Outer Cape  1-15 September 2018

Fluke of Humpback Whale with whale boat in distance

For the third September in a row, I returned to Cape Cod for a getaway with nature. This time I was joined by my daughter, Grace, and wife, Carol. We based out of Wellfleet, and wandered to Monomoy Island, the Wellfleet Audubon Sanctuary, the Atlantic and bay beaches of Wellfleet, and to Provincetown and the waters off Provincetown.

Marconi Beach. Wellfleet

After several balmy and sunny days, we got a dose of cloud and autumnal weather. No matter what, the Cape is the place to be in early September.

young Peregrine Falcon on North Monomoy

Carol and I went with friends to North Monomoy Island one day. The Outermost Marine shuttle boat dropped us off about a half-mile from the beach and we waded for about 30 minutes through chilly waters to get there (more time spent wading that our time in the boat!). Best to go on a high tide....

Least Sandpiper on North Monomoy Island

We had large numbers of Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Red Knots, and American Oystercatchers, plus a Peregrine and a whale skull on the flats. A Whimbrel flock passed overhead. But no Hudsonian Godwits... that disappointment was offset by the Gray Seals all about...

female Gray Seal

On five different mornings we visited the Audubon Sanctuary in South Wellfleet. The walk out to the Bay flats is very fine and always productive. There were swarms of Fiddler Crabs on the mudflats and nests of Diamondback Terrapins were hatching out (the little tiny hatchling were held in small cages until they were ready to disperse).

 Fiddler Crab male

Having heard of sightings of Long-tailed Jaeger and Hudsonian Godwit, one morning we visited the causeway to Lieutenant Island (in Wellfleet) and met up with a team from Manomet Observatory. The team was trapping Whimbrels to attach satellite tags that will allow those individuals to be tracked to South America and back.

Whimbrel in flight

The Cape Cod Bay beaches are lonely and very birdy (mainly gulls and terns) and well worth walking. The hike from Duck Harbor Beach south to Great Island is worth doing in the early morning. We saw a large group of seals on a sandbar here.

Common Tern

On several days we traveled north to Provincetown. Lots to do here in town (re: the arts) and out of town (biking, walking, beaching).

Carol on the Dune Shacks Trail, Provincetown

The Dune Shacks Trail took us up and over huge dunes out to the ocean. We did this at the end of the day and it was spectacular. One could get lost in these grand dunefields... Writer Eugene O’Neill spent time out in one of the dune shacks in 1919.

Wild Turkey flock

The Province Lands bike path took us through undulating dunes and forests of pine and beech and Red Maple. It was dotted with small ponds. Its a blessing that these lands were set aside by President Kennedy back in the early 1960s. So much of the outer cape is protected. This makes the adjacent private lands so much more attractive.

 High cliff of Great Island, Cape Cod Bay, Wellfleet

Wild Turkeys flocks were all over the place and were very confiding.

Gray Seal loafing aggregation near Duck Harbor beach, Wellfleet

On two mornings we took Dolphin Fleet whale-watch boats out to Stellwagen Bank to look for whales. Both trips were hosted by naturalist Dennis Minsky. Here is what we saw:

Common Eiders in harbor

Atlantic White-sided Dolphins

A school of Harbor Porpoises

Humpback Whale spouting or blowing

Humpback Whale with propeller blade injuries on back

Humpback Whale fluking

Humpback Whale raising its pectoral fin

Humpback Whale spy-hopping

Humpback Whale adult breaching

Humpback Whale calf breaching

Humpback Whale hitting water after a breach--very noisy!

Blue Shark lazing about on water surface

On the two boat trips the only seabirds we saw were a few Cory’s Shearwaters and a handful of Northern Gannets—a far cry from the abundance of seabirds in September 2017. Each year brings a different experience—a compelling reason to repeat these visits year after year.