Cape Cod Bird Nerd

2.20.18 Tuesday Tweets - John Wing Trail - Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Brewster, MA

It was not too cold, not too windy, not too rainy... we made it our own morning on this Tuesday Tweets. I have to admit though... we did not see a whole bunch of birds. I wondered if it was due to the storm on the way. The birds always seem to know. Walking this trail with the perfect crowd is one of my favorite ways to begin a day. The tide was WAY out when we made it to Cape Cod Bay and far far in the distance we were able to make out some birds. When I present my class Birdwatching For Beginners, one of the things I talk about is being able to identify birds at such a distance.

I encourage is familiarity of the birds you see all the time. When you are watching Black-capped Chickadees in your yard, even through the window, pay attention to their behavior, their movements. When you see gulls on the beach (or in a parking lot) pay attention to that gull's behavior, also their markings. When you start picking up on the details observing a bird rather close up, you'll be able to identify species from hundreds of feet away, with decent accuracy. In other words... we were fairly certain we saw Brant that were probably close to 800 feet away. It's a fun skill to practice... especially when you're walking with us for Tuesday Tweets!

Our List:
Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Hairy Woodpecker
Song Sparrow
American Crow
Brant
Great Black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Turkey Vulture
House Sparrow