We’ve had some beautiful days here on Cape Cod the past couple of weeks, so we got our binoculars and headed to Boat Meadow Beach to see if there were any shore birds around. From the car we couldn’t see much so we thought it would be fun to walk over to Rock Harbor via the flats. Were we in for a treat!
There were shore birds everywhere on the flats searching for food. We got our cameras out and clicked away, hoping for that special photo op. It wasn’t until we got home and looked on the computer that we saw some birds that we had never seen before. In this frame you can see a White-rumped Sandpiper, a Semipalmated Plover and a Western Sandpiper. We had never seen the White-rumped Sandpiper or the Western Sandpiper before.
We saw our first Great Yellowlegs on the flats at Boat Meadow Beach the other day. Summer must be somewhere around the corner. It’s such a treat to see the shorebirds migrating back up north.
As you can see the Greater Yellowlegs is known for its distinctively long, bright yellow legs and yellow feet. Have you ever seen a Greater Yellowlegs?
The wind has been glorious for windsurfing and kite surfing on Cape Cod Bay. It was fun to watch these two set up their windsurfer on the sandbar, which was quickly disappearing, and then take it out for a nice ride! (Click on blog link to see other photos.)
In the 2nd photo you can see them starting to set up. In the last photo you can see how much the tide had come in while they were launching their windsurfer.
If you look closely at the first photograph, you can see the other windsurfer in the water to the right. Maybe this was a windsurfing lesson and he was the instructor?
I’ve seen quite a few Brants along the shores of Cape Cod Bay recently. They are a small goose with a distinctive broken collar pattern on their necks, which makes them easy to identify.
Their diet consists mainly of eel grass found in the tidal flats which is why they usually feed in flocks at low tide when vegetation is accessible.
When doing a bit of research I found an interesting fact: Brants possess a highly developed salt gland which allows them to drink salt water.
We’ve had a lot of very windy days here on Cape Cod lately. I don’t remember ever seeing so many white caps on the bay side. I took this photograph from our car picnic. It was just gorgeous!
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
