Cape Cod Birds

Yesterday I made a day trip to the outer cape in hopes of photographing some wintering waterfowl and seabirds. It turned out to be a pretty good day, despite the extreme windy conditions. I was able to add four new species of birds to my collection, which is pretty good for one day. These include Red-throated Loon, Bonaparte's Gull, Razorbill, and a somewhat lame photo of a Thick-billed Murre. I stopped at Wellfleet Harbor and Provincetown Harbor, which had the most action by far. Many of the birds were extremely approachable, and I had very close encounters with both the loons and razorbills. At one point two Razorbills surfaced no more than 8 feet away, but the light was rather harsh and the focus was off. Below are a few of my favorites.

Bonaparte's Gull taking off, Wellfleet Harbor

This Razorbill was photographed just feet away from one of the floating docks off the Macmillan Wharf in Provincetown. Sure is awesome being so close to a bird I've never seen before!

 Red-throated Loon, Wellfleet Harbor. These guys were also extremely close, sometimes so much that I couldn't even focus on them! This was on the top of my want list.

I will definitely need to get back out to the outer cape again this winter, hopefully early next month as I am off from school. Check back for more images from the trip. I've been going on bird hunts nearly once a week lately in hopes of expanding my bird variety. I've made two trips in the past month for Snowy Owl with no success. This winter in Massachusetts has several areas where these awesome birds are staying, and photographing a snowy would make my winter! Hopefully I will succeed soon.......