Weekly Bird Report

It's all about water. One refilled bird bath brought a flood of orioles, a Wellfleet Bay stream draws in warblers and bluebirds, and a volunteer's photos of daytime owls bathing have to be seen to be believed.

As Whip-poor-wills grow scarce in the region's pine woods, a larger and considerably ruder cousin has taken up residence: the Chuck-will's-widow. Once found no farther north than Virginia, this bird-eating nightjar is now breeding across the Cape and Islands in ever-increasing numbers.

Despite its reputation as a quiet month for birding, June delivers a string of surprises on the Cape and Islands this week, led by multiple rare Gull-billed Tern sightings along the coast. From an unexpected Red Crossbill heard from a driveway to a Mississippi Kite studied from a standstill on the Sagamore Bridge, the birds are overachieving.

A short stop at a Mass Audubon nature playground becomes an insect safari full of parasites, predators, mimics, and a tiny fly with a very big name.

A spring storm delivers rare seabirds, massive flocks of songbirds, and the Cape’s first confirmed Prothonotary Warbler nest.

Wildlife photographer Diane Palomba noticed something strange at Long Pasture: hummingbirds nesting suspiciously close to a Cooper's Hawk. Turns out they knew exactly what they were doing.

Mark Faherty recaps an exciting week of spring migration on Cape Cod, featuring rare ibis sightings, a surprise Chestnut-collared Longspur, and the unofficial arrival of “Ibisfest.”

This week’s spring migration reached spectacular heights as rare southern visitors mixed with huge numbers of songbirds pouring into Cape Cod from across the Atlantic.

Mark Faherty talks about a few of the long distance travelers that he has spotted this May from the Nashville Warbler to the Blue-headed Vireo and many more.

Mark Faherty talks about the birds showing up at your feeders.

How did a hemisphere-trotting hawk of the arid west get to Cape Cod?

Mark Faherty talks about the different types of birds returning to the area this time of year from the Golden-crowned Kinglet to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Mark Faherty talks about the surging bird populations on the Cape in the springtime.

Ornithologist Mark Faherty talks about the return of a Tufted Titmouse making its return to Nantucket.

What we lacked in numbers of the common owls, we made up for with encounters with some of the more sought after species.

Looking at waxwings and eiders to find their unusual relatives among the flocks.

The first results are in.

Big flocks of birds tend to draw in other birds, including any lost waifs from elsewhere. Sometimes just looking out the window can reveal a rare bird in your yard.

The Atlantic puffin is a real crowd-pleaser. While people know them as a nesting bird of rocky Maine Islands in summer, small numbers winter in deep Massachusetts waters.

A limpkin visited Scituate and a common cuckoo visited New Hampshire in recent days.