We’ve had a wild ride so far in this season of monitoring Piping Plovers on the Outer Cape. Between the fluctuating cold then hot weather, failing nests, and the return of our very own banded bird, it has been very interesting. The chilly days of late April and early May have been a little tough on […]
Close your eyes and imagine the soundscape of a warm New England evening in late May or early June. What do you hear? Is the raucous chirping of spring peepers and wood frogs emanating from a vernal pool? Maybe there’s an Eastern Screech Owl whinnying from a nearby nest cavity or the whistling wings of […]
When retired International Paper scientist Warren Mumford and his wife Mary moved to Harwich four years ago, an interest in birds brought him to Wellfleet Bay where he asked then-volunteer coordinator Diane Silverstein what volunteer work was available. Her reply: “Front desk!” The front desk may sound like an inevitable spot for a new volunteer, but as anyone who’s done the […]
As anyone who walks the beaches of Cape Cod knows, all kinds of strange things are brought in by the tide every day: whelk egg cases, buoys, mysterious blobs from the sea, and—in the fall—even cold-stunned sea turtles. There is one animal in particular, however, that even the most veteran of beach walkers is often […]
Wellfleet Bay is blessed with a healthy, replicating population of Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina), a species of Special Concern in Massachusetts. In the early 1980’s, sanctuary director Bob Prescott began a mark and recapture study designed to determine our population’s size and monitor its movements. He wanted to learn how many of these land […]
The fall bird banding season starts in September with lots of noisy catbirds flying into the mist nets and feisty chickadees—the vast majority born just this year. Adult chickadees come later, apparently lying low until they complete their full feather molts. Come early-to-mid-October, the birds we find in the nets seem to change, if not overnight, then […]
Do you find satisfaction in a challenging word search or crossword puzzle? Are you one to become fully absorbed in detail oriented tasks and lose track of time? And do you like birds? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then resighting banded Red Knots could be for you! It is a dramatic, challenging, yet […]
“How are the plovers doin’?” It’s a question I’m often asked as I approach the parking lot of whatever beach I’ve just finished monitoring. I suppose my binoculars– and the giant Piping Plover on my shirt –are a bit of a giveaway. It is a question I am happy to answer, but is often more complicated […]
We’re delighted to report that Wellfleet Bay’s bird banding station will be back in business this spring to continue its long haul mission of gathering information about the birds that live at the sanctuary full-time and those who use it just for a few months or even just a day. As we work toward building a good dataset, there’s […]
The season got off to a rocky start. Eighty-eight individual terrapins were discovered in Wellfleet Bay this spring suffering from cold stun symptoms. The majority of these turtles were adult females, and though only about half of them died we doubted that the remaining females would be able to lay nests this year. As such, we […]