Cape Cod Bird Nerd

12.5.17 Tuesday Tweets - John Wing Trail - Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Brewster, MA

When you're in search of birds and the weather is cold, a great place to take a peek is near any open body of water. I often mention the diversity of the John Wing Trail because it is unique. The main geographical feature that's missing is a large body of fresh water. There is an occasional mud puddle/vernal pool in between the meadow stretch of the trail and the dunes, but depending on the year and the season... sometimes we have luck there, sometimes it's plain old quiet. It is unusual to be able to hike through upland woods, onto a saltmarsh, back into the woods, past a meadow, around a vernal pool, over dunes and end up on the ocean's edge by a saltwater creek.

Tuesday Tweets began again with an almost immediate and simultaneous Red-tailed Hawk and Great Blue Heron sighting as we crossed the marsh. I enjoy lingering on the boardwalk, even though I typically start to stress about the water level as we cross. I've chosen Tuesday Tweet dates specifically to not be affected by the tides. I don't usually check supermoon tides though! They are CRAZY high!

As we approached the wooded trail on the other side of the marsh, a lone Blue Jay perched and was not daunted by our hiking by. I know. Blue Jays are essentially everywhere and it does take some pretty special folks to appreciate their beauty. Lucky both for me, and the Blue Jay, we were surrounded by such folks. As we walked along, there seemed to be American Robins just about everywhere. They were flocking on each side of the trail, and at closer glance, we spotted a couple of Cedar Waxwings perched in the tree tops.

Along the beach, which got increasingly breezy and chilly, there was a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers diving in the middle of Quivett Creek, though they were fairly far off. Once they took off I wanted to try our luck along the shore... why not? Sometimes instinct pays off and if we had to give out some "CUTE!" awards, the Sanderlings we saw scurrying along the shore were the true blue ribbon winners. They got SO very close to us as they foraged along the calm waves as they washed up along the beach's edge. Don't miss Rick's (as usual) spectacular photos. Our feet survived our hike, as we returned to the museum with an hour and a half to spare before high tide hit. Relief! (double click photos to enlarge)

Our List:
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
American Robin
Northern Cardinal
American Crow
Red-tailed Hawk
Great Blue Heron
Blue Jay
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Goldfinch
Canada Goose
Common Eider
Red-breasted Merganser
Sanderling
European Starling