Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Oct. 3 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
Environment
TURTLES
Terrapin Protection Program Has a Record Year
More nests with smaller clutches of eggs suggest younger turtles are starting to thrive
WELLFLEET — “Team Turtle!” shouted Norma Ganderson as she pulled her car into the parking lot on the Lieutenant Island causeway.
DISASTER PREP
Risk of Wildfire Is Elevated on Outer Cape
Tending the forest understory could aid prevention efforts
WELLFLEET — Alfred Kraft lives on a long, narrow driveway at the end of Old Chequessett Neck Road in Wellfleet. On either side of his property, expanses of National Seashore […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 26 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
STORM CHASERS
Storm Offers Rare Encounters
Birders gather to see species blown ashore by Hurricane Lee
The night before Hurricane Lee tore through the coastal waters of Massachusetts, most Cape Codders were stocking up on food and hoping the storm wouldn’t hit too hard. Birders, meanwhile, […]
ON THE MARSH
Shorebirds Thrive Between the Tides
Birds making some of the longest migrations on the planet stop to feed on our flats
On Wellfleet’s saltwater marshes, at low tide, the grasses stand high over a vast, muddy plain. Six hours later, those same grasses are half-submerged, or standing on islands with deep […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 19 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
MOSQUITOES
West Nile Virus Makes Its Annual Appearance Here
Experts recommend removing standing water to control the disease
EASTHAM — West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne illness that appears on Cape Cod annually, has been detected in a sample of the insects in the Fort Hill area of Eastham. […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 12 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s 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, Sept. 5 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
COLD FEET
Wellfleet Backs Out of Dredging Mitigation Agreement
Select board plans to ask spring town meeting for $4.5 million for permit
WELLFLEET — The select board has backpedaled on its support for a plan that would have dedicated 28 acres in Blackfish Creek to oyster habitat restoration. The restoration was a […]
PILGRIM PROGRESS
State Hears Mostly ‘No’ at Public Hearing on Radioactive Wastewater
In written comments and at a town hall event, people press DEP to deny permit
PLYMOUTH — Nearly all of the more than 700 written comments sent so far to the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) urge the agency to finalize its denial of […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 29 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ENVIRONMENT
A Threat of Fines Prompts Oil Spill Cleanup to Resume
Years of testing follow a spill near a Wellfleet wetland
WELLFLEET — State officials want to see the cleanup of a nearly two-year-old oil spill at a downtown business and recently threatened the owner with fines “in excess of several […]
RADIOACTIVITY
Holtec Releases Some Pilgrim Wastewater as Gas
Officials say amount is small, but watchdogs worry more is planned
PLYMOUTH — Officials and citizens groups that have spent two years fighting to block Holtec Decommissioning International from dumping 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater from the Pilgrim nuclear plant […]
