Common Eider Drakes

Black Duck

As an intense winter storm bears down on New England we are wondering how our wildlife will fare during the festivities. Hearty they are but still we wonder.

As we have reported on this blog many times, Cape Cod is an important migration stop for many species. In winter the outer Cape in particular is a destination for many waterfowl species which come to feed in our cold waters  before they return to the Arctic to breed in the North American summer . As a result we are blessed to have thousands of water birds grace our bays and estuaries until spring. It is pleasure to get out and observe them as well as our resident land birds as they all go about the business of finding food, dodging predators and generally biding their time until spring.

In preparation for the storm we have re-stocked our feeders and will be looking for opportunities to observe and record the experiences as the storm rages here over the next 48 hours.

Canada Geese on Black Pond

Stage Harbor, Chatham

Bufflehead Drake

Red breasted Merganser Drake

Red breasted Mergansers females

Red breasted merganser (young female)

Song Sparrow

House Finch

Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Chatham Bar

Chatham Bar

Chatham Bar

We are so privileged to live by the sea and witness the many moods of the ocean. We are especially enamored with winter when the gales come and for the most part we are forced to stay on the land and observe nature’s work. On this day we experienced very strong westerly gales at 25 – 35kts with frequent gusts up to 50kts. Temperatures were in the 10 degree range with the wind chill factor.

The series of images is particularly interesting when you consider that the Chatham fishing fleet must navigate across this bar to get out to the fishing grounds. With depths barely 10 feet of water in the deepest path across the bar it does not take much to get the surf to break across the channel. Needless to say it is very dangerous to navigate here and this day was a good day to remain tied up to the mooring.

Chatham Light from the south

The fall shorebird southerly migration is winding down but there is still much to see if you look carefully on the barrier beaches off Chatham. We have had family & friends visiting for the past week and have had a chance to explore some of our favorite places.

At the Equinox

Peeps at Powder hole, MNWR

Sanderling at close range

Ruddy Turnstone

Humpback whale called "Trench"

Mixed flock of shorebirds in motion

Common Eiders take flight

White winged scoters are returning to Chatham waters

Harbor seals at high tide - North Beach Island

Chatham Harbor - New Cut

Tern Island in Fall colors

Powder hole, MNWR

Son Spencer in Stealth mode - South Beach

In South Africa’s Northwest province a beautiful reserve has been organized in the relative recent past called Madikwe. The 75,000 hectare area is massive and borders Botswana. We spent several days observing the dawn of spring here. The days were warm but the evenings were cool. We especially enjoyed the night game drives as so much in the bush comes out after dark.

Sunrise on the Kalahari

Blue Wildebeest herd gets moving in the early morning

Yellow billed hornbill

Bats feed on insects just at dusk near a waterhole

Sunset after a hot day

A pair of Gabar Goshawks

Nightjars are sometimes seen on the tracks at night

A small group of male Kudu

First Signs of Spring

Desert waterhole at dusk

Beautiful male Waterbuck

Seconds after this shot this Barn Owl caught a mouse

These humpbacks are so incredible. Here are a few images that we recorded that show these whales from some different points of view. I am afraid we just can not get enough of these beautiful creatures.

Battle Scars

The weather on the elbow of Cape Cod has been beautiful and warm during the month of July. Though we have not gotten off shore as much as we would have liked we have tasted a bit of summer!

White Shark research team off Monomoy Point

Common tern hunting for sand lances

Wilson's Storm Petrel walks on water

Common Eiders who stayed for the summer in Chatham waters

Food for the top of the Food Web waiting their turn

In the garden - dragonfly

In the garden - dragonfly #2

Those of you on Cape Cod may have had this experience. Come nose to nose with a Cape Cod coyote who appears to be pretty much unconcerned to meet you and then continues undeterred on its merry way. This beautiful female found me fortunately with camera. Looks way more like wolf to me.

Eastern coyote encounter

Thought we would share some additional images from this adventure. In particular our time with a pack of Wild Dogs, the most endangered species in Africa was particularly memorable. These critters are actually more closely related to wolves. An up to date description is Painted Wolf. They live in very structured packs of 10 – 25 animals and follow very strict codes of behavior within the pack to ensure survival. The pack we found had 19 dogs, nine of which were “puppies” less than a year old but already pretty much full size as you can see. This pack was also a bit in disarray as the dominant female of the pack (and pack leader ) had disappeared (presumably killed) only days before we found them on the trail. The kudu kill we witnessed was remarkable in its efficiency and especially the ritual of how the kill was divided and devoured by the pack members. By code of conduct the young puppies eat their fill at every meal first! Only after the puppies are satiated will the adults move in to get their share. This is done quite practically to ensure that the pack young survive through their first year to become full fledged members and contribute to the daily hunts. Typically the pack of this size will need to make a kill twice a day.

Botswana afternoon heat

Rest before the hunt

Young male kudu before the attack

Baby impala falls prey to the young pack too.

The first rains of the season fell within a few hours