Tricia and I enjoyed a five day weekend on Cape Cod last weekend. The weather was a mixed bag and it felt like we had all four seasons during those five days and the birding was very enjoyable and relatively productive. I had 63 species for the trip (see complete list at the bottom of this post). This is up 11 species from when we last visited during the same week back in 2022. That said, nearly all the birds where what I would consider ‘expected’ species; the only out of the ordinary birds I had for the entire trip were a handful of very distant, unidentified flying alcids at Race Point on 05/07/24. The bird of the trip for me, was Red-throated Loon. I went to Race Point on 05/04/24 & 05/07/24 and High Head Beach on 05/05/24, and both places were absolutely loaded with Red-throated Loons (and a pretty good showing of Common Loons as well). What I really enjoyed about the RTLOs, was that many were in or nearly in breeding plumage – something that I’ve never seen before.
As readers of the blog know, gulls are maybe at the top of my favorite types of birds. I was disappointed with the trip in this regard -in addition to the 4 expected species (Laughing, Herring, Great Black-backed, & Ring-billed), I only had a handful of distant Bonaparte’s Gulls. Two years ago, I had absolutely loads of Bonies, as well as Lesser Black-backed, Iceland, and Glaucous!
As for mammals, in the water I had Gray Seals, Humpback Whales, and a Fin Whale. I met an old timer at Race Point – he had a Right Whale feeding before I ran into him, but unfortunately I was unable to relocate it. I was bummed, because that would have been amazing. On land, of note I had two Coyote sitings, both on my drive out to Race Point very early in the morning on 05/07/24.
One final thing. It struck me during this trip was how different being at the shore is aesthetically, as compared to Orange County. There is an airy, light feel to the surroundings and regardless of the weather, the palette seems to have more of a pastel quality to it, which I really enjoyed, both just existing in it and photographing it.
