Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, April 19 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
A remarkable fallout of migrant songbirds grounded by fog started on Thursday, causing hundreds of Hermit Thrushes, Golden-Crowned and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Dark-Eyed Juncos, Northern Flickers, and Palm Warblers to land on fishing boats and Outer Cape beaches. Many, especially the flickers, didn’t make it and were found dead on beaches over the following days.
Some of these migrants were tallied at the Beech Forest in Provincetown on the days after the fog cleared, including 220 Golden-Crowned Kinglets, 44 Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, 23 Brown Creepers, 66 Hermit Thrushes, and 36 Palm Warblers. Other birds seen included an early Magnolia Warbler and a White-Eyed Vireo.
A Swallow-Tailed Kite was seen in North Truro on Saturday.
A White Ibis and an Indigo Bunting continued at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay sanctuary this week.
There was also a Clapper Rail in Wellfleet.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send an email to [email protected].
