WELLFLEET — Great white sharks have become as synonymous with Cape Cod summers as lobster rolls and bridge traffic. But as their population has rebounded after decades of decline, so […]
MORNING FLIGHT
The Art of Pishing
When songbirds are nowhere to be found, a scolding call can bring out a mob
Some days, birds just aren’t cooperative. Warblers stick to the crowns of trees, sparrows hide in the bushes, and finches won’t leave the hedges. Birds can be skulky beasts sometimes. […]
PIONEERS
Mayo Will Retire After 48 Years at Coastal Studies
Daniel Palacios will succeed Mayo as director of Right Whale Ecology Program
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 […]
