The sunset last night here on Cape Cod was spectacular! I saw the sky start changing color so I jumped in my car and headed over toward Boat Meadow Beach. But I stopped on side of the road over the salt marsh thinking this was just gorgeous.
Maybe the calm before the storm? We ‘re supposed to get our 3rd Nor’easter in 2 weeks on Tuesday night into Wednesday… ugh!
We are so ready for spring! What do you think?
I saw my first Red-Breasted Mergansers the other day at Boat Meadow Beach, before the big storm. What a gorgeous bird! They were feeding in the little pond that comes out at high tide on the salt marsh. I had never seen one before.
Red-Breasted Mergansers are a medium-sized diving ducks with black upper parts, gray sides, rust-brown breast, white belly, green head, double crests and a white neck ring. Their long thin bill, legs and feet are bright orange. The female has much duller colors.
The Red-Breasted Mergansers were so interesting to watch as they feed. They would swim along with their heads in the water, almost like a shovel, as you can see in the 3rd photograph. Or they would dive under water for food. It was very cool to watch!
Have you ever seen a Red-Breasted Merganser? Gorgeous bird, don’t you think?
There were about 30 Brants at Boat Meadow on Cape Cod Bay the other day. It’s the most I’ve ever seen together. I stopped and took some photographs, but couldn’t get more than 2 in each frame.
Brants have a black head and neck with a white collar, grey underparts and white on their tails. They are about the same size as a Canada Goose. They are common in this area in the winter.
On my way back from my walk to Rock Harbor about 1/2 hour later, they were all gone. Wonder where they went?
As we were driving along the salt marsh the other day, I noticed this Red-Tailed Hawk in the grass. I usually see the Red-tailed Hawk sitting in a tree or flying, but rarely on the ground. We pulled over to see what he was doing.
He was obviously enjoying his fresh-caught meal, of what I do not know. There were a lot of seabirds nearby in the river. Maybe a little rodent nearby?
I liked the 2nd photograph as he looks like he is taking a little break from “lunch.” He was pretty far out on the marsh, so no other predators were nearby.
One of my favorite things to do is to take a walk to the beach at low tide, especially to a beach on Cape Cod Bay. It is always so gorgeous and you can walk out on the flats for miles.
It was low tide about 3:00 pm the other day and a perfect day for a walk. When I got to Boat Meadow Beach the clouds were just beautiful. And then I could see the huge rock by Rock Harbor with the sun shining through the clouds above it.
Pretty spectacular, don’t you think? I love how the sun and clouds are reflected in the tidal pool with the rippled sand from the flats in the foreground.
