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 […]
Environment
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 […]
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
The Call of the Catkins
How pussy willows and hazelnuts beckon trysts in the breeze
A walk along the Head of the Meadow bike trail in the first days of spring can be a master class in cold-weather copulation — of the horticultural kind. In […]
ITCHIN’ FOR IT
Pick Your Poison
Poison ivy, whose wood can trigger an allergic rash on contact just like its foliage can, might actually be easier to identify in the off-season when its “leaves of three” […]
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 2 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ENVIRONMENT
With Herring Count Ahead, a Look at What Aids a Rebound
Removing obstructions and protecting water quality are helping, scientists say
WELLFLEET — Every spring, river herring known as alewives migrate from the open ocean up Cape Cod’s streams to ponds to lay their eggs. There, their young develop before swimming […]
MORNING FLIGHT
An Ocean-Going Goose Departs Cape Cod Bay
For humans, it’s hard to fathom what birds like the brant do when they’re away
Once upon a time, a barnacle was a kind of bird. Each winter in medieval England, people who lived on the shore watched as their usual waterfowl — the barnyard-looking […]
WHEN HONEYSUCKLES SUCK
On the Morrow, an Invasion
The deciduous flora of the Cape has just barely begun to awaken and flower — most native trees and shrubs are still hitting snooze — and leaves aren’t on the […]
