Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 16 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
News flash from beyond the rotary: Chatham had a remarkable record of a Cape Verde Shearwater, the first for Massachusetts and second for North America. It was photographed several miles east of Chatham on Aug. 12.
That Brown Pelican continues to be seen in various spots along Cape Cod Bay, most recently at First Encounter Beach in Eastham and Jeremy Point in Wellfleet.
An American Bittern was seen in North Truro.
A Great Cormorant visited Provincetown Harbor.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Razorbill, a Baird’s Sandpiper, a Western Sandpiper, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, a Black Tern, 300 Roseate Terns, 1,500 Common Terns, 750 Cory’s Shearwaters, 2,250 Great Shearwaters, and smaller numbers of Sooty and Manx Shearwaters.
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].
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article, published in print on Aug. 18, reported the sighting of “Common Shearwaters” at Race Point. There is no such species; the species is Cory’s Shearwater.
