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This Week’s Bird Sightings

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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 Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Pacific Loon, an American Golden-Plover, 11 Parasitic Jaegers, 2 Arctic Terns, 20 Roseate Terns, a Common Murre, a Sooty Shearwater, and 10 Manx Shearwaters. A Yellow-Breasted Chat, 110 Cedar Waxwings, and 2 Black-Billed Cuckoos were seen at Provincetown Airport.

Chuck-Will’s-Widow is in the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae. “The entire Caprimulgidae family is a fiesta of nomenclature goofiness,” says a blogger on 10,000 Birds. “Which is only appropriate given that these are a species that look odd, act odd and sound odd.” The entry goes on to quote John James Audubon, who it seems did not find these birds odd: “No sooner has the sun disappeared, and the nocturnal insects emerged from their burrows, than the sounds, “chuck-will’s-widow,” repeated with great clearness and power six or seven times in as many seconds, strike the ear, bringing to mind a pleasure mingled with a certain degree of melancholy, which I have often found very soothing.” (Photo by Arun K. Bose/USFWS)

A Western Kingbird, very unusual for spring, was at Powers Landing in Wellfleet over the weekend.

Up to two Mississippi Kites were reported from Truro this past weekend, as well as a single Common Nighthawk. Also, a Kentucky Warbler and a Philadelphia Vireo were reported from High Head in Truro.

A Chuck-Will’s-Widow was recorded near Coast Guard Beach in Eastham. Single Common Nighthawks were also seen in Eastham, as were a Summer Tanager and a Little Blue Heron.

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].

J&E Produce has beautiful autumn vegetables.

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