An Independent-minded calendar of arts and events for Outer Cape Cod

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.

Bald Eagles

    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, June 17 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

    Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Caspian Tern, 2 Arctic Terns, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 15 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, a Little Gull, a Glaucous Gull, a Sooty Shearwater, 10 Manx Shearwaters, and a Bald Eagle.

    Rather than do their own fishing, Bald Eagles often go after other creatures’ catches, according to the people at the Cornell Bird Lab. Benjamin Franklin wanted the U.S. emblem to be the wild turkey instead of the eagle. In 1784, Franklin wrote in a letter to his daughter, “For my own part, I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly.” (Photo by William O’Neill/NPS)

    Elsewhere in Provincetown, someone saw a Black-Throated Green Warbler; two Northern Fulmars were reported as well.

    There was a Blackpoll Warbler in Truro.

    You know, that Chuck-Will’s-Widow really likes it in Eastham.

    Ever since William von Herff moved away there is apparently nobody calling in birds from around Wellfleet. Come on neighbors, you can do it.

    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].

    © 2025 The Provincetown Independent, all rights reserved.

    terms of service