Cape Cod Bird Sightings — Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Cape Cod Weekly Wildlife Sightings is sponsored by the Bird Watchers General Store in Orleans and Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The following sightings were reported between October 11 and October 17, 2023.
A Rufous Hummingbird was found at a community garden in Orleans on Tuesday, and late Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were seen in Falmouth, Sandwich, and Chatham this week.
A Western Tanager was seen at Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary in Cummaquid on Friday.
Single Common Murres continued in Sesuit Harbor in Dennis and Wellfleet Harbor this week.
From Race Point to Herring Cove in Provincetown, birds reported included an American Oystercatcher, a Black Guillemot, a Roseate Tern, 5 Parasitic Jaegers, a Razorbill, 15 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a hybrid Herring x Great Black-backed Gull, 3 Great Shearwaters, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 185 Manx Shearwaters, 7 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and 7 American Pipits.
Sightings from remote parts of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge this week included 1200 Surf Scoters, 1000 White-winged Scoters, 400 Black Scoters, 46 American Oystercatchers, 1200 Black-bellied Plovers, an American Golden-Plover, 28 Piping Plovers, 250 Red Knots, 2400 Sanderlings, 1150 Dunlin, 12 White-rumped Sandpipers, 2 Short-billed Dowitchers, 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Common Gallinule, a Barn Owl, 5 Peregrine Falcons, 5000 Tree Swallows, 30 Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Gray-cheeked Thrush, 2 Swainson’s Thrushes, and a Clay-colored Sparrow.
Other sightings around the Cape included a Little Blue Heron in Falmouth, late Piping Plover in Mashpee; a Eurasian Wigeon, 104 American Wigeon, and 12 Green-winged Teal in Marstons Mills; a Green Heron and 3 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in West Barnstable; single Black-billed Cuckoos in Brewster and Orleans; 2 Black Skimmers in Dennis and 6 more in Chatham; and a Whimbrel at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to [email protected].