Cape Cod Bird Sightings — Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Cape Cod Weekly Wildlife Sightings is sponsored by the Bird Watchers General Store in Orleans and Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The following sightings were reported between July 1 and July 14, 2026.

Astoundingly, a Crested Caracara, a bird whose nearest breeding population is in Central Florida ranchland, flew in to Race Point on Saturday, remaining in the outer dunes at least into Sunday.

Other sightings from Race Point in Provincetown this week included a South Polar Skua, 5 Black Terns, an Arctic Tern, 155 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 15 Bonaparte’s Gulls, an Iceland Gull, 3 Cory’s Shearwaters, 5 Great Shearwaters, 4 Sooty Shearwaters, and 12 Manx Shearwaters.

The storm last week produced some excellent seabirds at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, including a Bridled Tern, 2 South Polar Skuas, a Long-tailed Jaeger, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 5 Whimbrel, 50 Roseate Terns, 40 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, 14 Great Shearwaters, 20 Cory’s Shearwaters, and 10 Sooty Shearwaters.

Single Swallow-tailed Kites were seen at Lovell’s Pond in Barnstable as well as in Marstons Mills, Osterville, and Mashpee this week.

At Pogorelc Sanctuary in West Barnstable there were 18 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, 5 Black-crowned Night-Heron, a Little Blue Heron, 14 Snowy Egrets, 46 Great Egrets, and a Willow Flycatcher.

Other sightings around the Cape included a Tricolored Heron at Scusset Beach in Sandwich, a continuing late Harlequin Duck in East Falmouth, a Merlin at West Dennis Beach, a Little Blue Heron in Harwich, an early migrant Rose-breasted Grosbeak that came in off the ocean in Eastham, at least 2 Chuck-will’s-Widows continuing at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, and 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons and a Little Blue Heron at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary.

If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to [email protected].