Help Keep Provintown Beaches Clean By What You Do On Commercial Street

This emblem reminds us not to put anything into the storm drains in PTown streets

This "no dumping" emblem has appeared on curbs all along Commercial Street, letting people know that the storm drains in the road lead directly out to Provincetown Harbor.
Anything poured into these large, square, iron-grated drains will flow straight to the harbor through the system of pipelines that run beneath the roads and emerge on the beach, right at the edge of the water.

Cigarette butts dropped on our streets end up in our storm drains.

Cigarette butts flicked into these drains will wash out onto the beach with the next rainstorm. Popsicle sticks, sugar packets, gum wrappers, plastic straws and coffee stir sticks all wind up on the beach, hundreds per day, dropped on the street, and even right into the drains, by folks looking for a convenient spot to get rid of small bits of trash as they're walking down Commercial Street.

Any sort of debris, including small twigs and even windblown sand, can clog these drains as well, leading to flooding on Commercial Street and beyond, as we saw this past winter.
Please, everyone, help us keep any kind of chemicals, waste or debris out of the world's fragile oceans, by keeping these things off of PTown's streets and out of our storm drains. Mother Earth thanks you!

Wednesday May 9, Join the Walk in Beech Forest, Find Sites of Mary Oliver's Poetry

You'll likely spot this fellow, or some of his friends and neighbors, on a walk through Beach Forest.

On a walk through Beech Forest you get a chance to use all of your senses. You can't walk more than a few yards without spotting, and hearing, a diverse assortment of wildlife. Some will be scurrying away from you, through the underbrush and tangles of vines, and some will be dive-bombing you from branches overhead when they fear you've come too close to a nest full of eggs or chicks.
The smell of damp grasses after a spring rain, or of young buds becoming blossoms, can rush back to you long years later and put a fresh smile on your face. In Beech Forest, at various "right moments" of the year, you can even taste a few of the marvels growing around you.

Beach Forest is full of sights and sounds of wildlife, like this chipmunk photobombing my trail shot.

Here, on walks alone, I can feel a sort of necessary solitude, among friends. I feel quite lucky to have one of my favorite momentary getaways so close to home. It seems to me no wonder that renowned poet Mary Oliver has found inspiration, and done some writing, on what must be countless Beech Forest walks.
Checking the weekly events section of the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House site, as I do, I found a blurb about tomorrow's walk in the forest, visiting sites of the poetry of Mary Oliver. That blurb led me to the site of the Outer Cape Chorale, where I found this invitation for all of us to join in:
Walk: The Poetry of Mary Oliver at Blackwater Pond, May 9, 1:00 pm. 1 ½ hours, 1 mile.
Ranger Jody Anastasio and writer Kathleen Henry, both members of the Outer Cape Chorale, will explore the place that inspired several of Mary Oliver’s poems.  Reflect on the natural elements that play into pieces from the upcoming Outer Cape Chorale concerts.  If you would like, bring your favorite Mary Oliver poem to share.  Meet at the Beech Forest Trail parking area, Race Point Road, Provincetown.
The UU has a great event coming up. More about that here tomorrow night, or click the UUMH link above, but be sure to save the date this coming Saturday night.
The OCC is preparing for their upcoming spring concert on May 18th, 19th and 20th. Again, I'll tell you more later, or you can click on their link above. As mentioned, Mary Oliver's poetry figures into this concert.
Try to get to Beech Forest tomorrow. When will be the next time you'll have a chance to join an event like this?

Born This Day in 1785, Naturalist John James Audubon Revered Nature

John James Audubon was a ridiculously handsome man, as seen in this portrait by John Syme, found
in the collection of the White House Historical Association. His artwork of wildlife, particularly of birds,
has contributed greatly to the study, conservation and appreciation of countless species over the years.

On April 26, 1785, John James Audubon was born under the name Jean Rabin, the illegitimate son of French plantation owner Captain Jean Audubon and his Creole servant Jeanne Rabin, in Les Cayes, in what is now called Haiti. He was raised in France in a style befitting the son of a wealthy merchant, affording him plenty of leisure time in which to explore the world around him while studying art, music and natural history. There he was also given a new name: Jean-Jacques Fougère Audubon.
At a young age, his utter fascination with the natural world around him led to a particular interest in birds. Eventually, his fine artistic ability and his passion to portray every species of  bird that he could find would lead him into a career for which he turned out to have been uniquely talented.

When war broke out between France and England in 1803, Audubon was 18 years old. To keep his son from being conscripted into the army of Emperor Napoleon, his father sent Jean-Jacques to his estate in Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It was on this journey that the young man renamed himself, becoming John James Audubon. Living on his father's Pennsylvania estate, John conducted his first scientific studies, and would go on to become a sort of self-taught scientist.

Audubon painting of the Roseate Spoonbill

In the meantime he met and married Lucy Bakewell and the two moved to Kentucky and started a family. Audubon tried his hand at business as well. Failing in several ventures, he was briefly jailed for debts he owed.
Next, he headed south to study and draw birds, finally settling with his family in New Orleans, eking out a living on Lucy’s income as a governess and the little money Audubon himself made by painting portraits on the street and giving art lessons.

He continued building his credentials as an artist and a naturalist, and eventually he had completed more than 400 artworks, with the desire to publish them. His work was far and away the best of any artist portraying birds, with a much more natural appearance to his drawings and paintings than anyone else could manage. Yet, in two years traveling the country, he found no one willing to publish his work.

Audubon's Northern Hare (winter)

In the mid-1820s he set sail for the United Kingdom, where he hoped to find a publisher, or at least to find engravers skillful enough to properly reproduce his work, which he was able to exhibit to great acclaim both in Scotland and in England. While his artistic skills captivated the public, people were also fascinated by his stories of American frontier Life.
These very successful exhibitions finally lead to the first publication of his true masterpiece, Birds of America, which depicted every bird known in this country at the time. This four-volume tour de force, for which he became most well known, was followed by other related volumes, and eventually lead to works on other sorts of wildlife.

The Cape Cod National Seashore annually hosts roughly 370 species of migrating birds, with about 80 of those species nesting and raising their young here during the spring and summer months. Beech Forest and Hatches Harbor are good spots to observe many varieties of birds in their natural habitats, with our streets and neighborhoods providing plentiful sightings as well. Provincetown is a veritable birdwatcher’s paradise.

Even when a part of a spring day is rainy, the birds quickly pop out again between clouds blowing along overhead. Try to get out between the raindrops today and spot a few birds, and give a nod of thanks to John James Audubon, born on this day in 1785. His life’s work in depicting the natural world has immeasurably enriched us.

Catch Art's Dune Tour Before 2015 Season's End, Sunday, November 15th

At's Dune Tours sets out on an adventure through Provincetown's amazing dunes.

This amazing autumn weather gives us a last chance to get out and enjoy the majesty of Provincetown's incredible sand dunes before the season truly comes to an end. Art's Dune Tours will give their last tours of the season this week, with gorgeous weather today and into the afternoon tomorrow, and again Friday through Sunday, their last day of the 2015 season.
Since 1946 the Costa family has been taking folks on this enchanting, delightful, narrated tour out through the magnificent sand dunes that stand between Provincetown and the Atlantic Ocean, and along the shoreline known as the "back beach." Along the way you'll learn about the history and the lore of the dunes while marveling at the sights, such as the unexpected forested spots, and the view out over Race Point Beach and the Atlantic from the top of a huge sand dune.
Wildlife is sometimes spotted along the way, with seals sporadically found swimming within a few feet of the shoreline, perhaps the occasional fox, coyote, deer or turkey seen as you round the bends in the trail, or whales spied spouting in the distance, seen from the tops of those magnificent dunes.
Visit Art's Dune Tours website or call 1-800-894-1951 to arrange your tour before they make their last trip for the season, this coming Sunday. This tour is one of the most fun, entertaining and educational things to do on Cape Cod, and it's a "must" when you're in Provincetown. Get in one last trip before Art's season ends.

Provincetown's Perigee Moon and Its Stunning Eclipse Rise Over Our Harbor

A flaxen, perigee moon rose over Provincetown Harbor Sunday, October 27th.

 Last Sunday the moon reached it's perigee. That's the point at which it is at its closet to the earth for the year, and thus appearing larger than at any other time of the year.
Since the moonrise occurred before the sky was actually dark, this photo was taken after the moon had risen well up into the clear, night sky.

This photo was taken just moments before the total eclipse of the moon.

A few hours after that moonrise, the dusky shadow of the earth crept slowly over the moon, giving it a sort of reddish color in its total eclipse.

A moon the color of a gold nugget reached above the harbor on Monday night.

The following night, with the moon rising some 30 minutes later in the evening, when the sky was already dark, people turned out anywhere along the harbor to see this huge, deeply golden-colored moon rising over the Truro shoreline and the boats in our harbor.

The full moon rising through these wispy clouds over
Provincetown Harbor takes on an airy, ethereal look.

Later, growing paler as it rose higher in the sky, this enormous moon passed through several wisps of clouds, giving it a rather elegant look.

Jewels Appear in Melting PTown Snow

When the sun is at just the right angle, it makes jewels appear in the
mountains of snow and ice slowly melting all around Provincetown.

Melting snow and ice turns into heaps of diamonds when the light is just right, in the early morning on one mound of snow, and late afternoon on another.
As the days slowly warm a little, and when the sun hits just the right angle, the light refracts through snow that's been turned to ice by varying temperatures and the rain we've had between snow storms, turning all these banks of snow and ice into potential piles of jewels for anyone paying attention at just the right moment. Keep an eye out for these crystals, appearing briefly, and gone in an instant.

Spot More Species of PTown Wildlife

This little box turtle blends into the colors of the forest floor around it.

This week's wildlife pic is a box turtle I found walking through Beech Forest, headed through the trees toward the hill that it would have to climb to reach Black Water Pond, which seemed to be where it might have been set out for. The pattern on its shell and its coloring helped it to blend in with the colors of the forest floor, covered with bits of leaves, dried grasses, twigs and fallen pine needles.
Have you ever noticed how good the cover of the wildlife around us really is? Whether I'm hiking in Foss Woods, walking out in the dunes or near the beaches, or even driving through Beech Forest, I just sort of keep my eyes moving back and forth for anything else that's moving, because the camouflage on some of these animals is so good that you can be looking right at them and still not see them unless they are moving. I spot a lot of flora that way, just by watching for anything that moves.
Try it the next time you're out on the bike trails, or walking on the Old Colony Nature Pathway, or strolling on Duncan Lane. Watch for something moving around you or in the distance, and stop once in a while and stay still for a few moments, maybe sit on a fallen log or an aging fence rail for a bit, keeping your eyes moving. These and so many other areas in Provincetown are simply teeming with wildlife, and you'll see more of it if you just have a little patience, and a bit of luck, and look sharply for anything that moves.

Heron Today, Gone Tomorrow?

Herons and other crane-like birds are frequent sightings in the wetlands.

Despite reaching an overnight low temperature of 32 degrees the other night, Provincetown's miraculous autumn weather has rallied again, giving us the chance to continue hikes, bike rides and nature walks in shirtsleeves.
This great blue heron was spotted in the pond along Province Lands Road. These herons seem to be here in larger numbers this year, often being found near this little lagoon, or in the rivulets of water that wind through the marsh near the breakwater. Time spent in these spots is likely to be rewarded with sightings of these stately birds and others, and this weather makes the walk a real pleasure.
It seems like I write something every week recently urging you to get out and enjoy this amazing autumn season before the cold weather sets in, but seriously, how much longer can this perfect weather last?

Enjoy That Last Little Bit of Solitude Before The Season Really Kicks In

There's still time to be the only one out there for a walk on the West End Breakwater.

The signs of spring are all around us as we hear the calls of more and more varieties of birds winging in for the coming season, feel the winter air warming into spring-like temperatures, and see blossoms popping out steadily in the yards and gardens of Provincetown. Soon we'll see the boards come off the windows at Vorelli's, the awnings unfurled at the Mayflower, and the trolley taking its first few runs down Commercial Street to see where the tight spots will be this year.
For a short time longer we'll have the chance to enjoy the stunning natural beauty that surrounds us here at the tip of Cape Cod, without all of the visitors that flock here by the thousands in the summer to share it with us. We can still take a ride or a walk on a branch or two of the bike trail and be all alone when we stop near the pond to watch the young geese gliding through the water after their mother. We can hike out into the dunes and be the only one standing at the top of the hill, looking out beyond the tall grasses to the Atlantic Ocean, watching for humpback whales spouting as they amble into the bay to begin the summer season.
Walk out into the woods on the old railroad bed at Howland Street and Harry Kemp Way. Sit on the beach near Hatch's Harbor and listen to the waves rolling in and out. Climb to the top of the visitor center, looking out over Race Point Beach, for a 360 degree view of forest, dune and ocean. Even a stroll down any PTown side street will bring you the soft sounds, sights and aromas of the spring as it quietly unfolds all around us.
This week, before it's too late, get outdoors and enjoy a bit of blissful solitude, which is all too rare here in the bustling summer season.

Provincetown Shoreline Disappears, Shrouded in Three Days of Dense Fog

It's not that unusual to see a fairly heavy fog rolling over the dunes and into Beach Forrest, and on into the center of town, where it sometimes gobbles up the Pilgrim Monument from the top down. This will happen on several mornings throughout the year. But this time the fog has been hovering just above our heads for three days,  hanging over the ponds, sweeping back and forth, drifting out to sea a mile or two, and then sneaking back in over the beaches and the harbor. A misty veil of tiny water droplets suspended in midair has hidden both Wood End and the Long Point Light from view ever since Tuesday morning, leaving hapless visitors to speculate on the whereabouts of the actual tip of Cape Cod. These minuscule beads of dew have caused the breakwater in the West End, and those walking on it, to vanish less than halfway out into the harbor, and they've collected on the leaves of trees all along Commercial Street, plopping silently onto our heads as we walk beneath the dripping branches.

There's one great advantage, however, to having this salubrious mist settling quietly onto every surface in sight: it makes nature's colors just that much more vibrant. The pitch pines at the edges of the dunes become more verdant, the last purple blossoms of the sheep's laurel brighten a bit, and the brown blotches of leaves slowly dying on the scrub oaks turn golden under a bit of moisture.
Get out for a stroll on the bike trails before ten this morning, when the sun is scheduled to return, and enjoy this drizzle from a fresh perspective.