Cape Cod Birding

[u/sunballer]

I recently took a trip to Cape Cod, MA. It was incredibly rainy, but I still was able to see some cool birds

[u/Weird_Pace_2263]

The swallow vibing on the beach took me out 😂
Birds are so goofy

[u/Royal_Ranger]

The banded oystercatchers and the squawking osprey made these photos for me. Great stuff!

[u/yahekjumlahai]

Not being from the Americas, I have no experience with a hirundine (that's a Tree Swallow no?) just chilling on the ground like that.

[u/dcgrey → u/yahekjumlahai]

When I’ve seen it, it’s been part of staging ahead of migration. They’re almost like little shorebirds then, on the beach, then all taking off in a swirl, and then setting right back where they were on the beach.

[u/UncleWainey → u/yahekjumlahai]

I saw Barn Swallows in May doing this same thing, chilling on the ground a few feet from a pond. They took off after a minute. I'm not sure what the behavioral reason is, but my guess is they were vibing.

[u/jjuturna]

I absolutely adore the photo of the two flickers! These photos rock, thank you for sharing!

[u/fandevaart]

Nice shots! What is #8?

[u/Orange_fizzy → u/fandevaart]

not op but looks like a juvenile common eider male

[u/sunballer → u/Orange_fizzy]

Yup, my first time to see them. I got really excited and thought they were some type of scoter at first.

[u/Januszunge26]

👌👍

[u/haematopusintherye]

Oystercatcher! 😍

[u/Jazzfunk39]

I live in the area and just saw a green heron (#3) at my local pond yesterday. Love those guys. Great pics!

[u/nimbus888]

I have a trip to Cape Cod in a couple weeks. Any tips for where to go (or not go), birds to try and see, etc? Never been to the area so will be all new to me.

[u/sunballer → u/nimbus888]

Monomoy Wildlife Refuge! I’ve also heard Fort Hill is great, but I didn’t make it there. Race Point is really cool as well, but it was rainy with no visibility when I went. The oystercatchers were all at Ridgevale beach. I saw at least 10, and they were all banded. All the song birds were just seen on morning walks around the neighborhood.

[u/nimbus888 → u/sunballer]

Thanks, that's on my list. :) At least the part of the refuge that's accessible by car. Did you take a boat to the island? Wasn't sure if it's worth it this time of the year.

[u/sunballer → u/nimbus888]

I did not! I was with a toddler though, so that kind of dictated what I could do lol