’Round these parts, venturing off the forest trail and into the brush is not without some risk. Poison ivy is common, Lyme-bearing ticks lie in wait, and the native vine […]
Environment
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, July 9 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
WELLFLEET HARBOR
Stranding Stirs Dolphin Rescue Effort at ‘the Gut’
125 Atlantic white-sided dolphins are trapped at low tide
WELLFLEET — Last week’s mass dolphin stranding here is thought to be the largest in at least a quarter century, and its causes may never be fully explained. One hundred twenty-five […]
POND SCUM
Bacteria Monitoring Expands in Outer Cape Towns
Runoff and climate change will likely make blooms more common
PROVINCETOWN — Sophia Feuerhake and Jacob Scola meet at the entrance to Clapps Pond off Route 6 and unload a box full of equipment — tubes, nets, bottles, and a […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Whale Watching Is for the Tubenoses
Going offshore for a closer look at seabirds
I’ve always loved visiting nature in ways that make me feel out of my element. We have so dominated nature, so domesticated it, so segregated it from our normal lives […]
PINK FLAMINGOS
A Local Rose Has Its Day
The last days of May saw the first beachside blooms of the naturalized Asian species Rosa rugosa, and June was filled with the dramatic, arching white displays of multiflora rose, […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Monday, July 1 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
THE DREDGE REPORT
In Wellfleet, Mooring Means Your Rudder’s in the Mud
The upside: there’s no waiting list for a spot in the field
WELLFLEET — It’s been so long since the mooring field in the harbor was dredged that those most familiar with the marina can only guess how many boats it might […]
BLOODSUCKERS
Rains and Floods Set Stage for Another Mosquito Boom
Mosquito control experts worry home-rule petitions could prevent larvicide use
WELLFLEET — It’s not just you — even the county’s mosquito control experts say 2024 is shaping up to be a bad year for the bugs. They’re also worried that […]
MILKWEED
A Commoner for the Monarchs
There are many threats to the survival of the monarch, that iconic orange-and-black butterfly that migrates each summer from Mexico to the Northeast and back over multiple generations. One is […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, June 25 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
FLOW STATE
Truro Pursues Return of Pamet Salt Marsh
Part of a project to restore habitat is on June 27 ballot
TRURO — The Pamet is not just a tidal river but an entire estuarial system — albeit an altered one — that stretches the width of Truro. At its eastern […]
‘RISK-SIGNIFICANT’ EVENTS
Holtec Confirms Pilgrim Worker Was Contaminated
Reactor’s owner downplays incident while revising wastewater permit wording
PLYMOUTH — An incident that exposed a worker at the shuttered Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to airborne radioactive contamination was confirmed on June 14 by Patrick O’Brien, spokesman for Holtec […]
MORNING FLIGHT
In Wellfleet, Watching a Bird That Relies on Us
Pushed out by starlings, purple martins need nests made by humans
At this time of year, a unique birdsong rings out over the parking lot at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. It’s jumbled and metallic, almost bubbly, and unlike any […]
SEEDY AND SUNBAKED
Oh Lanceolata, Thou Showeth Up Everywhere
Yellow-blooming species of the Coreopsis genus are not native to New England, though several have come from elsewhere in the country to naturalize here. The most widespread visitor is Coreopsis lanceolata, a tough […]
