It was a gorgeous beach day and people were certainly taking advantage of the perfect weather to spend some time at Coast Guard Beach, part of the National Seashore and rated one of the Top 10 Beaches in the USA. Looks like summer is here!
Tag Archives: Cape Cod National Seashore
The Milkweed Is Blooming At Fort Hill On Cape Cod.
The Milkweed is blooming and everywhere at Fort Hill but where are the Monarch butterflies? I was so excited to see two of them a few weeks ago, but have not seen any since. Hmmm…. Where did they go? (Click on blog link for other photos.)
Does anyone have any idea why there aren’t any Monarchs at Fort Hill?
Look at all of the Milkweed growing all through the fields at Fort Hill!
Fort Hill On Cape Cod Is Spectacular!
The view from Fort Hill looking out over Nauset Marsh toward Coast Guard Station is just spectacular! Look at those Sweet Pea wildflowers blooming everywhere.
It doesn’t get much prettier, especially in the summer!
Stunning Scarlet Pimpernel Wildflowers At Fort Hill On Cape Cod.
The Scarlet Pimpernel growing on the sides of the trail at Fort Hill are absolutely stunning this year! (Click on blog link for other photo.)
I have seen a few of them over the years at Fort Hill, but only small, little clumps of them with 2-3 flowers. As you can see in the 2nd photograph, this was a pretty big bush of them.
Two interesting facts that I Iearned: 1. “The Scarlet Pimpernel flowers open only when the sun shines, and even close in overcast conditions.” 2. “If consumed, it can be toxic to livestock and humans. Toxicity level ranges from virtually nontoxic to fatally toxic and appears to correlate with summer rainfall levels.”
Have you seen the Scarlet Pimpernel at Fort Hill?
Nesting Piping Plovers At Coast Guard Beach On Cape Cod.
If you take a walk down Coast Guard Beach, you will see most of the upper beach to the right is cordoned off with stakes and string to keep the public off of that area. (Click on blog link for other photo.)
Within the area you can see little cages that have been put over the nesting Piping Plovers so that a predator cannot reach the eggs or the chicks. The birds can easily get in and out.
We are so lucky that these precious little Piping Plovers come back every year to nest on Coast Guard Beach!