I saw a splash of bright yellow at our feeder and quickly got my camera. I have learned that it is better to get my camera first and get my binoculars second, as the bird might fly away quickly. (Click on blog link to see other photo.)
There, at my feeder, was a beautiful Yellow-rumped Warbler. I have never seen one this time of the year. But I looked in my Sibley’s and learned that they sometimes winter in this area. According to my Cape Cod Checklist, they are uncommon this time of year and seen only in small numbers. I guess I was lucky.
What a treat! Have you ever seen a Yellow-rumped Warbler this time of year? What a beautiful little bird!
It’s amazing to see how green the forests are here on Cape Cod in the middle of winter. The Bearberry leaves, which you can see in the first photograph, still provide much green ground cover. (Click blog link to see other photo.)
I just did a bit of research and found that Bearberries will lose their leaves but not until mid-winter or later. I’ll have to take a similar photograph in a month or so and compare them.
You can also see all the new undergrowth of pine trees on the sides of the trails. So far this winter, our forest hikes have been pretty colorful!
It was almost sunset and very cloudy and cold but we decided to go down to Rock Harbor, the Eastham side, to see if there were any pretty photographs. This is what we saw. You can see a little bit of the sun going down in the distance.
I thought it was pretty spectacular. What do you think?
There are so many rocks, called erratics, left by the glaciers along the shores of the thousands of kettle ponds here on Cape Cod. Some are huge and some are really small. You can see the large size of the rocks in the 2nd and 3rd photos. (Click on blog link to see other photos.)
Have you seen many glacial rocks in your travels on Cape Cod or elsewhere?
This Great Blue Heron was fishing for lunch the other day as we walked by on the boardwalk between Doane Rock Trail and Coast Guard Beach. (Click on blog link for other photo.) You can see he has already caught his lunch in the first photograph, while in the 2nd photograph he is trying to catch his meal.
What a great hike! You never know what you will see. There is always something going on by Nauset Marsh. Make sure you look on both sides of the bridge as you walk by. You might even see a Great Blue Heron catching his lunch!.
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.