Monday, October 15, 2007

Cape Cod Day 5: Cape Cod Museum of Natural History (8/1)


The tides were right on Wednesday so we decided to spend the morning walking on the mud flats near the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster, MA. We parked in the museum parking lot and hiked down to the beach. As we crossed the wood bridge that spans the area which floods easily we spotted several Ospreys sitting on the platforms. Apparently the museum has web cams set up to observe these birds during the summer.

When we got down to the beach we quickly took off our shoes and socks and headed for the water. My sister and I really enjoy exploring the flats and we quickly found lots of wildlife. Our first major find was a shell just sticking out of the water. Not wanting to get pinched, I used a piece of plastic to coax the crab out of the sand. To our surprise, it was actually a pair of crabs who were obviously in the process of mating. The bottom crab (the female?) was huge and assumed an aggressive posture with claws out in front of her body. Not wanting any trouble, we left the pair alone and they quickly dug themselves back into the sand.

Those weren't the only crabs around. We actually found several of different colors. I was able to photograph this one before he took shelter. There were other invertebrates as well. We found several large Hermit Crabs which I picked up to see if I could get a good shot of their bodies. The crab would curl up tight into his shell and then, as if he was curious what was happening, he would stick his head out again.
We also found lots of Moon Snails. These guys were easy to uncover, you just had to follow the trails in the sand. They were everywhere.
By this time we were pretty far out. We spotted some birds foraging in the flats and spent a few minutes identifying them. We saw Ruddy Turnstones, Semi-palmated Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, and lots of gulls. As we watched, more and more birds peeled off the flock and flew away. Before we knew it the sand flats were all covered with water and we had to move fast to avoid being overcome by the incoming tide.
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After getting back to dry land we put on our shoes and headed over to the museum. We had visited before but this time they had an exhibit on Rachel Carson. Rachel is thought by many to have launched the modern environmental movement with the publication of her book "Silent Spring". The book documented the effects of pesticides on humans, animals, and the Earth itself. Even though it was written in the early 60's, the book is still relevant today and I'd strongly encourage you to read it if you haven't yet.
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The museum had a very nice exhibit on Rachel. There was a display of some of her personal effects and examples of her beautiful writings on the natural world. My Mom and I found this one particularly heartfelt.
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They also showed a documentary on Rachel's life. Known as a gifted nature writer, Rachel devoted several years of her life to investigating and documenting the effects of DDT and other pesticides. When the book came out, she was attacked by the chemical industry which sought to discredit her work. She actively defended her research all while battling cancer (the horrible disease that eventually took her life). What an incredible woman.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Cape Cod Day 4: Wellfleet Bay MAS (7/31)


On Tuesday of our Cape Cod vacation we spent the morning at Wellfleet Bay MAS again. It was muggy and overcast all morning. But there were still a lot of animals out foraging. Especially at the feeders where we came across this Red Squirrel happily eating at the sanctuary's "trough" (was this the same guy from last year or one of his cousins?). A Chipmunk scooped up any seeds that happened to drop to the ground.


We headed down to the pond where the Pickerelweed was in bloom and the Painted Turtles were swimming around looking for a sunny place to bask. We moved on to the Goose Pond which was actually pretty quiet other than the noisy Belted Kingfisher that scolded us from his favorite perch.


As we came to the salt marsh we found some fresh tracks which were so large that they must have been from a Great Blue Heron. But the lack of actual birds forced me to divert my attention to other things. I found the strangest iridescent beetle on one of the small bushes that framed the trail. As I was photographing that bug I noticed several bees nectaring on the Regosa Rose. I got one nice shot of a bee coming in for a landing. Unfortunately, when I was taking those pictures, my parents had a great look at a female Northern Harrier working the marsh for lunch.


When I rejoined them we continued out to the edge of the marsh. There we found the usual cast of characters: Black-bellied Plovers, Willets, Semi-palmated Plovers, etc. We did see at least one Piping Plover amongst the flock. By this time we were pretty hungry so we hiked back to our car.

After having a quick lunch we decided that it wasn't much of a beach day so we'd spend the afternoon walking around in Chatham. As we made our way up-Cape the weather cleared noticeably. By the time that we got the to the lighthouse in Chatham, the sun was out. I was so envious of the people down on the beach enjoying a nice afternoon swim.

But, we stuck to the plan. We got to the center of town and walked around looking at the shops. Our favorite is Yankee Ingenuity and we make at least one stop there every year. This vacation I didn't pick up anything. But my sister got some jewelry and some really cool glass spiders.

Hungry from all the walking, we found some park benches and ate our sandwiches. We had a good plan for the evening: my Mom and sister would go to the Hyannis Sound concert and my Dad and I would go to the Chatham A's game.

That was before the weather changed. Just as we split up you could see the fog rolling in from the ocean. It actually came up the street like something you'd see in a B-grade horror film. By the time we got to the park, it was totally fogged over. The officials delayed the game for a half hour hoping that the conditions would change but they ultimately had to cancel the game.

Still wanting to see a game, my Dad and I drove back to Orleans. The fog was a bit less dense there so they were playing when we arrived at the park. But, as the fog came and went they were forced to stop the game numerous time. I think that we actually got to see an inning and a half in total before we had to head back to Chatham to pick up the girls.