Cape Cod Bird Sightings — Tuesday, October 24, 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 18 and October 24, 2023.

The Rufous Hummingbird found last week at a community garden in Orleans has continued sporadically as recently as Monday, and a late Ruby-throated Hummingbird continues in Chatham.

An immature Purple Gallinule was found walking in a residential neighborhood in Orleans on Monday but not seen again.

From Race Point to Herring Cove in Provincetown, birds reported included a Caspian Tern, a Little Gull, a Purple Sandpiper, a Red-necked Grebe, 13 Razorbills, a Common Murre, 13 Manx Shearwaters, 1200 Northern Gannets, and 20 American Pipits.

Sightings from remote parts of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge this week included 48 American Wigeon, 44 Northern Pintail, 14 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 Greater Scaup, 6 Lesser Scaup, 147 Ruddy Ducks, 1000 White-winged Scoters, 1000 Surf Scoters, 300 Black Scoters, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, 15 American Coot, an American Golden-Plover, a Purple Sandpiper, a Wilson’s Snipe, an American Bittern, 6000 Tree Swallows, a late Philadelphia Vireo, 3 White-crowned Sparrows, 5 Purple Finches, 2 Pine Siskins, and a Dickcissel.

At the mainland portion of the refuge on Morris Island, sightings included 83 American Oystercatchers, 3 Marbled Godwits, 3 Red Knots, 3 Forster’s Terns, a Merlin, and an Osprey.

A Common Murre continued Wellfleet Harbor this week, and other sightings around the Cape included a Little Blue Heron in Falmouth, a Northern Goshawk in Mashpee, 3 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in West Barnstable, an early American Tree Sparrow in North Truro, and Whimbrels in Eastham (2), Dennis, and Harwich.

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].