As the foliage works it final magic on Cape Cod and the last of the Ospreys head south, it is time to start enjoying the wintering ducks in the many lakes, ponds and bays around the Cape. Last weekend, my 
sister, Emily and I headed out for a kayaking adventure to Washburn Island in Waquoit Bay. The wind was out of the north at 15+ knots and the temperatures were in the low 50’s. We landed on the
southwest corner of Washburn and spent time walking the beach and then crossing the dune to the SW corner of Waquoit Bay. We observed many Great Blue Herons, a
Northern Harrier cruising the dunes, a pair of Greater Yellowlegs and over one hundred Buffleheads playfully bobbing around inside Waquoit Bay. This past Sunday, we 
headed out again to visit Great Sippewisset Marsh in West Falmouth. Again, we found many Great Blue Herons, Greater Yellowlegs, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers and other delights in the
colorful marsh.
We then took a short drive around Chapoquoit Island and encountered a very pleasant surprise looking across West Falmouth outer harbor towards Little Island. In the marsh we spotted an Osprey pole and
vacated nest that had been in use this past summer. The pole and nest had not yet been identified as part of our growing Cape-wide census efforts. The exact location was noted and has been added to the Osprey Network website. Later in the day while returning from an errand in downtown Falmouth, something familiar caught my attention. I’m thinking no way, as this is such a regular route!! Again, another pole and recently vacated nest. This nest was located on a utility pole at the northeast corner of the intersection of Stratford Rd. and Fresh River Lane in Falmouth near Surf Drive. Just to the east of this pole is a beautiful small marsh. A great Blue Heron was seen stalking the edge of the marsh.
Mark Faherty provided an excellent update on the southern migration route for Goody Hallet in his Oct. 24th blog entry. Osprey maestro Rob Bierregaard has just updated the online Google Earth maps showing Goody’s migratory route in full. You’ll be delighted to know that Goody has made landfall in Venezuela after crossing through Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Curacao. Rob reports that Goody then made it about 100 miles into Venezuela before dropping anchor!! Click here to view Rob’s webpage that carefully tracks Goody’s 2008 daily migratory route.
Enjoy!
Craig Gibson
If you've enjoyed this post, please use the ShareThis icon to send it to someone else and check out Craig's osprey network photos on the sidebar!
Comments