Category Archives: Cape Cod Photography

Red-Tailed Hawk Enjoying A Meal In Our Yard On Cape Cod.

The other morning when I went out to feed the birds, I noticed a huge splat of bird poop on the wood chips. I thought that that must have been one big bird that had come by. (Click on blog link to see other photo.)

I looked way up in the trees but didn’t see anything until… I went inside and looked out the window. And there, about 15 feet above my head, was a huge Red-Tailed Hawk sitting on a branch. He must have been there when I walked by and that was probably his mess on the ground.

As we watched him for over an hour, we couldn’t understand why he wasn’t trying to get the numerous birds, squirrels and turkeys in our yard. And then he opened his beak and regurgitated two big balls of fur. You can see them in the photo. They are about 2-3″ each. He must have just finished his meal, thus not wanting anything more from our yard.

Wow! I didn’t know that hawks regurgitated pellets just like owls. Surely a learning experience for me! (I did not know that I had gotten a photograph of him with his beak open, ready to expel, until I looked on my computer!)

As a sequel… the following day I saw the hawk get another squirrel and bring it up into the tree. He must think we have great pickings!

Love This Rock At Fort Hill On Cape Cod!

I have walked by this rock at Fort Hill thousands of times but have never taken a photograph of it from this perspective. I thought it was so pretty looking out onto Nauset Marsh. It is actually a very large rock, well over 6 feet tall.

What do you think? Love the wispy clouds in the sky!

Beautiful, White Cattle Egret At Fort Hill On Cape Cod.

Phil and I were finishing a hike at Fort Hill the other day when we saw something white in the tall grass among the yellow flowers. It looked like an Egret, but what was an Egret doing in the middle of a meadow? We usually see them on the salt marsh on near the shore. (Click on blog link for other photos.)

We clicked away and then went home and did some research. It was a  Cattle Egret which we had only seen once before in a little overflow pond a few years ago here on the Cape. “Cattle Egrets stalk insects and other small animals on the ground in grassy fields. They are much less often seen in water than other herons.”

An interesting fact is how it got its name:  “The Cattle Egret forages at the feet of grazing cattle, head bobbing with each step, or rides on their backs to pick at ticks.” Pretty cool, don’t you think?

Beautiful Mourning Cloak Butterfly On Cape Cod!

I was so surprised to see this beautiful Mourning Cloak butterfly flitting around our yard. I saw them frequently when we lived in Colorado, but I had never seen one here on the Cape.

A Mourning Cloak is a large butterfly with a wingspan of around 3″. Its color is predominantly  deep maroon with a marginal row of violet-blue marks and yellow borders.

Have you ever seen a Mourning Cloak butterfly? Beautiful butterfly, don’t you think?