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].

Chipping Sparrow at Morris Island feeder station.

American Goldfinch on the salt marsh

Semipalmated Sandpiper at Morris Island

Eastern Towhee, Morris Island

Trail at Morris Island

Doane Rock (a glacial erratic)

Ovenbird near Doane Rock

Old Coast Guard Station from Coast Guard Beach

Old Coast Guard Station

Salt Marsh at Coast Guard Beach

Immature Great Black-backed Gull on Coast Guard Beach`

Gray Seal near Nauset Beach

Gray Seal “water basking”.

Just some of the Gray Seals near Nauset Beach

Common Tern near Nauset Beach

Piping Plover near Nauset Beach

Least Tern nesting near Nauset Beach

Piping Plover chick, near Nauset Beach

Piping Plover parent!

White-breasted Nuthatch at Beech Forest Park

Black-capped Chickadee at Beech Forest Park

The trail at Beech Forest Park

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