The Herons Are Back in PTown's Wetlands

This striking heron stands motionless amidst reeds and grasses turning golden in the autumn season.

A month ago I wrote about the dearth of birds in and around the Provincetown wetlands, since hardly any had been spotted, except for the eastern great egret, sometimes called the white heron. That bird was seen regularly for a few weeks, but various night herons and others weren't appearing as they had in years past.
Now, for the last couple of weeks it seems that a couple of pairs of great blue herons have been making regular appearances among the little rivulets that raise and lower with the tides in the wetlands of the Far West End, to the west of the breakwater. Look for these stately birds when the little salt water creeks they fish in are at about half tide. That means a bit before or after the actual half tide in the harbor, since it takes a while for the tidal flow to seep through the breakwater and change the depth of the water circulating amongst the grasses and reeds.
These two couples are particularly handsome. They each seem to be very large, sleek, well marked examples of this lovely species, with the dark patches at the shoulders and thighs easily visible. A bit of your time spent patiently watching for them is quite likely to be rewarded with some remarkable sightings, and a chance for photos.

Where Are All The Birds?

This Great Blue Heron is one of very few seen in the wetlands this summer. Autumn often brings them in greater numbers, but we haven't spotted many yet.
Some white herons, (Eastern Great Egrets) were seen earlier in the summer, but birds are a little sparse in the area this year.

Bird-watching in Beech Forest

One of Beech Forest's cardinals among husks of seeds thrown by hikers.

There are at least a couple of pairs of cardinals in Beech Forest, along with jays, doves and a number of others whiling away this
very cold, snowy winter in the woods along the edges of Provincetown.
The park rangers have removed the map box that used to hold trail guides at the beginning of the boardwalk next to Blackwater Pond. People would pour seed onto the lid of the box year-round to feed the birds that had grown accustomed to dining at this easy source of food stocked several times a day by hikers as they set out on their walk around the pond.

Chickadee cracking seeds piled here by well-meaning bird lovers.

With the best of intentions, and in the absence of the map box that used to serve as a bird feeder here, people deposit handfuls of seeds in the crotch of this tree, or simply scatter birdseed on the ground.
This has now become a spot where you can routinely find a fox or two hanging around nearly any night of the week. I seldom visit this spot after dark without finding a fox lurking here.
The debate about whether we should feed the wildlife or not, for their own good, goes on, but meanwhile, you can spot a variety of lovely birds all around Provoncetown, whether or not you bring them something to eat.

A Variety of Herons are Spotted in Provincetown's Wetlands and Ponds

This Yellow-crowned Night Heron made a daylight appearance
in the pond along Provincelands Road.

This year there seem to be several types of herons in the marshes, ponds and wetlands surrounding Provincetown. Although his hairdo seems to fall a bit flat, this fellow appears to be a Yellow-crowned Night Heron, found fishing for his lunch in the salt pond along Provincelands Road. Like the Great Blue Heron, which seems to be the one most often spotted in the Provincelands, this stocky bird stands motionless, waiting for a little fish or a frog to swim by, then pounces on his prey, making it part of his lunch.
This particular bird generally does most of its hunting after dark, but around these parts, feeding time seems to have more to do with the timing of the tides rather than the hour or the daylight. Look for these birds and other herons at about half-tide, as the water in this pond and in the wetlands around it is rising with the tide.

Wildlife Sightings Galore Around PTown

There's an abundance of fox, turkey, heron and other wildlife
this autumn in Provincetown.

Looks like this little fox has a meadow vole (think gray and fuzzy and a bit bigger than a mouse) for an appetizer on this particular afternoon. He's been seen a lot near the Province Lands Visitor Center over the last couple of weeks, usually late in the afternoon when travelers and their dogs have left the area to get to the beach for the sunset. He's sometimes spotted making his rounds around the edges of the parking lot where people have been walking their dogs over the course of the day. He re-marks his territory where the dogs have been, just to make sure everybody knows who's boss around here.
I saw an American gold finch yesterday, a little late in the season for them to still be around. And the herons are here in pretty good numbers this year, by all appearances, seen most often in the marshy wetlands of the Far West End or in the little pond across the road from "the bike rack" where the boys all pile their bikes on the fence on a bright summer day. These stately birds are most often seen standing knee-deep in the water around half-tide, waiting for a little fish or a frog to swim by and become part of their lunch. Turkeys have been seen this week on the edge of route 6 feeding in the grasses anywhere between Shank Painter Road and Snail Road.
Take a moment to enjoy the wildlife that is part of the natural world that makes Provincetown such a unique environment.

The Great Blue Heron Makes Its Annual Appearance in Provincetown's Wetlands

Provincetown seems to be on a kind of migratory fly-over path for nearly 500 species of migrating birds, so at any time of the year we'll find several different types of birds winging in to spend a bit of time here. Some of these birds come just for a day or two to eat things that are "in season" for a very short time.  Out in the dunes I've seen swarms of hundreds of birds descend on some of the bushes on the sandy hillsides, gorging for a few moments and then taking to the air again, swooping up and down until the leader, whoever that is, decides it's time to land again. Some of those bushes will turn almost black for a few moments at a time with several dozen birds perched on each of the branches of a handful of bushes within a few yards of each other, and then the whole colony will take flight again, darkening a patch of the summer sky as they swoop left and right together with an almost military precision like hundreds of soldiers on a parade march, all making the methodical left-face in the same instant. These bushes are on the hillsides, away from the trail. and I've never walked closer to see whether they are eating berries or fruits of some sort, or maybe bugs, or caterpillars that can appear in the dunes in great numbers for a few days at a time.
Flocks of Baltimore Orioles swoop into Provincetown in the spring, and the American Goldfinch arrives in sizable numbers, and will often spend a good bit of the summer here flitting through the trees, especially out near the Provincelands Visitor Center. But every year, like clockwork, just a few of my favorites begin to arrive within what seems like seconds after that moment when the temperature begins to drop a bit, and the summer starts to wind down...
The Great Blue Heron can be found at this time of the of year out in the wetlands near the Moors Motel, in the Far West End of town. They are most often found standing at the edges of the little rivulets of water that snake through the tall reeds and grasses beyond Provincelands Road, standing motionless as tiny fish and other small edibles pass by in these shallow waters. They are found here most often as the tide is going out, usually at less than half tide, when their long legs will keep their bodies out of the water as they strike a pose and watch for whatever might swim by and become their lunch. They feed on small fish, aquatic insects, frogs and other delicacies that happen by, spearing them with their long, sharply pointed bills. Rarely they can be seen wading from one spot to another, but are usually found standing motionless at the very edge of the water, just behind a few reeds and  grasses where they are trying to hide from potential prey, which is what makes it a bit difficult for us to spot them as well.
Your best chance to look for this stately bird seems to be during the time when the tide is fairly low during the morning hours, while the tide is receding. Look for herons on the far edge of the little salt pond that rises and lowers with the tides, where the water flows beneath the road near the "bike rack" in that little bit of forest on Provincelands Road, where these birds are sometimes spotted knee-deep in the middle of the pond as well. You'll find them more often, though, by looking very sharply out over the wetlands, or the moors, as they are sometimes called, to the right of the Wood End Light, and sometimes quite close to the road. You'll likely see only one at a time, because they fish alone, but a pair of binoculars might help you find a few of them fishing in different parts of the marsh, far from the road. And of course you'll want to take your camera with you in search of this big, magnificent bird.