Category Archives: cape cod in winter

Barnstable Land Trust’s Fuller Farm

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Every now and then I get to go to a new magical place that instantly becomes one of my favorites and this new acquisition by the Barnstable Land Trust is just such a place. Fuller Farm is in Marstons Mills and is about 23 acres of rolling farmland, pasture and hay fields. It is a throwback to a time when Marstons Mills was full of dairy farms but which is now unique in its size and untouched nature.

I went for a walk there recently with a group from the BLT and it is truly a beautiful piece of land. We are hoping to find woodcocks there this spring since the land is quite perfect for them and borders a nearby cranberry bog and Middle Pond.

The buildings remain just as they have been for over a century. Some additions have been made over the years but the original buildings are 150 years old.

I’m a sucker for rusty old tools and weathered wood…

The day we were there was cold and windy but we did find proof of recent visits by red foxes…

and coyotes. In fact there is some thought that coyotes are denning there though we did not explore that idea too much…coyotes and foxes will move their dens if they think they’ve been discovered and since both species should be having young about now we didn’t want to disturb them…but we did find some scat near the area we thought they’d be…

If you’re wondering how we knew which was fox and which was coyote…..we really can’t be totally sure except one was quite a bit smaller than the other.Both had lots of fur, bones and teeth and one even had small rocks. Go figure on that one…

There’s a pussy willow tree there though most of the pussy willows themselves were passing by…

And we were quite surprised to find blooming violets in a sunny patch since it was still mid March!

Fuller Farm is going to be a wonderful addition to the Barnstable Land Trust’s holdings and kudos to them for keeping this wild and wonderful place open fields and keeping it free from development!

Cape Cod beaches after the storms….

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It is a changed world out there after the winter storms of the last month or so. Many of us have seen the pictures and videos but to stand in these places and see and feel the devastation is almost more than a soul can bear….

To be fair, some of these breaks will heal themselves but some will not. Some dunes will replenish over time but others will flatten out even more. Some of this process is natural and some has been exacerbated by overuse and abuse by oversand vehicles and people ignoring signs to stay off dunes and cliffs. Even the smallest foot path in a dune can become a major sand blowout if the wind is right….or wrong….

We took a long tour the other day and these are some of the highlights–or lowlights, really…

From Gray’s Beach in YarmouthPort we could see the big break in the dunes across the way at Chapin Beach in Dennis

Corporation Beach in Dennis took a big hit…

There were plenty of birds like these brant there, taking in the view and feeding…

Beaches like Paine’s Creek in Brewster are really suffering…

Changes at Nauset Beach in Orleans are unbelievable…

Yeah, there used to be dunes there….some of the dunes are now in the parking lot and filling in the stairways….

At Coast Guard Beach, the beach was actually closed to keep the dunes at the entrance to the walkway from further eroding….

This view of a flooded Nauset Marsh was taken several hours AFTER high tide….

At Nauset Light Beach the cliffs are severely compromised and again, access to the beach was shut off…

The break at Ballston Beach in Truro has been well documented but was still shocking to see first hand…

Several homes there are quite compromised….

By the time we got to Race Point in Provincetown we thought we had seen it all….but we were not prepared for this…

So much sand had blown into the parking lots there that it had been plowed into huge dunes….that dwarfed what was left of the dunes it blew away from!

And there was the cause of it all….looking much calmer but still a little worked up…

it was a long, emotional day….

A day in Chatham

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Saturday was a great day for getting out and about so we headed to Chatham to take a look at the beaches there. We knew the big blizzard had done a lot of damage and opened a new break on South Beach so we went to see what we could see. We were not alone. Parking lots were jammed and crowds of people were looking through binoculars, taking pictures and videos and walking out onto the beaches to see the breaks up close.

Our first stop was at Pleasant Bay, just because it was so pretty and sparkly.

The wind and water of the last few weeks left a trail of horseshoe crab molts all along the edge of the road and in the bushes…

At the fish pier you could see the few remaining cottages on North Beach in the distance

The fish market is all closed up, waiting for warmer days…

Lighthouse Beach parking lot was jammed and there were maybe several hundred people milling about…the views were spectacular, though sobering for those of us who know this area…this shot is looking back toward the harbor.

This view is looking down South Beach. Note the people walking but also the large pools of water. The break is not too far beyond the scope of this photo but I couldn’t capture it with my little camera from where we were….

and another view

Starkly beautiful, sad, sobering and thought provoking all at the same time….

Waiting for spring….

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These sunny afternoons are stretching longer each day and making me long for spring…and yes, I know that spring is a tentative and shy season around here.

It is in February though that we start to see, hear and smell the first signs of spring…

Red-winged blackbirds are beginning to arrive. Their red epaulets are not as evident as they will be later on…

Song sparrows are beginning to think about claiming their territories…

Witch hazel is in bloom in many areas, a sure sign of late February…

There are other signs as well. Skunks are on the move, robins are returning (you can tell them from the more robust winter robins from up north because they are smaller and look tired and worn) and even the leaves of the mayflowers are looking fresh and renewed..

So sure, there’s yet another storm forecast for this weekend but we can keep finding signs of spring in spite of the snow and ice…

 

Of birds and the blizzard….

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If you’re on the Cape or even just in New England you know it’s been a crazy couple of days around here! Although it started as sloppy sleet here on the Cape the snow blew fast and furiously, clomping onto trees and wires like cement and dragging them down like cement, too. There was also tidal flooding and between the wind and water power is still out for almost two thirds of Cape residents and businesses. To be honest, I must admit I am one of the lucky few who lost power overnight but had it back by yesterday morning. I spent most of my day yesterday watching the snow blow and refilling bird feeders. Boy, were the birds hungry and cold!

All these photos were taken through an ice encrusted window but they do give the feel of the day….these two redheads shared the feeder for awhile. That’s a male house finch with the male cardinal…

These goldfinches were holding on for dear life….

This downy woodpecker is getting ready to make her move, waiting for the wind to die down a bit…

This flicker has had a rough time of it–she even has snow and ice encrusted on her feathers

Chickadees were a bit wind blown but they’re pretty sturdy

This tufted titmouse had a little bit of a prize

And this white breasted nuthatch was happy to find seeds and nuts here

while its smaller cousins, the red breasted nuthatches worked on the suet…

and although I’m not a big fan of the mobs of house sparrows I did make sure there was plenty of seed on the ground for them on such a rough day….

This cardinal seems to express the way we all felt while the storm raged around us….

Today, however, is a new day….

 

 

A gray day….

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We sure have had a gray winter. We haven’t had a lot of snow but it’s been cold enough that the little bit of snow we have had has stayed on the ground long past its due….I don’t know about you but I’m finding it tiresome….I have had to drag myself outside to walk each day….

And then, there was this morning at the beach…so beautiful it took my breath away…

Everything was so still and serene…

There was still snow from last night but not a lot…

There were lots of tracks already–human, dog, gulls and crows mostly…

The incoming tide allowed for beautiful patterns in the underwater seaweeds

The jetty was frosted with just the right amount of snow…

And in the distance the dock and pilings stood tall against the gray water and sky…

But perhaps sweetest of all was finding this heart in the snow made by two sets of footprints and decorated with a snow angel in the middle…

Funny how some days you make yourself go out, expecting it to be sort of a blah, boring walk but instead you find serene, profound beauty….

Snow at the beach….

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Every now and then I hear that someone is surprised that it can snow at the beach….it may not snow on southern beaches but it definitely snows here on our Cape Cod beaches….and it is quite beautiful!

There is something sublimely beautiful about the beach in the winter, especially with a bit of snow and ice….so bundle up and enjoy the view!

 

A Little Winter Reading….

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Several people have asked me to recommend some good nature related winter reading and today, being a bit cold and blustery outside seemed a good day to look over my bookshelves to find some of my favorite books…some days I just pick up one of them to reread a chapter or two…

These are newish books focuses on the nature and beaches of Cape Cod and they are all wonderful. Although “The Fo’c'sle” is a “children’s” book it so lovely and so beautifully illustrated that adults who love Cape Cod should add it to their collection… And Bob Finch’s little book is just like book candy. Throw it in your bag or glove compartment for those little pockets of time when you need something quick to read but don’t feel like reading a magazine that is about 3 years old….

I got my first nature books as a very young child and I still have many of them. I also collect ones I see at yard or estate sales. Reading books written about nature so long ago is very revealing and also nostalgic. We have changed the way we see and think about nature but even 50 or 100 years ago there were people out there trying to get people to understand why conservation was important on a personal as well as societal level. The John Hay is from my mother’s collection and has been a family favorite since my childhood, along with all the rest of his books.

I love to read essays and personal accounts of people;s interactions with nature and all these books fit into that description. If you don’t know all or any of these authors, I highly recommend them…”Life of the Skies” is a new one or me and I hope to settle in and read it this weekend…

Do you have any special nature related books you find yourself returning to again and again? I will add more over the next few weeks so feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments.

Buried in the sand

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This is the time of year when the wind blows down the beach with howls and the surf hits the sand with a roar….it is the time of year when shells appear half buried in the sand like long lost skeletons…

driftwood and seaweeds add to the sandy compositions…

Feathers that have been shed show their wear and tear…
And some days you just play with the shells you find in the sand and make a sand and scallop design…
Sometimes it is fun to take the time to stop and look at the little things closely, even when the big picture is so enticing…

Brant geese

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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 ;-)