PROVINCETOWN — The Center for Coastal Studies is set to announce that Charles “Stormy” Mayo III, a cofounder of the organization and director of its Right Whale Ecology Program, will […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Birding in Good Company
On joining Truro’s Christmas Bird Count
Birders will use just about any excuse to fit a little more bird-watching in. So, we add a few days of sunup-to-sundown birding in the freezing cold to an already […]
1859
The Butcher of Eastham
Gustavus Swift, meat magnate
On Route 6 in Eastham, across the road from Buddha Bob’s, sits a plain shingle-sided house. It’s a classic Cape house in many respects: its door faces east, it has […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Counting Alcids at Race Point
A sunrise-to-sunset day at the best seabird-watching spot on the East Coast
PROVINCETOWN — If you ask out-of-town birders what they know about Cape Cod, they’re likely to name Race Point. That’s because there’s a whole group of pelagic birds — those […]
COLD-STUNNED
More Sea Turtles in the Bay Means More Strandings
Climate change and weird winds complicate the Cape’s annual rescue effort
WELLFLEET — A few weeks ago, Heidi Clemmer was walking her dog on Corn Hill Beach in Truro when she noticed a sea turtle lying in the sand. Clemmer, a […]
MORNING FLIGHT
A Saw-Whet Owl, by Night
These smallest predatory birds are well adapted for darkness
As the sun sets on a late fall evening, an unfamiliar silence falls on the marshes of Wellfleet. The frogs, whose calls are inescapable all summer, are silent now, and […]
PLOVER PLIGHT
It’s Been a Record Year for Piping Plovers
The ‘cultural norm’ and the numbers have shifted on a threatened shorebird
WELLFLEET — Nearly 40 years ago the plump, sand-colored shorebird known as the piping plover was on the verge of extinction in Massachusetts. Now, following decades of conservation, the birds […]
MARINE LIFE
Speeding Boats Are Still Threatening Right Whales
Enforcement lags in waters that were once ‘open cowboy plains’
PROVINCETOWN — When right whales visit the seas around Cape Cod in the winter and early spring, large boats in the whales’ favored areas are barred from going faster than […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Rare Birds in Truro
A blackbird and a lark sparrow illustrate the ‘Patagonia Picnic Table Effect’
Late fall is a good time to find rarities on Cape Cod. A few far-flung birds can be counted on to arrive from the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and […]
ROADKILL
The Unseen Toll of Traffic on the Outer Cape’s Animals
Closures, crossing signs, culverts, and just slowing down can prevent squishings
EASTHAM — Eight downy ducklings tried to cross Route 6 near Nauset Road in Eastham on Aug. 1, led by a streaked brown hen. Sometime before 7:30 a.m., a car […]
ASSISTANCE
As Cold Arrives, So Does Help With Heating Costs
You don’t have to be a homeowner to get funds
As the Outer Cape braces for winter’s heating bills, it’s also the season for finding help paying those bills. Nov. 1 marked the beginning of the heating season for the […]
THE RESTORATION
Superstructure Arrives for Temporary Bridge Over Herring River
The new 320-foot one-lane span should be drivable by January
WELLFLEET — The construction site where Chequessett Neck Road crosses the Herring River was bustling on Oct. 24 as pallets of enormous metal squares called truss panels arrived on trucks. […]
CLEAN ENERGY
They’re Getting Smart About Solar in Eastham
It’s more affordable, but fewer people are adopting it
EASTHAM — Massachusetts has a problem, and Eastham is here to help. The state’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan calls for net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, which the plan says […]
SEAWALL SAGA
House on Cliff Listed for Sale as Lawsuit Fails
Trustees of the former Blasch house lose appeal on building seawall at ‘the Gut’
WELLFLEET — The house teetering on a coastal bank at 1440 Chequessett Neck Road is for sale again, less than two years after it was purchased by New York attorney […]
MORNING FLIGHT
A Visitor From Old Cape Cod on Wellfleet’s Great Island
A sighting of a prairie specialty is a reminder of local landscapes past
Wellfleet’s Great Island on a mid-October morning was full of the usual suspects for this time of year — the beaches were dotted with black-bellied plovers, the bayberries were dripping […]