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Knobbed Whelks

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There are several kinds of whelks common to Cape Cod but on the south side Hyannis, Centerville and Osterville beaches I frequent, the knobbed whelk is the most common.

Here is the shell of one washed up on the beach. I can’t help but collect these lovely shells and they decorate many of my window sills.

Whelks are gastropods and are really just big snails. In some parts of the country and other parts of the world you may hear them referred to as conchs thought true conchs are a bit different. If you walk the beach in the fall or winter you may find these long twisty egg cases. These are the egg cases of the knobbed whelk. The cases of the channeled whelk look similar but have got sharper edges to the individual cases.

Often the cases that wash up still have some shells in them. I cut this one open to show the baby whelks that did not survive. Like all mollusks the young grow with their shells. They do not shed them like crustaceans such as crabs.

Here you can see the relative sizes of an adult whelk, the egg case and the baby whelks.

And since it is still a bit chilly to sit in the damp sand and draw I brought them home to sketch in my trusty moleskine.

Signs of spring are here!

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You’ve probably been seeing and hearing them already but all of a sudden they really seem to be adding up. The first osprey was sighted in Falmouth, spring peepers have been heard even on the lower Cape and earthworms are done with their hibernation, making the newly arrived robins very happy. Song sparrows are singing and many other birds are setting up territories.

I’m off the the Cape Cod Natural History Conference at the college today but please add your favorite signs of spring to the comments section.

A Tribute to John Hay

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Earlier this week I learned that one of the most wonderful men in my life had passed away. I didn’t really know John Hay in his later years the way many others did but I did know him when I was a child and a young adult and his quiet but profound influence is one of the things that brought me to where I am today…

 The above pictures were taken in 1964 after I got my new Brownie camera. The little girl is me with a parakeet that literally blew in with a storm and landed on my head one afternoon as we got in the car….my dad took the picture and the certificate was from a class I took with Mr. Hay in 1965,,,

Over the years I have collected all his books, most with little notes from him inside…they are some of my most treasured belongings.

This week I wrote an essay about being a child under the tutelage of John Hay for the Barnstable Patriot. If you would like to read it you can find it here.

Watching…like a hawk

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Do you see the hawk on the rock?

 These photos were taken at Fort Hill yesterday and I thought it would be fun to show how easy it is to miss something as big as a hawk….the bird fits into the stone wall profile pretty well.

 Here is a picture from a different angle using my zoom….

 And here it is again, in silhouette.

 This is the same young red tail but this time it is perched on the cedar. People walk right by big birds in trees all the time….

The hawk flew off shortly after this photo was taken and landed in the field nearby where once again, it was well enough camouflaged that quite a few people walked right on by without seeing it….

The moral of this story is….check out those tree tops and scan the landscape for odd shapes!

Eastern Meadowlarks

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When I was a child one of the birds that totally captured my imagination was a meadowlark. I had seen one sitting on a post singing when I was quite young and from then on I was hooked. I looked for them in every field I saw. Actually, I still do.

 With the demise of farmlands and meadows the meadowlark is not as easy to find as it once was but there are still places on the Cape where you can find them regularly and easily. One of the best spots every winter and spring is Fort Hill in Eastham and while waiting to meet a friend today I spotted one fly into the field near the upper parking lot.

 It was soon joined by others and then there were 10 in all. The top picture was actually the last one I took as the birds spooked and took to a tree. In the middle picture you can see the trademark yellow breast with a black v bib on the bird on the right. Check out the bird in the center to see the tell tale white patches on either side of the tail–sometimes that is the first indicator you will see…..

Here are a few more pictures–the quality isn’t great–they were pretty far away–but you can still see the yellow tint on the breast of the one in the middle. If you would like to know more about these lovely birds please check them out here.

If you have had a chance to get out today you know what an awesome day it has been.

Some Fun Nature Programs to check out….

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There are a lot of great nature programs on the Cape all winter long. Many of them are free or very affordable. I know I’ll miss something so if you know of a program I should add, please feel free to contact me.

If you want to know where to find and see owls and otters, following Ian Ives, sanctuary director for the mid and upper Cape Audubon sanctuaries, is always fun and informative. He is leading a program at Ashumet this Friday and you can get more information here.

The National Marine Life Center in Buzzards Bay will be hosting a family program, “For the Love of Turtles” on this coming Saturday. They will also have activities during school vacation week. Scroll down through the website to see the calendar here.

The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History has free family programs for members (minimal cost for non members) at 1 p.m. all through school vacation next week as well. For more info, click here.

And of course there is Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and there are always fun programs going on there as well.

If you are in the Sandwich area, don’t forget the Thornton Burgess Society and the Green Briar Nature Center. They are also running special programs for school vacation as well as adult programs. Check their website for specific information here.

House finches

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When I was a kid we actually had more purple finches than house finches on the Cape or at least where I was on the mid-Cape. These days the house finches are far more plentiful and have adapted well to suburban life. Like the house sparrow and the starling, the house finch is a transplant, not a native. Unlike the former two birds house finches are generally well liked by back yard bird feeders, most likely due to their lively song and generally pleasant dispositions and personalities.

House finches tend to travel and feed in groups. This male was seen with a flock of about a dozen other house finches in the bushes around the Coast Guard Beach parking lot. You can find lots more information about house finches and also see the similarities between them and other finches by clicking here.

Baby, it’s cold outside!

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Did you know you can tell the temperature by looking at the way the rhododendron leaves are curled? Rhododendrons are evergreens but that doesn’t mean they love the cold weather. They can tolerate it but have learned to adjust by curling their leaves. The tighter the curl, the colder the temperature. These leaves are telling you it is under 20 F. Brrrrrrr… You can get lots more information here.