The forests of the Outer Cape have undergone major changes throughout their history, affected by big forces, from fires to farming to 20th-century development. The next wave of change, however, […]
Environment
FLOW STATE
Gardens That Make Runoff a Resource
How fanya chini and Hügelkultur inform Peter Jensen’s Cape Cod permagardens
ORLEANS — Agroecologist Peter Jensen placed a hose along the road above the Church of the Holy Spirit and turned it on. The water flowed into a dirty channel between […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Hang a Feeder for an Extraordinary Bird
Helicoptering, speed sipping, cold sleeping, and other evolutionary marvels of the hummingbird
In the couple of seconds it takes you to read these first few words, a ruby-throated hummingbird will flap its wings approximately 110 times. Its heart will beat 42 times. […]
FAKE FRUIT
Rogues Callery
If the endangered plants and animals of the Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary are the rubies and diamonds of Provincetown’s ecological crown jewel, as the sanctuary is often described, then […]
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 23 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
SAILING AWAY
Pause for Plovers
With the piping plovers returning to their breeding grounds here to nest in the dunes, April 14 was the last day paragliders could launch from their favorite Outer Cape spot […]
FISHERIES RULES
State Commission Agrees to Ban Spring Horseshoe Crab Harvest
New restrictions during egg-laying season could help recovery of endangered shorebirds
WELLFLEET — Every spring, horseshoe crabs arrive on the sheltered beaches of Cape Cod, crawling up onto the shore to lay their eggs in the sand. For years, during this […]
SWAMP THINGS
The Red Maple Helicopters In
On the Outer Cape, the swamp maple (Acer rubrum) can often be found with its feet wet, growing vigorously in low spots like the Atlantic white cedar swamp in Wellfleet. […]
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 16 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
MORNING FLIGHT
The Sora on the Roof
And other rare birds that turn up when you least expect them
PROVINCETOWN — It’s hard to predict when you might find a rare bird. You might try after a hurricane, a good night of migration, or some other event that seems […]
DO NOT DISTURB
Mayflower Compact
At first glance, the native evergreen Epigaea repens looks a bit haggard. Its rough, leathery leaves, which have bite marks and brown spots left by the visiting insects it hosts, […]
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 9 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
INTO THE MUCK
Wellfleet Board Delays Dredging for Another Year
A stalled $4.5-million override request risks the loss of a $2.5-million grant
WELLFLEET — The harbor mooring basin here was last dredged in 1957. The job, which has been on the town’s agenda for a decade, will now be delayed for yet another […]
WHALE WATCH
Ship Speed Limit Sparks Local Economy Worries
Aimed at protecting right whales, changes could hit ferries and tourism
PROVINCETOWN — This year has proved especially lethal for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, with the discovery on March 30 of a dead female marking the fifth mortality […]
DEVELOPMENT
Eastham’s Pressure-Treated Wood Bylaw Faces Challenge
Attorney tells town its environmental bylaw conflicts with state’s building code
EASTHAM — Eastham is the only town on Cape Cod that prohibits the use of pressure-treated wood in marine environments under its wetlands protection bylaws. But according to an environmental […]