The next couple of months provide the absolute best birding on the Cape and Islands.
Birds all over North America are on the move, and, beyond the embarrassment of riches that is our normal flood of migrants, the potential for rarities is very high now. Take, for example, the two Yellow-headed Blackbirds that were discovered walking tamely around Kalmus Beach in Hyannis over the weekend. These striking blackbirds are a strictly western species during the breeding season, but one or two misguided migrants can be expected each fall on the Cape by a sharp-eyed birder.
While the thickets, oceans, and beaches are alive with migrants right now, and I’ll get to those in a minute, I’d like to start in your backyard, where you may have noticed some eerie night sounds in recent weeks. Every mid-to-late August our commonest owl, the Eastern Screech Owl, becomes vocal again. One of our most poorly named species, screech owls don’t make anything even vaguely resembling a screech that I have ever heard. Their quavering whinnies and hollow, haunting trills add an early Halloween atmosphere to suburban neighborhoods in late summer. One such yard ghost woke me at 3 o’clock one recent morning, his soft calls sounding so close that in my half-sleep I thought he was perched on my windowsill. These cute little killers eat everything from June bugs and moths to small mammals, crayfish, and birds the size of small falcons. They come in red or gray color morphs, and can be enticed to nest in appropriately sized nest boxes under the right circumstances. Look for them sunning themselves in tree cavities during the day, where they often blend in perfectly with the bark.
I’d like to stay in your yard a little longer and talk about your hummingbirds. If you feed them, you should still be seeing a lot of activity around the yard, as this year’s young birds chase each other around and learn which flowers have the most nectar. I have 3 or 4 regulars that spend most of their time fighting over the butterfly bush and my two feeders, but their favorite is probably my native trumpet honeysuckle vine.
Enjoy these mighty mites while you can, for in a little over a week they’ll be gone, headed for Central America for the winter. But do leave your feeder up, as later in the fall is when unusual hummingbirds from the western US tend to show up on the Cape. Beginning in August, species like Rufous Hummingbirds can make an appearance at your feeder, and by October any hummingbird you see is likely to be a rare one, as our local Ruby-throats have left by then. A flash of orange at your hummer feeder come October means it’s time to call Mark.
Let us go a little further afield, because there’s only so much you can see in your yard. It is absolutely mandatory at this time of year that you get yourself out for a long hike or paddle to a barrier beach with a nice marsh, whether it’s Sandy Neck, Nauset Marsh in Eastham, or Race Point and Hatches Harbor. Now that it’s September you’ll have a good chance to see some of my favorite shorebirds, like the rare and smartly plumed Baird’s and Buff-breasted Sandpipers, as well as Whimbrels, American Golden-Plovers, or maybe even the much sought after and increasingly elusive Hudsonian Godwit.
All of these species make marathon over water migrations between Canada and southern South America, and the strong easterly winds we’ve had in recent days may have blown some in off the Atlantic. Falcons, warblers, and seabirds are also on the move right now, providing even more reasons to get out to the beaches and thickets.
It’s ok, it’s after Labor Day - it’s mostly safe to go to the beach again!
