Phil and I had stopped at this boat launch when we saw a Green Heron creeping along in the sand, stalking something in the water. He was just beautiful. (Click on blog link for other photos.)
After feeding on a fish, he flew up to the nearby dock where he spent quite a while preening.
What a beautiful bird!
He then walked down the whole dock and down onto the raft. You can see him on the far left corner of the raft.
I loved the two photos of him leaning down stalking those fish in the waters below.
How does he balance with his feet while his whole body is over the water? What a fun morning we had just watching this guy!
We were taking a walk from Doane Rock to Coast Guard Beach when we saw all this flurry on the side of the trail. There, on the bright yellow Golden Rod wildflower, were 5 Pearl Crescent butterflies feeding on the flower. They were just beautiful!
“Its name comes from a tiny, pearly-white crescent mark inside a dark marginal patch on the underside of each hindwing.”
Have you ever seen that many butterflies on one flower?
Yesterday was one of those Top 10 summer days here on Cape Cod with temps in the 70s, low humidity, sunny skies and a nice breeze… a perfect beach day! There were plenty of people enjoying Boat Meadow Beach.
It was the perfect day for the sea gulls to find some “extra lunch” somewhere on that beach. We watched as 3 or 4 of them circled above looking for that little scrap of food that someone might drop. This Sea Gull landed a few feet away… I wonder if he got lucky!
What a morning to catch a sunrise at Coast Guard Beach! It was low tide and the surfers were starting to arrive. As that huge sun rose, its reflection on the water was spectacular! It looked just like the Endless Summer poster of years ago!
There are three small dunes at First Encounter Beach which keep getting revived year after year. It doesn’t seem like quite the right place for a dune… but, they are there. This was such a pretty view of the trail with the fence and flowers in the foreground. What do you think?
“The carving rock at Fort Hill, historically known as Indian Rock or the “sharpening stone,” is a 30-ton glacial boulder located at Skiff Hill. Native Americans used its abrasive surface for thousands of years to craft, polish, and sharpen bone and stone tools.
Local Nauset tribes used the rock to hone tools like harpoons, fishhooks, and axes. The tool-sharpening process created distinct wide depressions and long, moon-shaped grooves still visible on the boulder’s surface.
The rock was originally situated in the marsh below Skiff Hill. In September 1965, the National Park Service moved the boulder to its current location to prevent it from being lost to shoreline erosion.”
What a wonderful piece of history that is so easy to walk to at Fort Hill. Have you ever seen the carving rock?
It was really low tide at Wellfleet Harbor, as you can see how high the water comes up at high tide. It was such a pretty day where you can see Jeremy Point way in the background.
We were hiking along the trail when Phil stopped to look at something on the side of the trail. I had totally missed it! There, camouflaged by the leaves, was a toad perfectly hidden in the leaves. Can you see it?
I have taken so many photos of “sunrises over the salt marsh” and each of them is so different and so beautiful. This one the other morning was just breath-taking… what do you think?
Cape Cod daily articles and photography on places to hike, experience and enjoy. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
