Cape Cod Weekly Wildlife Sightings
Cape Cod Weekly Wildlife Sightings is sponsored by the Bird Watchers General Store in Orleans and Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
June 17 – June 23, 2026
Single Mississippi Kites were seen in Sandwich and Mashpee on the 21st and another was seen in Sandwich on the 16th.
At least 2 Gull-billed Terns were seen in Provincetown and another was at Forest Beach in Chatham.
Adult, likely breeding Yellow-crowned Night Herons seem to be around in unprecedented numbers, with 6 in West Barnstable, 3 in Yarmouth, up to 4 in Harwich, and 3 at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary.
Sightings from Race Point in Provincetown this week included 2 Blue-winged Teal, 2 Black Guillemots, a Common Murre, a Little Gull, and at least seven species of terns including the Gull-billed, plus a Royal, 2 Black, 2 Arctic, and 10 Roseate.
At least two Chuck-will’s-widows continued at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, and other sightings around the Cape included 2 Blue Grosbeaks and 15 Grasshopper Sparrows at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a Harlequin Duck in Mashpee, an Alder Flycatcher at Wing Island in Brewster, a late lingering Dark-eyed Junco elsewhere in Brewster, a Little Blue Heron and an American Bittern in West Harwich,
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
June 3 – June 9, 2026
A Hooded Warbler and an Acadian Flycatcher were found in the Long Pond woodlands of Brewster this week.
A Western Kingbird was at Santuit Pond in Mashpee on the 3rd.
A Kentucky Warbler visited a yard in Barnstable on the 8th.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown this week included a Pacific Loon, a Thick-billed Murre, a Northern Fulmar, a Little Gull, 58 Bonaparte’s Gulls, 2 Black-headed Gulls, 2 Caspian Terns, 4 Arctic Terns, 2 Forster’s Terns, 5 Sooty Shearwaters, 20 Manx Shearwaters, a Merlin, and a Cliff Swallow.
Bird surveys on Monomoy NWR tallied 2 Northern Pintail, 5 American Oystercatchers, 35 Willets, 400 Ruddy Turnstones, and 39 Red Knots.
Three Chuck-will’s-widows continued at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, and other sightings around the Cape included 3 Blue Grosbeaks at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a Red Crossbill in Bourne, a Harlequin Duck and a Veery in Mashpee, a Swallow-tailed Kite in Barnstable and 3 Mississippi Kites in Mashpee, a Black Vulture in Barnstable, 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in West Barnstable, 3 Little Blue Heron in West Dennis, a Gadwall in Harwich, a Razorbill and 2 Sooty Shearwaters in Cape Cod Bay off Orleans, and a Blue-headed Vireo in North Truro.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
May 27 – June 2, 2026
Up to two White Ibis and two White-faced Ibises continued this week in Chatham.
An incredible variety of storm driven birds were turned up during and after Saturday’s storm, including a Ruff at Race Point in Provincetown. Other sightings at Race Point included a Red Phalarope, a South Polar Skua, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, a Long-tailed Jaeger, a Thick-billed Murre, 5 Common Murres, a Little Gull, 2 Iceland Gulls, 40 Arctic Terns, a Pacific Loon, 15 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 3 Leach’s Storm-Petrels, a Northern Fulmar, 15 Great Shearwaters, 32 Sooty Shearwaters, 19 Manx Shearwaters, 500 Northern Gannets, and a Merlin.
Post-storm birds at First Encounter Beach in Eastham on Sunday included a Red Phalarope, 30 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 2 Sabine’s Gulls, 25 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 15 Leach’s Storm-Petrels, 2 Great Shearwaters, 5 Sooty Shearwaters, 3 Manx Shearwaters, and 550 Northern Gannets.
An amazing number of migrants tallied at the Provincetown airport one morning this week included 2 Black-billed Cuckoos, 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos, 38 Chimney Swifts, 52 Common Loons, 53 Eastern Kingbirds, 292 Blue Jays, a state record 5795 Cedar Waxwings, 110 Bobolinks, 2 Northern Waterthrush, a Tennessee Warbler, 7 Magnolia Warblers, 9 Blackburnian Warblers, a Chestnut-sided Warbler, 54 Blackpoll Warblers, and 2 Indigo Buntings.
Bird surveys on Monomoy NWR on the 27th tallied a Northern Pintail, a Long-tailed Duck, 5 American Oystercatchers, 125 Black-bellied Plovers, 400 Ruddy Turnstones, 2 Red Knots, 300 Dunlin, 250 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2Black Skimmers, 2500 Common Terns, 34 Glossy Ibis, and 90 Black-crowned Night-Herons.
Three Chuck-will’s-widows continued at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, and other sightings around the Cape included a Sandhill Crane at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a Lesser Scaup and a Harlequin Duck Mashpee, a Swallow-tailed Kite at Santuit Pond in Mashpee, a Black Vulture in Barnstable, a Tricolored Heron in Orleans, an Acadian Flycatcher in Brewster, an American Golden-Plover and 2 Pectoral Sandpipers in Eastham, 300 Dunlin, a White-throated Sparrow and an Olive-sided Flycatcher in Truro, and a Summer Tanager at Beech Forest in Provincetown.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
May 13 – May 19, 2026
There was an invasion of White Ibises into the region over the weekend, with 22 seen first in Sandwich then later in Hyannis and Provincetown, 6 in West Harwich, one in Chatham, and another in Mashpee. The previous state high count was 5 from last year.
A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was found at Peterson Farm in Falmouth on Tuesday.
Single Mississippi Kites were seen in Provincetown, Chatham, and Orleans this week, and two Swallow-tailed Kites were also seen in Chatham. Another Swallow-tailed Kite was in Mashpee.
A survey of Stellwagen Bank waters tallied a Ruby-throated Hummingbird several miles out to sea, a Razorbill, a Common Murre, 16 Northern Fulmar, a Sooty Shearwater, a Manx Shearwater, and 76 Northern Gannets.
A fallout of migrants noted at the Provincetown Airport/Race Point area on the 17th included a Wilson’s Phalarope, 3 Solitary Sandpipers, 9 Glossy Ibis, 242 Eastern Kingbirds, 812 Blue Jays, 4 Cliff Swallows, 710 Cedar Waxwings, 12 Purple Finches, 505 Bobolinks, 17 Northern Waterthrushes, 75 Black-and-white Warblers, 45 American Redstarts, 30 Cape May Warblers, 60Northern Parulas, 90 Magnolia Warblers, 8 Bay-breasted Warblers, 10 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 42 Blackpoll Warblers, 150 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2500 additional unidentified warblers, and 8 Scarlet Tanagers. On Tuesday an additional 1500 Cedar Waxwings, 780 Blue Jays, and a Pine Siskin were noted passing the airport.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included an American Golden-Plover, 2 Common Murres, a Little Gull, and a Cliff Swallow.
And Three Chuck-will’s-widows continued at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, and other sightings around the Cape included aHarlequin Duck and a Purple Sandpiper at South Cape Beach in Mashpee, 2 Worm-eating Warblers in Mashpee and 3 more each in Sandwich and Falmouth, 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons and a Hooded Warbler in West Barnstable, a Little Blue Heron in Yarmouth, a Blue Grosbeak in Harwich, a Kentucky Warbler and a Hooded Warbler at Fort Hill in Eastham, and a Lark Sparrowelsewhere in Eastham.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
May 13 – May 19, 2026
There was an invasion of White Ibises into the region over the weekend, with 22 seen first in Sandwich then later in Hyannis and Provincetown, 6 in West Harwich, one in Chatham, and another in Mashpee. The previous state high count was 5 from last year.
A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was found at Peterson Farm in Falmouth on Tuesday.
Single Mississippi Kites were seen in Provincetown, Chatham, and Orleans this week, and two Swallow-tailed Kites were also seen in Chatham. Another Swallow-tailed Kite was in Mashpee.
A survey of Stellwagen Bank waters tallied a Ruby-throated Hummingbird several miles out to sea, a Razorbill, a Common Murre, 16 Northern Fulmar, a Sooty Shearwater, a Manx Shearwater, and 76 Northern Gannets.
A fallout of migrants noted at the Provincetown Airport/Race Point area on the 17th included a Wilson’s Phalarope, 3 Solitary Sandpipers, 9 Glossy Ibis, 242 Eastern Kingbirds, 812 Blue Jays, 4 Cliff Swallows, 710 Cedar Waxwings, 12 Purple Finches, 505 Bobolinks, 17 Northern Waterthrushes, 75 Black-and-white Warblers, 45 American Redstarts, 30 Cape May Warblers, 60Northern Parulas, 90 Magnolia Warblers, 8 Bay-breasted Warblers, 10 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 42 Blackpoll Warblers, 150 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2500 additional unidentified warblers, and 8 Scarlet Tanagers. On Tuesday an additional 1500 Cedar Waxwings, 780 Blue Jays, and a Pine Siskin were noted passing the airport.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included an American Golden-Plover, 2 Common Murres, a Little Gull, and a Cliff Swallow.
And Three Chuck-will’s-widows continued at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, and other sightings around the Cape included aHarlequin Duck and a Purple Sandpiper at South Cape Beach in Mashpee, 2 Worm-eating Warblers in Mashpee and 3 more each in Sandwich and Falmouth, 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons and a Hooded Warbler in West Barnstable, a Little Blue Heron in Yarmouth, a Blue Grosbeak in Harwich, a Kentucky Warbler and a Hooded Warbler at Fort Hill in Eastham, and a Lark Sparrowelsewhere in Eastham.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
May 6 – May 12, 2026
A Gull-billed Tern was reported in Mashpee on the 9th.
Two Swallow-tailed Kites were reported in South Sandwich and singles were reported from Mashpee to Marstons Mills.
Three Chuck-will’s-widows are back for another season by Nauset Light Beach in Eastham.
Single Summer Tanagers were reported in a few places, including a jelly feeder at Wild Birds Unlimited in Yarmouth.
A shorebird survey on Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham tallied 17 American Oystercatchers, 258 Black-bellied Plovers, 196 Willets, 63 Ruddy Turnstones, 2 Red Knots, 266 Sanderlings, 366 Dunlin, 370 Least Sandpipers, 20 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 2000 Laughing Gulls, 7000 Common Terns, 1000 Double-crested Cormorants, and 4 Glossy Ibis.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Pacific Loon, 325 Black Scoters, 5 American Oystercatchers, 2 Little Gulls, a Glaucous Gull, 90 Bonaparte’s Gulls, 2200 Laughing Gulls, 12 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Thayer’s Iceland Gull, 3 Black Terns, 900 Common Terns, 19 Roseate Terns, 3 Manx Shearwaters, 150 Northern Gannets, 2 Black Vultures, 3 Bald Eagles, and a Summer Tanager.
Other sightings around the Cape included a Mourning Warbler and a Blue Grosbeak in Falmouth, the usual breeding Worm-eating Warblers in Falmouth and Mashpee, an Orange-crowned Warbler and a Harlequin Duck in Mashpee, one or two Black Vultures reported several places, a Red Crossbill in Brewster, a Ring-necked Duck in Hyannis, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Harwich and two more in Barnstable Harbor, and single White-rumped Sandpipers in Chatham and Eastham.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
April 29 – May 5, 2026
A Prothonotary Warbler was found at Mass Audubon’s Barnstable Great Marsh property in Barnstable and a Hooded Warbler was found at Fort Hill in Eastham on Tuesday.
The Pileated Woodpecker discovered in Ryder Conservation Land and in adjacent Lowell-Holly Reservation in South Sandwich and Mashpee was last reported on the 30th, but another was spotted on 6A in Barnstable on the 5th.
Two Swallow-tailed Kites were reported in South Sandwich and another was at the Cotuit Center for the Arts.
Widespread new arrivals of local breeders this week include Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Baltimore Orioles, Gray Catbirds, Red-eyed Vireos, and Great-crested Flycatchers.
Other sightings around the Cape included a Grasshopper Sparrow at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a Little Blue Heron in Mashpee, 2 Red Crossbills in Barnstable and 2 more in Brewster, a Ring-necked Duck in Hyannis, 2 Harlequin Ducks at Corporation Beach in Dennis, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and a Summer Tanager in Harwich, a Glaucous Gull in Truro, 6 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels on Stellwagen Bank, and an Orange-crowned Warbler in Provincetown.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
April 21 – April 28, 2026
A Pileated Woodpecker was discovered in Ryder Conservation Land and in adjacent Lowell-Holly Reservation in South Sandwich and Mashpee on Sunday, continuing into at least Monday.
A Swallow-tailed Kite was reported over Mashpee on the 26th and 27th.
Reports from Race Point in Provincetown include 2 Pacific Loons, 1000 Red-breasted Mergansers, an American Oystercatcher, a King Eider, 3 Razorbills, 2 Black Guillemots, a Black-headed Gull, a Glaucous Gull, 700 Laughing Gulls, 19 Iceland Gulls, 90 Common Loons, 4 Manx Shearwaters, an American Kestrel, a Merlin,
Early migrants this week included Yellow Warblers and Ovenbirds various places, a Prairie Warbler at the Beech Forest in Provincetown, and a Common Yellowthroat in Harwich.
Shorebirds at Monomoy NWR in Chatham included 6 American Oystercatchers, 300 Black-bellied Plovers, 16 Red Knots, and 1000 Dunlin.
Other sightings around the Cape included 16 Willets in Bourne, 3 Roseate Terns and 30 Common Terns in Falmouth, a Grasshopper Sparrow at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a Worm-eating Warbler at Sandy Neck in Barnstable, a Black Vulture in Hyannis plus another in Harwich, and a hybrid Gadwall x American Wigeon in Chatham.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
April 8 – April 14, 2026
Two Swallow-tailed Kites were reported over Mashpee on the 10th.
A Clay-colored Sparrow is still visiting a yard in Brewster.
Continuing surveys from a ship travelling the waters around the Cape produced a Thick-billed Murre, 2 Common Murres, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, and a Glaucous Gull this week.
At the Beech Forest in Provincetown migrants included 2 Green-winged Teal, a Common Goldeneye, a Virginia Rail, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 2 Barn Swallows, 3 Rusty Blackbirds, 2 Purple Finches, 30 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and 2 Palm Warblers.
Reports from Race Point in Provincetown include a Pacific Loon, 2 American Oystercatchers, 9 Piping Plovers, 177 Razorbills, a Common Murre, 2 Black Guillemots, a Glaucous Gull, 19 Iceland Gulls, 425 Red-throated Loons, and a Black Vulture.
Other sightings around the Cape included a Black Vulture in Bourne, the first Purple Martins in Mashpee and Wellfleet, a continuing Brown Thrasher in Brewster, an Orange-crowned Warbler in Harwich, and an American Wigeon and 2 Northern Pintail in Chatham.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
March 25 – March 31, 2026
The King Eider continues in Sandwich Marina and surrounding areas.
A flock of up to 7 Black Vultures was seen various places on the Cape between Sandwich and Dennis on Sunday.
A Clay-colored Sparrow is visiting a yard in Brewster.
A Little Blue Heron continued in Chatham this week.
A Glossy Ibis and a Northern Shrike were at Crane Wildlife Management Area in Falmouth.
Sightings at Bell’s Neck Conservation Area in Harwich included a Lesser Yellowlegs, 11 Greater Yellowlegs, 19 Double-crested Cormorants, 3 Great Egrets, 16 Black-crowned Night-Herons, and 11 Osprey.
Reports from Race Point in Provincetown include 2 Pacific Loons, 7 Piping Plovers, a Black Guillemot, 1300 Razorbills, a Common Murre, 68 Iceland Gulls, a Glaucous Gull, 500 Red-throated Loons, 2 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Tree Swallows, 3 Eastern Meadowlarks, and an American Pipit.
The first Eastern Phoebes have returned, and other sightings around the Cape included 3 American Pipits in Falmouth, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Mashpee, a continuing Dickcissel at a feeder in Chatham, and an Orange-crowned Warbler in Orleans.
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org
If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to cape.sightings@massaudubon.org.