Cape Cod Birding, Two and Three

Dunes and the Atlantic, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Last night just before falling asleep, we searched a Cape Cod Birding website for the address where the Painted Bunting was seen - right here in Orleans! So, early this morning, after picking up a cup of coffee to go with our homemade cinnamon twists, we headed out for another day of birding.  The day was overcast, temp in the high 30's, leaving the Olde Tavern Motel at 7:22 am, mile 169 on the trip odometer.

We made a quick stop near Chickadee lane, where there happened to be active feeders and continued adding birds to yesterday's list:

20. Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata

21. White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis

22. Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapilla

23. Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor

24. White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

25. Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens

Next stop, 7 Harborview Lane, where the Painted Bunting was last reported on December 22nd. Wearing all of our layers to keep warm against a light wind, we stood quietly and watched Nancy's birdfeeder, which was filled with sunflower hearts. After about 30 minutes of watching feeder birds in the neighborhood, and after the Blue Jays finally cleared out for a moment, the female Painted Bunting put in her appearance! We were able to catch her on video. This image does not do justice to her beautiful bright green and yellow plumage! but watch until the end, she makes two appearances.  Feeding with her are a Tufted Titmouse and several House Finches.

Female Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris, Orleans, MA, with Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor and House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus

Other new birds seen in the same neighborhood:

26. Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris (FEMALE)

27. Carolina Wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus

28. American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis

29. House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus

30. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus

31. Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus

32. Merlin, Falco columbarius

33. Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia

34. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura

35. Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
36. Cooper's Hawk, Accipiter cooperii

After our success of finding the Painted Bunting we headed north out of Orleans on Route 6A, to Eastham. We picked up a few new birds along the way, stopping at Herring Pond, First Encounter Beach and Great Pond. Parking at the terminus of Samoset Road, we walked First Encounter Beach to the mouth of the Herring River, with views both out to Cape Cod Bay, and inland over extensive saltmarsh.  In addition to several species of duck, we observed a flock of 150 Dunlin, Calidris alpina, feeding at water's edge.

Aythya collaris, Ring-necked Duck, Herring Pond, Eastham, MA

Other new birds seen in Eastham, near Herring Pond, First Encounter Beach, and Great Pond:

37. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus
38. Cedar Waxwing,  Bombycilla cedrorum
39. Ring-necked Duck,  Aythya collaris
40. Great Blue Heron,  Ardea herodias
41. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
42. Brant, Branta bernicla
43. Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula
44. Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis
45. Common Loon, Gavia immer

Way out on the broken ice in the mouth of the Herring River were about a dozen Harbor Seals, Phoca vitulina.  We saw seals again later, in the ocean at Race Point, in Provincetown.  Just their heads were visible, clearly watching us as we walked the windy beach.

Driving east on Samoset Road, we entered Cape Cod National Seashore at the Salt Pond Visitor Center, and spent some time at Coast Guard Beach. The National Seashore protects some 45,000 acres of beaches, tidal marshes, upland pine-oak woodlands, glacial ponds and dunes.  Although the Visitor Center was closed, a separate restroom facility was open, clean and warm, and the access roads are open year-round from 6am until midnight.

Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus

Birding the Atlantic coast here, as well as the salt marshes behind the dunes, we added a few new species:
46. Northern Gannet,  Morus bassanus (photo)

47. Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca
48. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
49. Northern Harrier,  Circus cyaneus

Continuing north to Wellfleet, we turned west off Route 6 to Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, a 1100-acre preserve of field, forest, marsh and beach.  The Nature Center was closed for the holiday, but the parking lot was cleared of snow, and the 5 miles of trails were accessible - if one was wearing boots! 

After an hour of walking, and time spent watching the Sanctuary's well-stocked feeding stations, we were rewarded with some very good new birds.
50. Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa

51. Hairy Woodpecker, Picoides villosus

52. Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis

53. Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula (FEMALE, photo below)
54. Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla

Northern Oriole, Icterus galbula, female

We left Wellfleet at 2:30pm, mile 190 on our trip, and continued north through Truro on our way to Provincetown.  Detouring off Route 6 to 6A again, we stopped to scan the Bay beside some boarded-up beach houses.  Here we saw species we've already reported: 

Common Eider, Brant, Common Goldeneye, Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed Gulls, Red-breasted Merganser, White-winged Scoter, Black Duck, Bufflehead and Mallard.

In Provincetown proper, we stopped at the town pier between 3:30 and 4 pm (mile 210) and through light rain and a strong wind found three new species.
55. Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, on the breakwater

56. Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, on the breakwater

57. Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus, swimming in the harbor

As we left Provincetown, the time-and-temperature sign read: 4:07 pm, 41 degrees.  Before turning south back to Orleans, we explored an access road to Race Point Lighthouse.  At 4:30 it was pretty dark, and we could make out only some gulls floating just off the beach.  We'll be back tomorrow to explore Race Point some more.

Blogging while waiting for our take-out

At 5:45 pm, mile 243, we're back in Orleans, this time at the THAI CUISINE - also take-out, with which we finished that bottle of wine.

CAPE COD, DAY THREE

Saturday, December 26th, 2009.

Dunes and snow, pathway to Race Point

Another overcast morning, temperature feels the same as yesterday - maybe 40 degrees as we leave the Olde Tavern Motel at 8am.  A quick stop for coffee at Mobil-On the Run at the corner of Main and Cranberry Highway, and we're on our way north again.

Along the drive we keep watch for birds, finding nothing new:  Crow, all three common gulls, MoDo, Blue Jay, Blk Duck, Bufflehead, Cardinal, Mallard, No. Harrier.

At 9:15 we arrive at Race Point, in the National Seashore's Province Lands, mile 274 in our trip.  This is more classic Cape Cod beach, beautiful sand, wild dunes, with stunted pines back from the dunes.  We walked and walked the beach, watched the Gannets plummet straight down for fish, saw numerous flocks of Murres, gulls and mergansers.  After two hours of walking we turned and came back to the car, for a total of three hours out on the beach.

the yellow line traces our route today

We had many new birds, one of which was a lifer for both of us - the kittiwake.

58. Dovekie, Alle alle

59. Common Murre, Uria aalge

60. Razorbill, Alca torda

61. Black-legged Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla (2 Juvenile with bold "M" pattern above, and two adults)

62. Iceland Gull, Larus glaucoides

63. Black Guillemot, Cepphus grylle

64. Red-throated Loon, Gavia stellata

65. Unidentified Shorebird

Several times we watched the amazing spectacle of a Fin Whale coming up for breath.  It was cruising the deeper water just offshore, along with several Harbor Seals.  Jorge took these photos of Fin Whale and Harbor Seal in Nova Scotia in May 2009.

Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus, in Nova Scotia, May 2009

Harbor Seal, Phoca vitulina, in Nova Scotia, May 2009

The dunes themselves are home to a unique ecological community.  We hoped to find Horned Larks and Snow Buntings in the dunes, or a Short-eared Owl cruising low over the terrain - but no luck.  The close-up setting on my Nikon Coolpix was able to capture the detail of a British Soldier lichen, nestled right down at sand-grain level.

British Soldiers, Cladonia cristatella

Back at the car, we ate a quick lunch while resting from our beach walk, then drove into Provincetown again.  We walked halfway out the breakwater connecting town to the tip of Long Point (see map above), facing a stiff, cool wind until we scrambled down to the sand flats out of the wind.  We had no new birds here but it's always a fascinating spectacle to watch a gull break open a mollusk on the rocks.  Facing the strong wind, the birds positioned themselves less than two feet above a particular rock, dropped the clam, swooped down to claim it, then either picked it up again and repeated the operation, or having been successful, ate the morsel.

Mid afternoon now, time to head south again, we wanted to get back to Orleans before 5pm to take a look around the Birdwatcher's General Store.  On the way down Route 6 we detoured to another National Seashore access point at Pilgrim Heights, and picked up a surprise new bird:
66. Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dendroica coronata - several were feeding in small pines with the Chickadees and Titmice

Continuing down Route 6 through Truro, another detour, this time through the town's Old North Cemetery - usually a good habitat for open-space birds, like sparrows.  And indeed, no sooner had we pulled in, than we flushed two sparrows from their roosting place.  With rusty crowns and yellow bills, they had to be:

67. White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys - Juvenile

Sue and Jorge watching whales at Race Point, Cape Cod National Seashore

Wrapping up our two days of birding on Cape Cod, we left the Birdwatcher's General Store at closing time, 5PM, having selected a few books, a t-shirt and a souvenir mug.  At mile 488 - 9pm, we arrived back home in Willington after a supper stop en route, and unpacked our treasures.  We decided it would be okay to add one last bird to our list - one we heard twice but never saw:

68. Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon