The Cape and Islands during mid-October is a fantastic place to be, especially for those of us enamored of birds - anywhere else in New England pales in comparison. It is a paradise for birders, the volume and variety of the bird migration, mind-boggling.
A bad day birding anywhere on the Cape and Islands is better than a great day almost anywhere else.
While this sounds completely biased, it is the voice of experience, local knowledge and familiarity with many other areas speaking. When I say it’s the truth and you may not believe me, try birding other areas and get back to me. Locals have little to compare it to and don’t realize how exceptional, what they witness as a matter of course, really is. Visiting birders are so overwhelmed at the number and variety of birds that they are blown away.
We are fortunate to experience an awesome falcon flight, a huge sea duck migration, and a hefty nocturnal migration of landbirds that the coastline concentrates. It is a natural history show of the first order, demonstrating visibly that birds are on the move over our area. This past weekend, not only was the weather perfect but the winds and temperatures all cooperated to deliver lots of migrant birds.
It was a very birdy weekend wherever one was lucky enough to be out in the field. The bird migration was running on high. A Say’s Phoebe was found and briefly seen by a couple of birders in Provincetown on the 10th, while the ocean teemed with pelagic birds.
Due to the persistent, pervasive and prolonged wildfires in the western U.S. this summer, it seemed that perhaps an incursion of western birds would appear this fall. As of yet this has not happened, but with the Linda Loring Nature Foundation conducting their 5th annual Nantucket Birding Weekend there is still hope that some of these birds will appear and be detected. The wind between now and the weekend is forecast from a westerly direction which is good news, as this is where the land mass is from our location.
There were birds all over the Cape and Islands this past weekend. From Provincetown to Aquinnah, Wareham to Nantucket, birds of great variety were reported. A small flock of 5 Sandhill Cranes has been hanging out in some cranberry bogs in Wareham for the past 6 weeks. These large, vociferous cranes are increasing in numbers, the only crane species in the world that is doing so. A pair has nested in central Massachusetts for the past 2 years and one or more pairs started breeding in Maine a few years ago.
There were lots of seabirds seen from Race Point in Provincetown last weekend. The Vineyard had lots of birds as well and some 20 or more Peregrine Falcons were seen each day of the long weekend as they frolicked over the Gay Head Cliffs before departing to the west. There was also a good landbird migration and several Blue, Grosbeaks, Indigo buntings, Clay-colored Sparrows and Dickcissels were reported.
Nantucket was rocking for birds all weekend long. Highlights were lots of all 3 species of falcons, Peregrine, Merlin and American Kestrel, Orange-crowned Warblers, 3 Indigo Buntings and lots of sparrows all making for memorable birding on Columbus Day. Not hard to catch the western theme to the birds found, which results from strong westerly winds. West is best for birding, especially so at this season.
