A few weeks ago, I had a short trip to New England (hopefully you saw my whale watch photos). I’ve not had a chance to update the blog until now, so I’ll dump a few photos now.
The bulk of my pictures are from Cape Cod. I started at Morris Island [map](near Chatham) and Chatham Light, then worked my way over to Coast Guard Beach [map] (via the trail from Doane Rock [map]), then walked south toward Nauset Beach [map], where some Least Terns and Piping Plovers were finishing their nesting season (behind some wire fencing). I ended that day with a drive to and a hike at Beech Forest Park in Provincetown [map].
To avoid parking issues, I cheated a bit and parked at the Doane Rock Picnic area and walked a trail to Coast Guard Beach. Technically, there’s an hour limit for parking at the picnic area, but I’ve never known the lot to be full, so I thought it was worth the risk of a ticket. It paid off, with nice paths and some surprise birds, like Red-breasted Nuthatches. The biggest surprise, though, was a group of Grasshopper Sparrows that flew into the area around the rock for a few seconds, before flying away.
There was a large number of Gray Seals (with a few Harbor Seals) just off the beach where Coast Guard Beach ends, at the inlet north of Nauset Beach. They were lounging in the shallows, some of them looking like they were basking in the sun, but while submerged.
Over at Beech Forest Park, I enjoyed a nice short walk in the woods, with more chickadees and a few White-breasted Nuthatches, as well as Canada Geese in the parking lot.
Here are all the Cape Cod related eBird lists, for those of you as are interested:
Monomoy NWR-Morris Island:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30932427
Chatham Lighthouse:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30932716
Doane Rock (and the trail to Coast Guard Beach):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30936236
Coast Guard Beach (including all the way the inlet near Nauset Beach):
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30935835
Beech Forest:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30939157