To the visiting bee, the flower of Cypripedium acaule, the pink lady’s slipper, looks like a friendly spot for an easy meal of nectar or pollen. Once entered, the slipper is […]
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, May 28 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Dispatch From the World Series of Birding
In New Jersey, watching and listening to win — or not
“Competitive birding” sounds like an oxymoron. People think of birding as a deeply personal hobby. It’s supposed to be about one’s connection with nature and desire to know one’s place […]
PATHBREAKING
Revisions on Path to Cove Don’t Sway Eastham Commission
Board sees erosion and runoff as problems with a new path through marshland
EASTHAM — Steven and Cathy Sanders’s deed to 75 South Eastham St. includes a right-of-way allowing them access to Town Cove on the other side of Route 6. The couple’s […]
HAWKS & OWLS
Tracing the Shadow of Rodenticides on Cape Cod
Eastham and Wellfleet join Orleans in petitioning for home rule on SGARs
EASTHAM — Sometimes, when a bird arrives at Wild Care, the wildlife rehabilitation center here, Executive Director Stephanie Ellis knows instantly what it is suffering from. She recalls when a […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Learning to Expect the Unexpected
Melting icebergs send colder, more acidic fresh water our way
The Provincetown waterfront is coming alive with the lifting of the bay-wide 10-knot speed limit. Our first high-speed ferries from Boston arrived this week. Our first cruise ship also came […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Dispatch From the World Series of Birding
In New Jersey, watching and listening to win — or not
“Competitive birding” sounds like an oxymoron. People think of birding as a deeply personal hobby. It’s supposed to be about one’s connection with nature and desire to know one’s place […]
PEEP SHOW
A Glimpse of Blue Toadflax
Squatting among the beach grass, plums, and roses that decorate the coastal bank bordering Wellfleet’s Mayo Beach is a colony of blue toadflax, a diminutive native wildflower whose beauty isn’t […]
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 21 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
AURORAE
Northern Lights Dance Over Outer Cape
WELLFLEET — On hearing there was a solar storm on the way, Jeremy Storer went online to find maps of where the northern lights might appear for those of us […]
BIRD LIFE
Truro’s Ospreys Are Partial to the Transfer Station
An electrical fire and multiple power outages are traced to a bird nest
TRURO — Of the osprey, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Its shrill scream seems yet to linger in its throat, and the roar of the sea in its wings.” At the […]
FISHERIES
Fishermen Join Fight for Herring Trawler Rules
Push to save river herring may help protect the oceangoing species
The marine ecosystem around Cape Cod is built on the backs of Atlantic herring. These baitfish school in massive numbers, providing food for marine mammals, seabirds, and large fish like […]
HABITATS
A ‘Cape Cod Lawn’ Can Be a Haven for Turtles
Invite nesting by keeping a scrubby yard with sandy patches, not a swath of green
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 […]
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 […]
