Wellfleet Bay Natural History Notes

Piping Plovers Return to the Cape

This morning's inbox contained this great image from Don Lewis. Here's what he said in his Turtle Journal:

 

 Whether for good or for evil, whether to cheers or to jeers, piping plovers have returned to our Southeast Massachusetts  shores.  We spotted a pair of piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) in adult breeding plumage in Westport this Sunday afternoon.

There are more images of Plovers and stories of sightings in other parts of the Cape on the Turtle Journal.

It's wonderful to welcome these summer residents back! Thanks, Don!

Mary Lou Roberts

Cape Winter Residents--Long-Tailed Ducks

The Long-tailed Duck is frequently found in offshore waters around Cape Cod and Nantucket during the winters but breeds in the Arctic region during the summer months. The Long-tailed Duck was formerly known as the Oldsquaw. The long tail refers to a pair of elongated black tail feathers that stream behind the male ducks as they fly. It is a midsize sea duck and dives sometimes to depths of almost 200 feet to sustain a broad diet of mollusks, crustaceans, insects, and fish. The male has an overall round body with short dark wings, a white underparts with a black breast band, and a pale head with a large dark patch on the side of its head.

According to Wayne Petersen in Birds of Massachusetts, “the annual late fall and winter concentrations of Long-tailed Ducks off Nantucket Island are one of the most spectacular ornithological phenomena that occur in Massachusetts.”  A fascinating article from the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror noted that Nantucket is “home to the world’s most concentrated population of long-tailed ducks – and an important habitat for 14 other sea-duck species – and has become a focal point for sea-duck research.” Mass Audubon ornithologist, Simon Perkins, said “it’s one of the greatest avian spectacles in all of North America. Mass Audubon first received funding to study the Nantucket’s long-tailed duck migration patterns in response to the proposed Cape Wind wind farm project.” In the winter of 2007-2008, Mass Audubon staff in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey began using satellite telemetry to gather information on nighttime roosting locations for Long-tailed Ducks in Nantucket Sound. The Mass Audubon Long-tailed Ducks Telemetry Research Project is now in its third season with weekly updates posted online. For a project overview, read an informative article by Simon Perkins in the “Connections” newsletter published by Mass Audubon.

Birding Nantucket author, Ken Blackshaw, has traveled the world over courtesy of the U.S. Air Force and IBM, seeing birds, studying their behavior and authoring and editing many books about birds. He writes a weekly article for the Nantucket Independent newspaper.  In a recent article he explains the phenomena of Long-tailed ducks around Nantucket.  For more information, click here to learn more about the daily movements, flight patterns and feeding habits in the context of habitat management and protection. You are invited to click here to view recent additional flight images of Long-tailed Ducks.

Enjoy,

Craig Gibson
Woods Hole

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is frequently heard and seen on tree trunks as well as at seed and suet feeders in backyards, especially during the winter months.  It is increasingly common on Cape Cod making noisy vocalizations and drumming sounds in breeding season.  This attractive woodpecker can be identified by its red crown and nape along with a fairly long bill.  It is typically 9-10 inches in length with a 15-18 inch wingspan.  It has black and white barring on its back with a pale grayish tan face and underparts. 

Frequently found in the southern part of the United States, the Red-bellied is scarcer farther north but has expanded its breeding range northward in recent decades to the southern border of Canada.  Joan Walsh serves as the coordinator of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas for Mass Audubon.  Her fascinating new data shows there are currently 156 species of birds breeding on Cape Cod.  This represents an increase from the prior atlas survey. “Walsh spoke before a packed house at the recebt monthly meeting of Cape Cod Bird Club at Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster.  The early results from the current atlas reveal that the Cape has welcomed breeding turkeys, American bitterns, turkey vultures, Cooper’s hawks, willets, upland sandpipers, barred owls, red-bellied woodpeckers, Acadian flycatchers, warbling vireos, Kentucky warblers and clay colored sparrows since the last atlas was completed in 1979,” according to Rich Eldred in a recent article in The Cape Codder.

David Sibley provides an excellent overview about woodpeckers and their drumming noises.  In his book, The Sibley Guide to Birds, he states that “all woodpeckers tap their bills rapidly against wood to proclaim their territory and attract mates; this “drumming” replaces the song in most species.”  So, you might ask, what protects the woodpecker from head injuries? An online article at enature.com explains how woodpeckers strike a tree with their bill, how their brain fits in their skull, and how muscles in their head provide further protection.  Who would have guessed!!  Click here for a few more recent images.


Enjoy,

Craig Gibson
Woods Hole