. 2013). Despite similar percentages of total blocks occupied, the birds appear to be abandoning the eastern half of the state. In fact, the BBA 2 maps show a discernible gap in the area of MSSF. Kamm et al. (2013) suggest this gap may in part be due to forest maturation. Next to a tree or rock and in an open area where they can spot predators, female grouse build a nest on the ground, often lining it with vegetation. The young leave the nest within a day of hatching (Rusch et al. 2000).

Eastern Towhees, the largest and most colorful of our local sparrows, are mostly stable in the southeastern ecoregions despite their slight decline both in Massachusetts (Kamm et al. 2103) and in the United States as a whole (Sauer et al. 2014). Females typically build a cup nest of sticks and leaves on the ground or just above the ground in a tangle of vines (Greenlaw 2015). Threats to towhees include habitat alteration and canopy closure due to late succession (Greenlaw 2015).

Not surprisingly, Pine Warblers are common in pine barrens and are increasing in the state (Kamm et al. 2013). Although rare for most warblers, Pine Warblers regularly eat seeds, including pine seeds (Rodewald et al. 2013). They nest high in pines and are common in the mixed species flocks characteristic of the Southeast in winter (Rodewald et al. 2013). At least once each year in my time in the North Carolina pine savannas, I would observe a Brown-headed Cowbird fledgling that dwarfed the tiny Pine Warbler parent that was feeding it.

The Northern Parula, a species listed as threatened in Massachusetts, is associated with trees covered with dense epiphytic growth. In Massachusetts, the birds are associated with old man’s beard (Usnea sp.) thereby limiting the warblers to habitats that support this lichen, including coastal pine barrens. Female parulas hollow out a hanging nest in the lichens by creating a side entrance and lining the nest cup with more lichens and other soft materials (Moldenhauer and Regelski 2012). Nesting parulas were recorded in Plymouth and Barnstable counties in Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 1 but despite an increase in possible breeding birds in the second atlas they were no longer noted as nesters in Plymouth County (Kamm et al. 2013). The last record for Northern Parula in MSSF recorded in eBird is May 2013.

Other bird species nesting in pine barrens but not confined to this habitat include Wild Turkey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, Prairie Warbler, and many more.

Many birders are aware of the plights of grasslands and grassland bird species, but the Atlantic coastal pine barrens, with their fire-dependent mid-successional shrub habitats and their associated fauna are equally threatened. To maintain these types of habitats for birds requires management approaches that are complex and can be controversial. Despite the unmistakable benefits of prescribed burning, local communities often are concerned with air quality and the potential for wildfire. Visiting local pine barrens, reporting your sightings, and distributing information about maintaining pitch pine-scrub habitats can go a long way to supporting these ecosystems. Also, for more information about the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance in Plymouth visit www.SEMPBA.org.

To see the birds and other species in local pine barrens, I recommend a visit to MSSF, the pine barrens in Mashpee, or those on the Islands. In midsummer, these open communities often make it easy to view even the most secretive species while all other habitats at this season are dense with vegetation. You also may want to visit some of the pitch pine-oak forests that transition between the pine barrens and upland forests throughout southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod. Many of these areas include the birds of the shrub pine barrens and are also open to the public, including parts of the Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and a number of parks and natural areas owned by Plymouth, Carver, Wareham, Barnstable, Sandwich, and other nearby towns in Plymouth County and Cape Cod.

References

Brigham, R. M., J. Ng, R. G. Poulin, and S. D. Grindal. 2011. Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) in The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Cink, C. L. 2002. Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) in The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Greenlaw, J. S. 2015. Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) in The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Griffith, G. E., J. M. Omernik, S. A. Bryce, J. Royte, W. D. Hoar, J. W. Homer, D. Keirstead, K. J. Metzler, and G. Hellyer. 2009. Ecoregions of New England. Reston, Virginia: United States Geological Survey.
Gucker, Corey L. 2007. Pinus rigida. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Accessed June 3, 2016.
Kamm, M. J. Walsh, J. Galluzzo and W. Petersen. 2013. Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 2. Scott and Nix: New York.
King, D. I., S. Schlossberg, R. T. Brooks, M. E. Akresh. 2011. Effects of fuel reduction on birds in pitch pine-scrub oak barrens of the United States. Forest Ecology and Management 261:10–18.
Massachusetts DCR. 2015. Pine Barrens Restoration Timber Harvest. Accessed June 2, 2016.
McAuley, D., D. M. Keppie, and R. M Whiting, Jr. 2013. American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) in The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Moldenhauer, R. R. and D. J. Regelski. 2012. Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) in The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
NHESP. 2007. Natural Community Fact Sheet: Pitch Pine/Scrub Oak Communities. Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Westborough, MA.
NHESP. 2013. Priority Types of Natural Communities. Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Westborough, MA.
NHESP. 2015. Broom Crowberry: Corema conradii (Torr.)Torr. ex Loudon. Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. Westborough, MA.
Rodewald, P. G., J. H. Withgott, and K. G. Smith. 2013. Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) in The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Rusch, D. H., S. Destefano, M. C. Reynolds, and D. Lauten. 2000. Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) in The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, J. E. Fallon, K. L. Pardieck, D. J. Ziolkowski, Jr., and W. A. Link. 2014. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2013. Version 01.30.2015. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.
Swain, P. C. and J. B. Kearsley. 2001. Classification of the Natural Communities of Massachusetts. Version 1.3. Westborough, MA: Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Division of Fisheries & Wildlife.
Sohl, T. L. and L. B. Sohl. 2012. Land–Use Change in the Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens Ecoregion. The Geographical Review 102: 180 – 201.
USFWS. 2010. Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge: Burning to Protect Wildlife and People. Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex, Sudbury, MA.
Walker, J. W. and R. K. Peet. 1984. Composition and species diversity of pine - wiregrass savannas of the Green Swamp, North Carolina. Vegetatio 55: 163-179.

Melinda S. (Mindy) LaBranche is an adjunct professor of biology at Bridgewater State University and a copy editor for Bird Observer. She learned to love pine barrens while growing up on Cape Cod and during her graduate work studying Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in the pine savannas of North Carolina. Mindy is on the board of the Rochester Land Trust, and invites you to visit its trails and find some of the plants and animals mentioned here.

The Great Seabird Show of 2015

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMT

For space constraints in summarizing and writing what could be a doctoral thesis, I have limited my discussion of seabirds to albatrosses, Northern Fulmars, petrels, shearwaters, storm-petrels, gannets, boobies, gulls, terns, jaegers, skuas, and alcids. However, I do mention a loon or two. Many observations and discussion points are based on personal experience and experiences of others. I gleaned and summarized seabird numbers and distributions from the eBird database.

I also have broken down the year by season, defining winter as January through March, spring as April through June, summer as July through September, and fall as October through December.

What are seabirds doing off Provincetown?

Watching seabirds regularly off Provincetown for the past 15–20 years has certainly sparked more questions than answers. Seabird movements and behavior can be unpredictable as well as interesting, but after studying seabirds over the years, I’ve been able to formulate several generalizations:

The presence or absence of seabirds off Provincetown is food related
Seabirds often stop feeding/moving at high tide
A half tide falling is often preferred and potentially optimal for seabird feeding
Seabirds are often moving in some direction at first light and early morning

However, I’m often puzzled by the behavior and movements of seabirds, and once I think I might be on to understanding something, an exception probes the rule.

Fig. 2. Cory’s Shearwater with Sand Lance.

Food

How do seabird numbers correlate with sand lance populations? Do sand lance have population booms and crashes similar to lemmings on the arctic tundra? People forget that there also have been lean seabirding years off Provincetown.

Observations onshore and offshore from 2014 and 2015 indicate that the presence of sand lance appears to be a significant driving factor in attracting seabirds to the waters off Provincetown. Every year, I regularly watch gulls and terns feeding on sand lance and, at times, conspicuously carrying them in their bills. In 2015, I first witnessed shearwaters feeding on and carrying sand lance in their bills (Figure 2).

Tide and Timing

Why do seabirds generally stop moving or feeding at high tide? Does high water not move enough to stir up prey items?

Do seabirds move around or feed in the waters off Provincetown at night? Squid is reportedly a significant component of shearwater diets (Warham 1996). Do shearwaters switch to feeding on the squid that rise in the water column at night?

Why does the composition of seabirds and whales sometimes change radically from one day to the next in the same general area? I have seen thousands of seabirds in the company of feeding whales one day, and have observed thousands of seabirds but no whales the next. On other days, there are many whales but seabirds are absent.

Greater Shearwater, Peaked Hill, Truro August 29, 2015.

Movement and Numbers

Why do seabirds off Provincetown generally fly into the wind? For Cory’s Shearwater or Wilson’s Storm-Petrel that are equipped with olfactory foraging capabilities, such behavior may be understandable, but it is puzzling for Parasitic Jaeger, Razorbill, and Common Tern.

I have witnessed thousands of Great Shearwaters fly east past Race Point between 6:00–7:00 am with virtually no Cory’s Shearwaters among them. An hour later, at 8:00 am, I have seen hundreds of Cory’s moving east past Race Point with no Great Shearwaters present. Is this coincidental or deliberate flocking behavior?

After watching 10,000 shearwaters fly east past Race Point and Race Point Beach, I wondered where they went, especially when I watched the same phenomenon the next day. When did all of these shearwaters fly west back into Cape Cod Bay, if at all? Are these the same birds daily?

Perhaps seabird movements are circular off Provincetown. For example, early in the morning of October 20, 2015, Kate Sutherland and I followed the movements of several hundred shearwaters that traveled east to west along the deep water rip line approximately 1,500 feet offshore from Race Point Beach toward Race Point. Once at Race Point, many of the shearwaters veered off to the north and northwest toward the southwestern corner of Stellwagen Bank. During the early afternoon, we saw several hundred shearwaters moving west to east—perhaps coming off the bank—beyond the deep water rip line. They formed several large beehives, or feeding aggregations, off to the northeast in the vicinity of the southeastern corner of Stellwagen Bank and the Peaked Hill Area. Did these shearwaters travel in a clockwise circle from the rips off Race Point to Stellwagen Bank and then off to the east this particular day? See Figure 1, for on and offshore locations around Provincetown.

The Seasons

Winter: January through March

The winter months on the ocean waters surrounding Provincetown belong to the alcids—those penguin-like black and white seabirds that can be frustratingly difficult to identify at a distance. The day-to-day directional movements of alcids, like shearwaters and other seabirds, are puzzling; and are presumably related to food resource availability, location, and perhaps wind direction and tidal currents.

All six species of North Atlantic alcids have been seen wintering off Provincetown: Razorbill, Common Murre, Thick-billed Murre, Dovekie, Black Guillemot, and Atlantic Puffin. A great winter beach day in Provincetown is to observe all six alcid species. Observers accomplished this feat twice in 2015: on January 29 from Herring Cove Beach and on February 21 from Race Point Beach.

Razorbills are the most numerous and conspicuous alcids seen off Provincetown and down the backside of Cape Cod. Modest numbers were seen during the winter months with a high count of 3,115 recorded on January 29.

Thick-billed Murres—those hunch-backed flying footballs—were seen in good numbers during the winter season and, in many cases, were observed quite close to shore. A high count of 23 from Herring Cove on January 29 and 15 reported from Race Point Beach on March 15 were notable. A couple of Thick-billed Murres in Provincetown Harbor often provided point blank photographic opportunities. Thick-billed Murres often set up shop in sheltered coves and harbors during winter.

Common Murres have been historically rare within sight of land (Veit and Petersen 1993). However, sightings from land-based vantage points over the last 10–15 years have been increasing in and around Cape Cod and certainly around Cape Ann. On February 8, 2015, observers recorded 52 Common Murres in several hours of seawatching from Race Point Beach to Race Point.

Pacific Loons were sporadic during the 2015 winter season, with individuals recorded from Provincetown and Truro.

Parasitic Jaegers Pursuing Laughing Gull, Race Point, October 15, 2015.

Spring: April through June

Spring was slow to arrive on Cape Cod (and most other places) after a brutally cold and snowy winter. However, spring eventually wrestled winter’s death grip away from the region and all hell broke loose off Provincetown on May 2, 2015. While on a late afternoon hike out to Race Point, my son Liam and I encountered an absolute blizzard of Bonaparte’s Gulls—conservatively estimated at 3,200 birds—flying in off the ocean from the northwest and landing on Race Point and just beyond in the surf line. Inconspicuously embedded within the masses of breeding plumaged (fully hooded) Bonys were several smaller, delicate, and most elegant Little Gulls, many of which also were in full breeding plumage.

Over the next couple of weeks, the number of adult Bonaparte’s Gulls decreased and immature plumaged birds moved into the region. Nevertheless, the numbers of Bonaparte’s Gulls seen in May 2015 were unprecedented; the previous high count in spring was approximately 250 birds. (Blair Nikula, personal communication). Traditionally, high counts of Bonaparte’s Gulls in Massachusetts have been recorded in late fall and early winter (Veit and Petersen 1993). At the time of this writing, May 2016, exceptional numbers of Bonaparte’s Gulls are once again being seen off Provincetown.

In addition to the Bonaparte’s Gulls, many other seabirds arrived during late April and early May 2015. Cumulative counts of Laughing Gulls, Common Terns, Roseate Terns, Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, and several immature Iceland Gulls reached into the thousands. Curiously, substantial numbers of immature Black-legged Kittiwakes lingered off Provincetown, including 180 on June 6, 2015, and dozens summered here well into July. A Sabine’s Gull, which is an unusual spring visitor, was present at Herring Cove from May 5 through May 9.

Parasitic Jaegers, already trickling into the region, made their presence known on May 16, 2015, with 24 birds recorded from Race Point Beach. A true kleptoparasite, the Parasitic Jaeger makes a tidy living on the open sea terrorizing small gulls and terns by means of highly acrobatic, prolonged chases to force their victims to disgorge consumed fish or drop a carried fish for the jaeger to eat.

Manx Shearwater, Offshore Provincetown, June 14, 2015.

Changes to the outer beach between Race Point Beach and Race Point created a nifty little area that local birders refer to as The Cove. The Cove is a sand spit or miniature barrier beach running east to west for several hundred feet; a finger of water behind it separates the spit from the main beach area. During late spring, many gulls and terns began gathering or resting reasonably undisturbed in the Cove. This is a nice setup for an avid seabirder traversing the beach to sort through the masses of gulls and terns for a rarity.

Summer: July through September

The summer months off Cape Cod belong to the shearwaters. The four regular species off Provincetown and surrounding waters are Cory’s, Great, Sooty, and Manx shearwaters. Their mass movements off Provincetown in early mornings was quite a spectacle during July and August and well into September for 2015, as it was for 2014.

In 2015, Blair Nikula and I ran several dedicated pelagic charter trips with Captain Rich Wood aboard the seaworthy 35-foot Beth Ann out of Provincetown Harbor. These five-hour trips allowed for quick access to many of the areas where seabirds congregate, including the rips off Herring Cove, Race Point, Race Point Beach, and rarely visited (although highly productive) area northeast of Provincetown and Truro known as Peaked Hill. Additionally these trips provided access to the southeastern and southwestern corners of Stellwagen Bank to the north. To say these trips were a success would be an understatement. The photographic opportunities were excellent. Getting participants within arm’s length of Great and Cory’s shearwaters, having a jaeger chase a tern nearly into the stern of the boat, or seeing breaching humpback whales within 100 feet of the boat were seemingly routine on these trips.

Brown Booby, Peaked Hill, Truro, August 29, 2015.

Beyond the astounding numbers and diversity of birds encountered on these dedicated pelagic trips, a couple of special rarities turned up during July and August.

On July 18, 2015, a Fea’s Petrel briefly made a pass by the Beth Ann near the Peaked Hill area off Truro delighting all onboard and providing the second state record of this spiffy North Atlantic gadfly petrel. Fea’s Petrels are seen with some regularity along the western edge of the Gulf Stream off North Carolina. They originate from the Desertas and Cape Verde Islands in the eastern North Atlantic. Curiously, the first Fea’s Petrel was recorded on June 24, 2014, on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. Is this the same bird? Or is this the start of a new trend?

On August 29, 2015, a Brown Booby was seen from aboard the Beth Ann in the Peaked Hill area off Truro feeding with a mixed flock of shearwaters. This is presumably the same bird that was seen earlier in the year off Wood End and Hatches Harbor in June. Whatever is going on with Brown Boobies in the North Atlantic these days is a mystery. Historically, Brown Boobies were unknown north of Florida, but records north of Florida have increased sharply in recent years (Nisbet et al 2013). Suffice to say, I don’t think we can safely gloss over those distant brown sulids and assume they are all young Northern Gannets anymore.

Avid seabirders are always on the lookout for that rarity from some far-flung corner of the world’s oceans. So the sight of an unidentified albatross, likely a Yellow-nosed Albatross, observed on July 12, 2015, from a whalewatching boat was most intriguing. Unfortunately, the albatross was seen sitting on the water in the distance while the boat was in transit back to port. This sighting was motivational and instrumental in running as many charter trips out of Provincetown as we could with the hopes of catching up with this albatross. Fortunately, on August 10, 2015, a Yellow-nosed Albatross was observed and magnificently photographed from a whalewatching boat out of Provincetown.

Pomarine Jaeger, Offshore Provincetown, September 6, 2015.

Sabine’s Gull is traditionally a late summer and early fall rarity off Provincetown. Two Sabine’s Gulls were reported on August 31, 2015, from Herring Cove and two were reported on September 12, 2015, from Race Point.

One of the more impressive days of the summer season was September 13, 2015. Several land-based observers spent the better part of the day seawatching from Race Point Beach and Race Point. At the same time, the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA) was running its traditional fall Seabirds and Whale Tails excursion to the waters off Provincetown. Suffice to say, the bases were well covered for what would be a truly extraordinary day of seabirding. A staggering 15,000 Great Shearwaters were observed from Race Point Beach and 14,350 were seen from Race Point (certainly overlap but remarkably close totals). In addition, counts from Race Point included 1,500 Cory’s Shearwaters, 12,000 unidentified Great or Cory’s shearwaters, 44 Sooty Shearwaters, and 447 Manx Shearwaters—placing the total number of shearwaters at 28,341.

The NECWA trip enjoyed a fantastic feeding frenzy of Great Shearwaters late in the afternoon approximately two miles off Race Point Beach. However, the real show was farther offshore on Stellwagen Bank earlier in the day where over 30 Pomarine Jaegers were identified and perhaps as many as 60 were observed. Many of these jaegers were seemingly traveling on a northwest to southeasterly bearing and perhaps migrating. Contrary to what I thought I knew of Pomarine Jaegers, many of these birds were successfully kleptoparasitizing Common Terns—a behavior and choice of victim that I personally had not seen before from the largest of the three jaegers. More than four Long-tailed Jaegers also showed up, including a stunning juvenile bird that chased a Common Tern right up the wake of the boat and within close distance of the stern, which allowed for great photo opportunities.

Long-tailed Jaeger, Offshore Provincetown, September 6, 2015.

Late September brought in an amazing influx of Northern Fulmars—both light and the more northerly dark phase—to the waters in and around Provincetown. Many were visible off Race Point Beach and in particular off Race Point, where some of these birds were feeding or traveling just beyond the surf line. On September 26, 2015, there were 383 and 290 Northern Fulmars recorded from Race Point and Race Point Beach respectively.

Fall: October through December

The fall season was full of highlights beginning with the nor’easter of October 2–3 that brought heavy winds and seas to the area. September’s Northern Fulmar counts were eclipsed during this storm when 950 were observed. Many of these fulmars were observed off Race Point in the surf line and slightly beyond, feeding via hen-picking at the ocean surface. What they were feeding on is a mystery. Based on reviews of many of my own photos and others, most of the birds that were part of this influx appeared quite fresh looking and were presumably young of the year.

In addition to the Northern Fulmar incursion, thousands of shearwaters and terns were recorded from observers situated at Race Point and Race Point Beach. Hundreds of jaegers of all three species were seen during the nor’easter and represented an amazing day of seawatching even for the most demanding of seabirders. However things were kicked up a notch further when a surprise visitor from the southern hemisphere—a South Polar Skua—made its presence known with an incredibly close west to east pass along the beach, providing exceptional photographic fodder.

Yellow-billed Loon, Race Point, March 20, 2016.

As the fall season carried on, the question often raised among those regularly seabirding off Provincetown was: how long is this going to last? What are we to make of Parasitic Jaegers, Laughing Gulls, Sooty Shearwaters, Great Shearwaters, and Manx Shearwaters lingering into December? December 25, 2015, was the late date record for Parasitic Jaegers. In fact, it would be January 2016 before the last Great Shearwaters (January 8, 2016) and Manx Shearwaters (January 17, 2016) finally departed the area, providing late date records for Massachusetts. It was particularly interesting to see Manx Shearwaters foraging and flying alongside Razorbills during December 2015 and January 2016. It is remarkable how similar they can appear at times—an identification issue that had never really been raised until 2015.

I would be remiss in not mentioning some of the amazing sightings during the first few months of 2016. Most noteworthy was the discovery of a Yellow-billed Loon off Race Point on February 27, 2016, by Steve Arena. This bird showed well and delighted many birders for over a month; it was last reported off Race Point on April 2, 2016. In addition, three or more Pacific Loons, including one juvenile (an age class rarely if ever recorded in Massachusetts), were also present. This gave some lucky birders four species of loon on their checklists—not bad for Massachusetts.

As was the case with the Pacific Loons, two Mew Gulls of the European race (Common Gull) were discovered while birders searched for the Yellow-billed Loon. The first gull was discovered on March 13, 2016, and a second bird with notably different plumage characteristics—reduced head streaking and darker outer primaries—was recorded on March 26.

Mew Gull, Race Point, March 26, 2016.

On May 8, 2016, a White-winged Tern was discovered in a flock of resting Common Terns and Roseate Terns at Race Point. This particular flock eventually flushed off the beach and the tern was rediscovered a few hours later roosting with a jumpy flock of Common and Roseate terns at the mouth of Hatches Harbor. Unfortunately, the White-winged Tern became one of those one-day wonders. It flushed a final time from Hatches Harbor with a restless group of terns and spiraled up very high into the sky, which is a behavior often exhibited by Common and Roseate terns (Jeremy Hatch personal communication several years ago) just prior to migrating. The White-winged Tern was observed for a couple of more minutes as it continued to gain altitude and head out of Provincetown on a northeasterly bearing to its next destination.

Final Thoughts

There is inherent excitement and anticipation as one drives into the Race Point Beach parking lot during the early morning hours. Driving past several blowouts in the dune line that provide brief views of the Atlantic Ocean, it is virtually impossible to refrain from taking a peek through the sandy windows in the hopes of catching hundreds if not thousands of seabirds on the move even before pulling into a parking space and critically sorting through the masses over the water.

Table 1. Select Seabird Species High Counts off Provincetown 2015

Species	Number	Date	Location
Pacific Loon	2	May 2, 2015	Herring Cove
Albatross sp.	1	July 12, 2015	Stellwagen Bank
Yellow-nosed Albatross	1	August 10, 2015	Stellwagen Bank
Northern Fulmar	950	October 3, 2015	Race Point
Fea’s Petrel	1	July 18, 2015	Stellwagen Ban SE Waters
Cory’s Shearwater	8,700	August 9, 2015	Race Point Beach
Great Shearwater	15,000	September 13, 2015	Race Point Beach
Sooty Shearwater	1100	June 29, 2015	Race Point Beach
Manx Shearwater	447	September 13, 2015	Race Point
Shearwater sp.	5,000	September 21, 2015	Race Point Beach
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel	1,000	July 20, 2015	Stellwagen Bank
Leach’s Storm-Petrel	5	October 5, 2015	Race Point
Brown Booby	1	August 29, 2015	Peaked Hill
Northern Gannet	12,640	November 11, 2015	Race Point
Red Phalarope	1	November 4, 2015	Stellwagen Bank
Red-necked Phalarope	51	August 19, 2015	Stellwagen Ban SE Waters
Sabine’s Gull	2	September 12, 2015	Race Point
Black-legged Kittiwake	1,200	December 19, 2015	Race Point Beach
Little Gull	10	May 6, 2015	Herring Cove Beach
Bonaparte’s Gull	3,200	May 2, 2015	Race Point
Black-headed Gull	3	September 23, 2015	Race Point Beach
Laughing Gull	900	September 13, 2015	Race Point
Iceland Gull	42	December 31, 2015	Race Point
Lesser Black-backed Gull	87	May 16, 2015	Race Point
Caspian Tern	2	September 21, 2015	Race Point Beach
Royal Tern	4	July 4, 2015	Race Point Beach
Common Tern	7,200	September 13, 2015	Race Point
Arctic Tern	5	June 7, 2015	Race Point Beach
Roseate Tern	600	September 20, 2015	Race Point
Black Tern	25	September 3, 2015	Herring Cove
Long-tailed Jaeger	4	September 6, 2015	Race Point Waters
Parasitic Jaeger	125	October 3, 2015	Herring Cove
Pomarine Jaeger	38	September 26, 2015	Race Point
South Polar Skua	1	October 3, 2015	Race Point
Black Guillemot	6	February 1, 2015	Race Point Beach
Common Murre	52	February 8, 2015	Race Point Beach
Thick-billed Murre	23	January 29, 2015	Herring Cove
Razorbill	3,115	January 29, 2015	Herring Cove
Dovekie	37	November 21, 2015	Race Point Beach
Atlantic Puffin	3	October 24, 2015	Off Provincetown

For some people, the seabirding experience is setting up a spotting scope in the dune line and observing the show from a distance. For others, it is a walk down to the waterline for a closer look. Or it is a half or full day hike out to Race Point to the west. More recently, folks such as Steve Arena have been seabirding by using an off road vehicle (ORV), which provides quick and easy access from Hatches Harbor to Race Point Beach and points south. For summer seabirding, Blair Nikula and I began chartering the 35–foot boat Beth Ann out of Provincetown Harbor in 2015 to get in and among the masses of seabirds and gain a better understanding and appreciation of seabird movements and behavior throughout the day.

However you prefer to look at seabirds, I encourage birders who list their seabird sightings in and around Provincetown to take note of factors and variables such as wind speed and direction, tidal state, sea conditions, flight direction of seabirds, and feeding aggregations. These data will help us learn more about the seabirds that frequent our waters.

As previously noted, I have far more questions than answers and I’m not sure I feel any wiser for my efforts—but I sure am having fun trying. Hope to see you on the beach or offshore in 2016.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank Blair Nikula for many years of field companionship on land and sea, and many thoughtful and at times lively discussions of seabirds. Blair and Kate Sutherland provided many helpful edits, suggestions, comments, additions, and subtractions to a draft of this article. I also would like to acknowledge Steve Arena, who has been a force and a fixture at Race Point and continues to compile some amazing sightings. He expands our knowledge of the movements and behaviors of seabirds off Provincetown with his dedication, perseverance, and enthusiasm. Last, I would like to acknowledge Captain Rich Wood of the Beth Ann for providing access at sea to many of the offshore areas of Provincetown and Truro, and the participants who registered for these pelagic excursions, as these trips would not be possible otherwise.

References

Howell, S. N. G. 2012. Petrels, Albatrosses and Storm-Petrels of North America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Nisbet, I. C. T., R. R. Veit, S. A. Auer, and T. P. White. 2013. Marine Birds of the Eastern United States and the Bay of Fundy. Nuttall Ornithological Monographs, No. 29, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Nuttall Ornithological Club.
Veit, R. R. and W. R. Petersen. 1993. Birds of Massachusetts. Lincoln: Massachusetts Audubon Society.
Warham, J. 1996. The Behavior, Population Biology, and Physiology of the Petrels. London: Academic Press.

Peter Flood, a Cape Cod resident, has a passion for ornithology. His birding interests are primarily focused on the ecology of seabirds. He has been a naturalist for Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary leading birding tours and educational programs related to bird identification, natural history and biology; conducted Mass Audubon’s aerial seabird and waterfowl surveys of Nantucket Sound as part of the proposed “Cape Wind” project; and conducted shorebird surveys for Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. Peter also volunteers with NOAA, conducting seabird surveys of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Peter serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Cape Cod Bird Club. His current profession is a Senior Project Manager with Green Seal Environmental, Inc.