Birding on the Cape and Islands, especially during the migration seasons, is all about the wind direction. During the spring we hope for moderate-to-strong winds from the southwest, which is the direction all the birds are coming from this time of year. Sometimes it brings “waves” of birds in the form of all the common nesting birds in eastern North America, and often many birds that nest far from here that “overshoot” the mark on the stirring south wind.
If you get in to birding and want to try to figure out what may happen and when, then not only do you need binoculars and a field guide, but also a pretty good understanding of how to read weather maps. Then, just when you think you have it figured out and you head out on a morning with seemingly perfect conditions only to find next to nothing - you realize this is a game that makes chess look very simple.
The middle of April saw historic and unprecedented numbers of one of the most beautiful raptors in the world, a southern species that has started to be recorded almost annually in the past few years from the Outer Cape in the spring from the Pilgrim Heights Hawk Watch site in north Truro, manned by the inimitable Don Manchester, and sponsored by the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The bird that has been seen in remarkable numbers this past April was the Swallow-tailed Kite. The first report came in of kite flying over the Barnstable Municipal Airport on April 11 at 4:30 P.M. To my mind they are the most beautiful and graceful birds in the world and certainly the gaudiest and most amazing looking raptor on the planet.
I recommend getting a look at one of these birds in any field guide, but better still an illustrated raptor guide. These birds are often described as the most graceful bird in flight and are completely aerial in their hunting. They swoop down out of nowhere and grab sleeping snakes from the tops of trees in the tropics, plunder nests in the tops of trees, and are very fond of dragonflies. Which begs the question: what are they going to find to eat here? The answer would seem to be "nothing," - so these beautiful and exciting birds needed to get back south where they can survive.
When it rains it pours. Another Swallow-tailed Kite went by the Pilgrim Heights Hawk Watch on the 12th, while on Monday madness broke loose as a flock of 4 swallow-tailed kites flew by in Truro. This is unheard of in Massachusetts in April, and just as rare in late May when young kites may wander north. Swallow-tailed Kites have become regular in very small numbers on the Outer Cape in May, particularly late May, slowly increasing over the past decade.
Another 2 kites were seen heading south on the 16th in South Wellfleet heading the right way. Many raptors in the spring wander up the Outer Cape, get to Provincetown, wonder where they went wrong, and turn around and head south. They are often recorded flying past the Pilgrim Heights Hawk Watch first heading north and then sometime either shortly or a couple of hours later heading by, returning south.
The Outer Cape is clearly a wrong turn and many of the southern species realize their mistake and make that the northern terminus of their journey.
The next couple weeks are as good as it gets in the spring on the Cape and Islands. Don’t let it go to waste.
