Happy Valentine's Day

Thought I'd just share some nice Cape photos...

And from me to you ;-)

Brant geese

Brant geese are locally common on the Cape throughout the winter and their arrival in our coastal waters in the late fall is a sure sign that the seasons are changing. Found in areas where there is a good amount of eel grass brant can be found in many of our south facing beach areas, especially around estuaries. You may also find them in marshy areas and occasionally grazing in grassy areas. These brant were hanging out with the gulls at the Sandwich Marina on the canal on a recent blustery day.

Many people see brant and just think they are Canada geese but if you look closely you will see they have a dark front whereas the Canada goose has a light front (photo by NaturePhoto.com)

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Canada geese are also quite a bit larger which is easy to see if you see the birds together. Imagine a herring gull and a Canada goose standing next to each other and what the medium size bird between them might be and you will have an idea about the size of a brant.

Here you can see them in relation to the gulls around them.

Brant don't nest here but are arctic nesters, like many of our winter visitors. They come here because our coastal waters often stay open and their favorite foods are plentiful They will eat seaweeds, especially sea lettuce if their favored eel grass is in short supply. Back in the 1930s when eel grass crashed the brant population crashed along with it but they have steadily been increasing in numbers and are once again flourishing.

And if you are an old school birder, yes, brant used to be spelled brandt ;-)

Watching an owl released to freedom...

A large female great horned owl was hit by a Mack truck on December 31 on Rt. 151 in Falmouth but lived to tell the tale. She was pretty banged up but with the help of the Falmouth Animal Control Officer and Cape Wildlife Center she has been nursed back to health.

Over the last few years the Cape Wildlife Center has teamed up with the Mass Audubon Long Pasture Sanctuary to have a few public releases along with informative natural history programs and each release and program attracts more and more people.

Yesterday Ian Ives of the Long Pasture Sanctuary gave a talk and slide show at the Falmouth Library to a house that was so packed some people got stuck listening to it out in the hall. After the program we drove over to the Ashumet Holly Reservation to watch the owl get released.

The almost full moon had risen above the trees as the van arrived and Dr. Bob carried the container that had the owl in it. By keeping the owl confined in a small, dark space she was able to remain calm and not injure herself by flapping around.

We were asked to stand back and give the owl room and we were also told that the owl could be unpredictable when let out of the box...

Everyone's eyes were on the blue box (in the center) to see what would happen when the box was opened...

She may have been in confinement for a month and a half but this lady knew just what to do....fly away! That's her in the center of the photo....

We were told she might land in a tree to assess her situation and her surroundings but she chose the roof of the house in the distance...

At first she kept her back turned to us but then...

she turned to look at all of us as we all looked at her....

As we left, under the light of the rising moon, my little grandsons skipped along singing, "We saw an owl, we saw an owl...." and I think the rest of us sort of felt the same way. Not only that, we saw an owl that had been rescued and released and her release helped educate people about both wild birds and animals but the efforts if takes to rehabilitate and care for them as well.

The greening of January?

I'm all for greening up stuff. I love green plants and I love green living...

However....something about the warmth and the accompanying plant growth this January just seems wrong...

My strawberries are putting out new leaves and new runners...

Dandelions are popping up in my yard as well...

Tansy is growing...

And maple is budding...

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for spring...but this just doesn't feel right to me...

What a weird winter, huh?

To Provincetown and back...

We took the day to drive down Cape and see what we could see....

the sky and the light over Fort Hill and Nauset Marsh were just beautiful...

Coast Guard Beach was incredibly windy but gorgeous...

This little tree on the bluff was pretty wind blown...

 The view from Marconi in Wellfleet was breathtaking...

And by the time we reached Herring Cove in Provincetown the sun was shining...

There was quite a bit of surf but the gulls didn't mind...

At Race Point the wind practically knocked us off our feet...

We got sandblasted a bit but the view was worth it...

What a day!

Beautiful foggy morning...

Last night it warmed up and rained and our snow vanished into mist...

At the beach you could only see the water close up...even the gulls were mostly hidden in the mist

The black ducks in the marsh continued to dabble...

and the overall view was pretty subdued and lovely...

The harbors were socked in...

and even the fishing boats looked like ghosts in the distance

Even as I write this the sun is burning off the fog and soon all this mist and all that snow will be long forgotten...

but for just a little while there was magic at the beach on a January morning....

The first snow....

We've waited a long time to see more than a dusting of snow here on the Cape but this morning it began as I got to the beach...

There wasn't a single other person around and it was still and silent except for a few gulls....

a small flock of buffleheads...

and the quiet lapping of the water against the frozen sand..

At a different beach along the way there were empty benches and empty docks...

I love these quiet mornings when I can pretend that I am alone and that the beach is here just for me, even if it is for just a short time.

Have a happy snow day today!