We awoke this morning at dawn to the Crows squawking outside our bedroom window. I thought it must be the little Red-tailed Hawk nearby. The other morning it was in our birdbath at dawn, splashing away.
I went out on the deck and looked all around in the pine trees for the hawk, but could not find him. And then… I saw these golden eyes looking down at me. Wow!
There was a Great Horned Owl in the tree right outside our bedroom window. How cool is that?!
I ran in and got the binoculars while Phil clicked away with the camera. Unbelievable! I knew there are Great Horned Owls here on Cape Cod, but I had no idea we would ever see one in our backyard!
The meadows at Fort Hill on Cape Cod are abundant with beautiful white Queen Anne’s Lace wildflowers. Last month was pink with Beach Pea wildflowers and all you can see now is Queen Anne’s Lace.
Queen Anne’s Lace reminds me of my Mom who showed me the wildflower when I was a little girl and told me that it got its name because it looked just like a delicate piece of lace.
Queen Anne’s Lace grows to about 4′ tall. It is a flat, lacy flower with 4″ clusters of tiny white flowers.
One thing I did not know is that it is poisonous and may irritate the skin. It blooms from June to September in fields and roadsides.
Pokeweed is a very distinctive, succulent plant here on Cape Cod. Its 1/4″ flowers are racemes with 5 white to pinkish round waxy sepals and green centers. Its leaves are large and egg-shaped. The stems turn red with age and the berries turn a dark blue.
It is a large plant which grows from 4-10 feet and blooms from July to September in open woods and fields. I saw these Pokeweeds at Fort Hill in Eastham along the side of the trail by the Nauset Marsh.
In the first photograph you can see the buds before they bloom to the left and as they bloom on the right. In the 2nd photograph you can see the dark blue berries that hang from the plant and look like grapes.
After reading one of the comments, I realized that Pokeweeds are very toxic plants, both the berries and the stem. Stay far away!
This Northern Flicker has been hanging around the bird feeders at my home here on Cape Cod. I think he might be a juvenile in that he didn’t quite know what to do.
He hopped across my yard and kept looking up at the bird feeder. Then he flew up there and tried to get on, but he is much too big to stand on that little peg. So he went up to the top of the pole and stared at me (2nd photograph). He looked so funny. I was able to click the first photograph as he was looking around.
After he saw a Hairy Woodpecker maneuver the suet, he latched on and comes quite frequently now.
Beautiful bird, don’t you think? Love the yellow under his wings and tail!
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
