Winter Storm Nemo, the product of two merging winter systems,  converged on Cape Cod late afternoon on Friday, February 8th as the sun was setting. Barometer fell and the wind accelerated with temperatures still warmish in the high 30’s F. Sleet and rain fell in the mix as the wind continued to build to a raging gale shaking the house fiercely. Top gust in the wee hours was 84 MPH!

By 1200 midnight the temperature began to plummet and reached the low 20s instantly freezing everything and producing fluffy snow to add to the mayhem. The storm moved rapidly eastward but was large enough to affect the Outer Cape until well into Saturday evening. We stayed close to home but did manage to get out for a bit on Saturday afternoon to observe the “white-out” conditions in the still howling storm force winds and drifting snow.

Of course we worried about the birds and tried to keep them fed when we saw their precious forms getting blown about near our feeders.

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

Winter comes:  As the water temperature slowly cools and the amount of daily sunlight creeps toward the Winter Solstice signs of a winter landscape appear here on Cape Cod revealing surprising and beautiful wild places. We recently accompanied friend  Todd Kelley, Kelley Trailblazers – (www.kelleytrailblazers.com), a terrific local natural history guide and wildlife tracker, on his yearly pilgrimage into wild Wellfleet on the western reaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Our six hour hike began at the parking lot at Duck Harbor in Wellfleet. Incredible day of walking and deciphering nature as the trees and plants head to sleep for their winter’s nap. A highlight of the walk was circumnavigating Bound Brook Island – pictured below. HINT: It is an “island” of glacial moraine formed by glaciers long ago and is surrounded by estuaries of the Herring River. This is a point on the Cape where Wellfleet and Truro come together revealing a wonderful landscape a “Coastal Heathland” that outside of parts of Nantucket, may be the last of its kind in North America or possible the earth. This day was crisp but windless – a great day for hiking.

Marshlands & Winterberry, Bound Brook Island

Atwood - Higgins House

Ancient white oaks cut 150 years ago return

Beach at Duck Harbor

A Portion of our hike

Broom Crowberry - the essence of Coastal Heathland

Redcoats on lichen

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Monument to one of the old schools of Wellfleet that once occupied this wild site