We stopped at Fort Hill yesterday hoping to see some butterflies or some new wildflowers and were greeted by the Northern Bobwhite calling his distinct call, “Bob WHITE!”
When I was a little girl my Dad, who was a bird lover, taught me many of the different bird calls. When I heard this “Bob WHITE!” I turned to Phil and said, “It’s a Northern Bobwhite. I remember the call from my Dad.” I have not heard it in probably 50 years, nor have I seen a Bobwhite in probably that long.
We stood there as one Northern Bobwhite flew out of the brush, followed by another one. One landed on a nearby tree where we got some good photographs. He stood on the branch and sang out “Bob WHITE!” for about 20 minutes!
You can see his exquisite colors in the first photograph and him singing away in the second photograph.
We looked up on our bird identification app and Fort Hill is the only place on Cape Cod that anyone has seen a Northern Bobwhite this year!
Such an unbelievable treat!
We have a Red-Bellied Woodpecker that lives near our home on Cape Cod and comes by several times a day to feed from the suet at our bird feeder. I can always tell when he is nearby by his distinct call. It’s almost that he is announcing his arrival at the feeder.
He is such a handsome bird with the bright red on his head. It is ironic that there is virtually no red on his belly.
Last night as I was sitting on our deck, the Red-Bellied Woodpecker came to our feeder filled with grape jelly (for the Baltimore Orioles) several times. And then he flew back up to the tree and there were 2 babies up there waiting for him! What an awesome sight!!
We were driving home the other day when this car in front of us stopped and was waving for others to stop. There was a Snapping Turtle crossing the road. I didn’t get to snap a photograph of it until it was almost by.
There are many different species of turtles here from Snapping Turtles to Terrapins to Box Turtles to Leatherback Turtles to Painted Turtles and many more. The Audubon Sanctuary in Wellfleet works very heavily with turtles.
Snapping Turtles are large turtles of about 15″. They have a massive head and a long neck. Their powerful jaws can give a serious bite, so don’t ever get near one.
I was taking a walk on the beach at Boat Meadow when I heard these laughing Gulls squawking at each other. It sounded as though they were laughing at each other back and forth. I watched (and listened) to them for a bit until a Crow flew in and started squawking along with them It was hilarious!
The Laughing Gulls flew away!
