Rock Harbor in Orleans on Cape Cod is a unique little harbor which is ruled by the tides. The boats go in and out closer to high tide so they don’t get stuck in all of the Cape Cod Bay sandbars. The channel into Rock Harbor is also unique as it is marked by “trees,” or what look like trees. It really is a beautiful place to visit.
I was walking down the beach the other day when I took these two photographs. I couldn’t decide which one I liked better. What do you think?
The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary has two very rare lobsters in their tanks right now. The Orange Lobster is a rare variety of northern lobsters and grows to 44 lbs., making it the heaviest growing Crustacean in the world. Orange Lobsters occur only 1 in every 10 million lobsters.
The Calico Lobster is ever more rare with only 1 in 300 million lobsters.
The variations in their color are due to genetic mutations.
If you’re on Cape Cod, make sure you go to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and see these very cool lobsters!
“The Common Baskettail is a medium-sized, dull brown dragonfly with a series of yellow-orange lateral spots on its stout abdomen. Many individuals have a large brown triangular spot at the base of each hindwing; however, the wings may be clear.”
I saw this Common Baskettail Dragon on one of the trails at Fort Hill in Eastham. I had never photographed one before. I love his little face.
The Indian Pipe wildflower is a perennial that grows to about 7 inches and is a translucent “ghostly” white, sometimes pale pinkish-white and commonly has black flecks. The leaves are scale-like and flecked with black on the flower stalk . The stem bears a single 3/4″ flower. It gets its nourishment from decayed organic matter and turns black when picked.
I had never seen an Indian Pipe before so it was a big treat to find so many of them in my woodsy yard.
Have you ever seen one? It does look like an Indian smoking pipe, don’t you think?
I took this photograph at Hemenway Landing is Eastham on Cape Cod. I had no idea what kind of seagull it was. I got home and looked and looked but came up with nothing.
So, I went to see Mike, the owner of The Bird Watcher’s General Store in Orleans, and after researching it himself concluded that it was a Laughing Gull molting its feathers. Thanks goodness that Mike is around when we get really stuck!
It just looked so weird to me, almost as if it someone had put a seagull costume on it. It just didn’t look like the body fit its head.
What do you think?
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.