Migration stories

A whale watch out of Barnstable Harbor turns into an unforgettable show of humpbacks, dolphins, and pelagic birds feeding together off Stellwagen Bank. Plus, a Red-necked Phalarope, four species of shearwater, and one very out-of-place Black Vulture in Orleans.

Fall migration turns the yard into a crossroads, from a pale young Blackburnian Warbler foraging on the ground to a bedraggled Broad-winged Hawk pausing mid-journey. Both are headed thousands of miles south, possibly converging in the cloud forests of the Andes.

The Crested Caracara pulled its usual disappearing act in Wellfleet, and a Swallow tailed Kite in Mashpee just set a state record for the latest sighting ever. It's peak shorebird migration season, and it's time these underrated travelers got some airtime, with a beginner's guide to the sandpipers and plovers gathering on Cape Cod's flats before their long flights south.

A Crested Caracara turns up at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, marking the second Cape sighting of this warm-climate raptor this summer. This report covers the species' puzzling northward push since 2020, plus other notable birds including a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Tricolored Heron, and a performative Clapper Rail in West Harwich.

After literally years of trolling us, the weirdest presumed breeding bird on Cape Cod has finally given up the goods. The huge, unmistakable birds in question, known to nest prominently in the tallest tree around, have somehow hidden definitive evidence of actual nests with chicks in them since at least 2022.

That famous Bridled Tern is back in the news again, this time at Seagull Beach in Yarmouth. But there's bigger birding happening on the Vineyard, where a marathon dawn watch at Aquinnah produced 91 species and some early signs of fall songbird migration.

Late-summer Cape Cod brings rare Swallow-tailed Kites and spectacular waves of migrating shorebirds. Find out where to see both before the season flies by.

Shorebird migration is picking up, but the world's friendliest rare bird stole the show. This week, the famous bridled tern toured Cape Cod and the Islands before returning to Scituate.

A rare tropical seabird has spent weeks charming its way around Scituate Harbor, perching on cars, deck railings, and even the heads of beachgoers and their dogs. Bridled Terns almost never show up in Massachusetts outside of hurricanes, let alone linger all summer acting like a friendly parrot. This week we dig into the sighting history, compare it to a more standoffish bird that's been working the coast of Maine and New Hampshire since 2024, and consider a few Cape reports from earlier this summer that may be connected. Plus a theory involving a marooned sailor and a rottweiler named Flotsam.

A Crested Caracara, a tropical bird of prey rarely seen north of Florida and Texas, turned up at Race Point in Provincetown this week, one of several surprising sightings across the Northeast this summer. A look at the species' odd habits, its wandering history in Massachusetts, and a running debate about whether it really belongs with the falcons.