PROVINCETOWN — Late April marks the peak of the North Atlantic right whale season in Cape Cod Bay. Since January, more than 180 of these endangered animals have made an […]
Environment
MORNING FLIGHT
A Place for Rare Birds
Seeing one rare winter visitor led to seeing another at a Provincetown feeder
This is the story of seeing the rarest bird I’ve ever seen on Cape Cod. It was a few days before Christmas when I got an email from Provincetown resident […]
NATURAL SELECTION
Carex Calls for Aid
Rising (relatively) high on triangular stalks, the male flowers of Carex pensylvanica, a grass-like sedge that can be found softening the Outer Cape’s oak-pine forest floors, are jutting out their pale-yellow stamens […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, April 29 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ENVIRONMENT
A Tale of Two Recycling Systems
Wellfleet’s multi-stream approach wins on price and efficiency, while other towns opt for ease
WELLFLEET — If there’s one thing Cape Codders can be proud of, it’s being good recyclers. That’s according to Kari Parcell, whose job is to be picky. Parcell is the […]
SOCIAL SPECIES
A Footprint Foretells the Recovery of Our Would-Be National Bird
In the wild, turkeys are more fascinating than that drawing on the bourbon bottle suggests
The frantic sprint of the large-but-lithe bird got my youngest daughter’s attention first: “Turkey! Turkey! I see a turkey!” My eldest scanned the road in front of us. “Where? I […]
NATURAL SELECTION
Pilewort for the Peloton
Cyclists may especially appreciate the medicinal role the yellow-blooming plant growing alongside the Rail Trail in Eastham once played. Though this buttercup isn’t known these days for being anything but […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, April 22 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
CLIMATE
Scientists Say ‘Cold Pulse’ Is Linked to Surge in Dolphin Strandings
Warming water changes the food supply, leading animals closer to shore
PROVINCETOWN — Cape Cod has always had more dolphin strandings than anywhere else in the world. But 2024 was the worst year for strandings ever recorded here, and scientists have […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Nesting Instincts
In the birds’ realms, construction gets underway
Every day, before I head into work, I go to see what’s swimming around MacMillan Pier. In the winter, this mostly involves looking at ducks, checking on that one thick-billed […]
NATURAL SELECTION
The Stink of Spring
It’s officially spring at the Eddy Sisters Community Garden in Brewster when wafts of the scent of rotting flesh begin to carry over from the property’s adjoining bog, where the […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, April 15 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
GREAT WHITE
State Bans All Large-Shark Fishing on Outer Cape
To get around rules, fishermen claimed to be pursuing other species than great whites
WELLFLEET — A group of fishermen using baited hooks delivered by drones to fish for sharks at LeCount Hollow Beach last September got into an altercation with surfers that led […]
FRESH BROOK: PART 2
The Sea-Run Trout’s Return to Wellfleet
Understanding a subspecies that starts in fresh water but needs access to the sea
In May 1840, a small group of sport fishermen set out from Newport, R.I. in search of sea-run brook trout. Traveling first by ferry, then by coach and horseback, and […]
NATURAL SELECTION
Wishing on Neon Stars
There are two species of the New World genus Hudsonia, or false heather, on the Cape: a woolier one with fuzzy leaves and flowers that don’t have much of a […]
