Dedicated to building a locally owned newspaper for Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham

Advertise in the Indie.

Reach more readers from Eastham to Provincetown.

Unchained news for Outer Cape Cod

The Provincetown Independent

Let us bring you the paper.

Your subscription supports real community journalism.

RARA AVIS

This Week’s Bird Sightings

By

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 5 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

A Brown Booby and an Atlantic Puffin were seen at Race Point in Provincetown, where other sightings this week included a Pomarine Jaeger, 2,500 Common Terns, 200 Roseate Terns, 130 Cory’s Shearwaters, 57 Great Shearwaters, 3 Sooty Shearwaters, and 12 Manx Shearwaters.

Truro doesn’t bird in summer, apparently.

The Audubon Field Guide calls the Pomarine Jaeger a “pirate of the ocean.” That’s because this bird does some of its foraging by harassing other birds and forcing them to drop their food. They breed in the high Arctic, feeding on brown lemmings, but they tend to roam farther afield, adding the occasional vole to their diets along with shorebirds and carrion when the lemming numbers are low. (Photo by Peter Pearsall/USFWS)

Birds at Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary this week included a continuing American Golden-Plover, 18 Whimbrels, 11 Forster’s Terns, and a Northern Waterthrush.

Then there’s the Eastham Chuck-Will’s-Widow. 

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].

Arcadia in Provincetown has free shipping on purchases over $25.
Budget Blinds "Wake Up to a World of Color"

© 2025 The Provincetown Independent, all rights reserved.

terms of service