Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, June 28 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
A Stellwagen Bank sanctuary bird survey on June 24 tallied more than 20,000 seabirds at the southeast corner of the bank, including 4,550 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 1,790 Cory’s Shearwaters, 5,930 Great Shearwaters, 2,810 Sooty Shearwaters, 5 Manx Shearwaters, and 22 Northern Gannets.
Meanwhile, apparently not invited to the party was a Leach’s Storm-Petrel seen on the southwest corner of the bank. Also at that southwest corner, Humpback and Minke Whales were seen feeding on mackerel.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Pomarine Jaeger, 2 American Oystercatchers, 26 Piping Plovers, 8 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, 37 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 80 Cory’s Shearwaters, a Great Shearwater, 9 Sooty Shearwaters, and a Manx Shearwater.
There was a Caspian Tern in Wellfleet. Also, that out-of-season Horned Grebe continues to hang around town.
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].
