When people design a back yard suitable for wildlife, they tend to create places that are appealing to birds and butterflies. That makes sense, because these animals are appealing visitors […]
Environment
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
The Whales Have Moved North, and the Stripers Are Here
Special speed rules to protect whales are lifted for the season
The bass are here, and the right whales are not. The whales left a week ago, and the latest aerial survey found no right whales in the area, so NOAA […]
CHEERS
Say It With Sassafras
The native Sassafras albidum is a tree full of wonders — scents of cinnamon and citrus from root to bark to tip; whimsical leaves shaped like mittens and tridents and footballs; resplendent […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, May 14 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ENVIRONMENT
U.S. Proposes 8 Wind Energy Areas in Gulf of Maine
Local fishermen’s alliance will question effects of offshore turbines
The U.S. Dept. of the Interior announced last week the proposed auction of eight offshore wind lease areas in the Gulf of Maine. The areas selected by the department’s Bureau […]
MORNING FLIGHT
The Magic of Peak Migration
Over the next two weeks, millions of birds will be coming our way
As I sit down to write about the birds I’ve seen recently — classic summer birds like barn swallows and Baltimore orioles, the first yellow warblers, and common terns are […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Too Soon to Tell, But Not Too Soon to Worry
Seeing fewer striped bass and bigger storms in the Caribbean
The striped bass are continuing to move into our area, and there seem to be a fair number of fish in Buzzards Bay, but the fishermen to our south in […]
DIG IT
The Shuffle Bushes Are in Bloom Again
The spring-blooming shrubs and trees of the widespread, mostly North American genus Amelanchier have a long list of common names, many referring to their timing. Some people call them Juneberries because their […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, May 7 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
BLOODSUCKERS
Winter Floods Set the Stage for More Mosquitoes
Flood waters abate and larvicide is sprayed, but a lot depends on the weather
WELLFLEET — Barton Morris stands in the Duck Harbor parking lot and surveys the floodplain to the north. It’s a cool April day, and it’s been about two weeks since […]
KINNIKINNICK
Give a Bear a Grape
There’s a path off North Pamet Road in Truro that slowly climbs around a bearberry-covered dune up to a soaring overlook of the Atlantic at the top, but there’s another […]
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 30 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
BUGS
Southern Pine Beetles Arrive on the Outer Cape
Warmer winters bring bark eaters to devour — or maybe just thin — our woods
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, […]
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. […]
