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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 early deadline on Monday, Dec. 23 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Spotted Towhee at the Provincetown Airport and a Western Tanager at houses on Race Point Road both continued this week.

The Pacific Loon’s breeding range extends across northern Canada. Most of them winter on the Pacific Coast. But “people may not realize that there are more loons in these parts than your standard On Golden Pond, eerily yodeling Common Loon familiar to so many,” wrote Mark Faherty on the WCAI website in 2016. Besides the Common Loon, he listed the Red-Throated as one of our regulars as well as “the very rare Pacific Loon, of which only a few are seen in any given year.” He’s all excited about four of them showing up this week. (Photo by Lisa Hupp, USFWS)

At Race Point, an amazing 4 Pacific Loons were reported, along with 200 Razorbills, 3 Common Murres, a Lesser Black-Backed Gull, 13 Iceland Gulls plus a “Thayer’s” Iceland Gull, 5 Red-Necked Grebes, and 2 American Pipits.

Three Long-Billed Dowitchers and a Lincoln’s Sparrow were at Fort Hill in Eastham this week.

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].

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