Cape Cod Weekly Wildlife Sightings is sponsored by the Bird Watchers General Store in Orleans and Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The following sightings were reported between September 13 and September 19, 2023.
Storm birds at First Encounter in Eastham driven in by tropical storm Lee included 145 Red-necked Phalaropes, 5 Pomarine Jaegers, 26 Parasitic Jaegers, 2 Long-tailed Jaegers, a Sabine’s Gull, 8 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, and 18 Leach’s Storm-Petrels.
Birds at Race Point and Herring Cove in Provincetown included a Red-necked Grebe, 1200 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 81 White-rumped Sandpipers, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers, 5 American Golden-Plovers, a Sabine’s Gull, a Little Gull, a Black Tern, 30 Roseate Terns, a Long-tailed Jaeger, 44 Parasitic Jaegers, 12 Cory’s Shearwaters, 40 Great Shearwaters 14 Sooty Shearwaters, 49 Manx Shearwaters, and 500 Northern Gannets.
Birds in remote parts of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge this week included 3 Blue-winged Teal, 6 Northern Shoveler, an American Wigeon, 16 Northern Pintail, 24 Green-winged Teal, 31 Ring-necked Ducks, a Lesser Scaup, 14 Ruddy Ducks, 4 Pied-billed Grebes, a Common Gallinule, 6 American Coots, and a Stilt Sandpiper.
Other sightings around the Cape included Western Sandpipers in Sandwich and Chatham, 2 Red-necked Grebes in Rock Harbor in Orleans, 2 Connecticut Warblers banded at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary plus another at Wing Island in Brewster, a Common Murre in Wellfleet Harbor, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in Truro, and a Painted Bunting at Provincetown Airport.

Birds reported from boats on Stellwagen Bank included a Long-tailed Jaeger, a Pomarine Jaeger, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 140 Roseate Terns, 2 Leach’s Storm-Petrels, 800 Cory’s Shearwaters, 1200 Great Shearwaters, 200 Sooty Shearwaters, and 500 Manx Shearwaters.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Sabine’s Gull, 3 American Golden-Plovers, 4 Whimbrels, 7 Parasitic Jaegers, 35 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 300 Roseate Terns, 200 Common Terns, 60 Great Shearwaters, 35 Sooty Shearwaters, and 9 Manx Shearwaters.
Birds reported from Wellfleet Bay sanctuary this week included 13 Whimbrel, 5 Pectoral Sandpipers, 2 Yellow-crowned and 2 Black-crowned Night-Herons, a Common Nighthawk, an Olive-sided Flycatcher, 3 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, and a Philadelphia Vireo.
Birds banded at Wing Island in Brewster included 2 Acadian Flycatchers, 4 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, a Philadelphia Vireo, and a Lincoln’s Sparrow.
Other sightings around the Cape included a Royal Tern in West Chatham, 6 Marbled Godwits in South Chatham, a Baird’s Sandpiper and a Western Sandpiper at Morris Island in Chatham, a Long-tailed Jaeger and a Western Sandpiper in Wellfleet Harbor, a Lincoln’s Sparrow elsewhere in Wellfleet, a Red-necked Phalarope at Head of the Meadow in Truro, and a Philadelphia Vireo elsewhere in Truro.

Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Red-necked Grebe, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a Baird’s Sandpiper, 14 Whimbrels, a Long-tailed Jaeger, 4 Parasitic Jaegers, 3 Pomarine Jaegers, 52 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 20 Cory’s Shearwaters, 72 Great Shearwaters, 32 Sooty Shearwaters, 6 Manx Shearwaters, and 4 Common Ravens.
Birds at Morris Island in Chatham included 150 American Oystercatchers, 2 Western Sandpipers, 2 Peregrine Falcons, and a Dickcissel.
Birds reported from Wellfleet Bay sanctuary this week included 2 Baird’s Sandpipers, a Hudsonian Godwit, 2 Red Knots, 13 Whimbrel, 38 Forster’s Terns, 4 Black-crowned Night-Herons, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, a Common Nighthawk, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, a hybrid Golden-winged x Blue-winged Warbler, a Cape May Warbler, a Wilson’s Warbler, and a Bay-breasted Warbler.
Other sightings around the Cape included 3 Black Vultures in Falmouth, a Cliff Swallow in Barnstable, a Great Cormorant in Yarmouth and 2 more in Dennis, a Hudsonian Godwit and 7 Marbled Godwits in Chatham, and 2 Philadelphia Vireos in North Truro.

The Lesser Sand-Plover at South Cape Beach in Mashpee was last seen on the 22nd, but a Baird’s Sandpiper has been present there all this week.
The American Avocet continued at Woodneck Beach in Falmouth this week.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a Brant, 2 Whimbrels, a Long-tailed Jaeger, 4 Parasitic Jaegers, 3 Black Terns, 200 Roseate Terns, 800 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 30 Great Shearwaters, 38 Sooty Shearwaters, 15 Manx Shearwaters, a Little Blue Heron, 3 American Kestrels, and a Cliff Swallow.
Reports from multiple surveys of remote parts of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham this week included 33 Gadwall, 8 Northern Pintail, 23 Green-winged Teal, 18 Ruddy Ducks, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, 14 American Coots, 3 Common Gallinules, 6 Hudsonian Godwits, a Marbled Godwit, 2 Peregrine Falcons, and 3500 Tree Swallows.
Birds at Morris Island in Chatham included 144 American Oystercatchers, 37 Red Knots, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 2 Western Sandpipers, 6 Whimbrel, 6 Hudsonian Godwit, a Merlin, and 2 Peregrine Falcons.
Birds reported from Wellfleet Bay sanctuary this week included 7 Green-winged Teal, 9 Whimbrel, 25 Forster’s Terns, 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, an Olive-sided Flycatcher, a Cliff Swallow, and a Canada Warbler.
Other sightings around the Cape included at least 2 continuing Blue Grosbeaks and a Vesper Sparrow at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a Western Sandpiper in Sandwich, 2 Little Blue Herons and a Marbled Godwit at Forest Beach in Chatham, 2000 Roseate Terns on North Beach in Chatham, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and a Wilson’s Warbler in Brewster, 10 American Golden-Plovers at Nauset Inlet in Orleans, a Bay-breasted Warbler in Eastham, and Blackburnian Warblers in Truro and Mashpee.

The state’s first ever Lesser Sand-Plover was discovered at South Cape Beach in Mashpee on Monday and continued into at least Tuesday.
Swallow-tailed Kites have been reported several times since the 9th in Marstons Mills, Osterville, and Cotuit.
An American Avocet was found at Woodneck Beach in Falmouth this week.
Reports from surveys of remote parts of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge this week included 3 Blue-winged Teal, 3 Northern Shovelers, 20 Gadwall, a Northern Pintail, 7 Ruddy Ducks, 5 Pied-billed Grebes, a Virginia Rail, 8 American Coot, an American Golden-Plover, 7 Hudsonian Godwits, a Wilson’s Phalarope, and a Little Blue Heron.
Other sightings around the Cape included a White-eyed Vireo in Woods Hole, at least 2 Blue Grosbeaks at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a Hooded Merganser Barnstable, a Black-headed Gull at Crowe’s Pasture in Dennis, a Seaside Sparrow at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary, and a Dickcissel elsewhere in Wellfleet.

The Mountain Plover discovered at Craigville Beach/Long Beach in Barnstable was last seen on the 25^th.

A Least Bittern and an American Bittern were at High Head in Truro this week.

Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included 3 Whimbrel, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 200 Least Terns, 200 Roseate Terns, a Black Tern, a Black Skimmer, 14 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 9 Cory’s Shearwaters, 7 Great Shearwaters, 2 Manx Shearwaters, and a Bald Eagle.

Sightings from First Encounter Beach in Eastham on the 30^th included 41 Whimbrel, 400 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 50 Short-billed A Mountain Plover was discovered at Craigville Beach in Barnstable last week. This incredible find represents just the 6th ever East Coast record, and the first Massachusetts record since 1916 for this scarce shorebird of dry western plains.Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included 38 Piping Plovers, 3 Pectoral Sandpipers, 3 Parasitic Jaegers, a Black-legged Kittiwake, 1050 Common Terns, 5 Cory’s Shearwaters, 53 Great Shearwaters, 3 Sooty Shearwaters, and a Bald Eagle.
Surveys from remote parts of Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge this week turned up 22 Gadwall, 3 Northern Pintail, a Green-winged Teal, 8 Ruddy Ducks, 2 Pied-billed Grebes, 9 American Coot, 18 American Oystercatchers, 6 Hudsonian Godwits, 2000 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 2000 Short-billed Dowitchers, 3 Pomarine Jaegers, an Iceland Gull, and a Common Raven.
Other sightings around the Cape included 3 Blue Grosbeaks and 2 Black Skimmers in Falmouth, a Royal Tern in Mashpee, a Hooded Merganser in Barnstable, and 42 Whimbrel flying by Skaket Beach in Orleans.