Tag Archives: Cape Cod Birding

Eastern Kingbird At The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary On Cape Cod

I was so excited when I saw this Eastern Kingbird at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape Cod. I had never seen one before. It was flitting from tree to tree on the bay side of Tri-Island. It landed just long enough for me to take  a photograph.

The Eastern Kingbird has slate-colored back and wings with a black head. It is about 8″ long. It likes to perch on top of trees which is where we saw it again on top of a dead tree by Goose Pond.

They will stay around all summer, so maybe you will ger lucky and see it there too!

Bath Time For The Baltimore Orioles At Our Home On Cape Cod

I fill my bird bath many times during the day here on Cape Cod because so many birds like to take a bath in it! They are so much fun to watch.

These two Baltimore Orioles, male and female, took turns bathing while the other was a lookout. They certainly were enjoying themselves!

So cute, don’t you think? It’s a pretty inexpensive way for a lot of entertainment!

The Baby Red-Tailed Hawk Has Fledged In Our Yard On Cape Cod!

When I walked outside on Saturday there was such a racket I had to go in the backyard and see what all of the birds were squawking about! The Baltimore Orioles, Robins, Chickadees, Catbirds and Blue Jays were yelling and screaming and dive-bombing something. When I looked up I saw that it was the baby Red-Tailed Hawk! Wow! He was out of his nest!

He was oblivious to it all as he sat on the branch for at least an hour. I clicked away. And then he made this gesture like he was going to go out for some prey… thus my first photograph.

He flew across the yard and went crashing to the ground. I thought he was hurt, but no, I think he was practicing. He got up and went skulking around the trees like there was a rabbit or chipmunk under it. Too funny.

He did this for a bit and then flew back up into another tree. I wonder if his mother praised him for his good practicing? Sometimes there is just too much drama in our backyard. 🙂 Love it!!

Hairy Woodpecker On Our Suet Here On Cape Cod

We have four different woodpeckers that have been enjoying our suet here on Cape Cod. This photograph is one a Hairy Woodpecker, very similar to the Downy Woodpecker but much larger. We also have Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers.

I love how they grab on to the bottom of the suet and can peck away. This is perfect so the other birds, such as the Starlings, cannot eat it all!

Baltimore Orioles Building Their Intricate Nests On Cape Cod

It has been so much fun watching the colorful Baltimore Orioles building their nests here on Cape Cod. Their nests are a woven, hanging nest so they need materials which they can weave.

We bought a roll of Sisal Packing Twine and cut it into little pieces, anywhere from 4″ to 8″ long. This is the kind of twine that you can unravel and it makes lots of smaller pieces of twine which the birds love.

This is a photograph of one of the Baltimore Orioles with his beak full of Sisal Twine, ready to fly to his nest. We saw one little Chickadee with his beak so full that he had a hard time getting off of the ground! So cute! And so much fun to watch. We put a new stash of twine out on the ground each morning just in case…

We bought 3 new bird houses about 3 weeks ago which are all now inhabited by little Chickadees. Boy, they didn’t take long! And a pair of Robins have built a nest in one of the Evergreen trees that we just planted about 2 weeks ago.

Never a dull moment in our backyard! Lots of little baby chicks to look forward to!

(We can already hear the baby Red-Tailed Hawk crying high up in the pine tree behind our house. )