Cape Cod Weekly Bird Sightings
Cape Cod Bird Sightings — Tuesday, May 19, 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 May 13 and May 19, 2026.
There was an invasion of White Ibises into the region over the weekend, with 22 seen first in Sandwich then later in Hyannis and Provincetown, 6 in West Harwich, one in Chatham, and another in Mashpee. The previous state high count was 5 from last year.
A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was found at Peterson Farm in Falmouth on Tuesday.
Single Mississippi Kites were seen in Provincetown, Chatham, and Orleans this week, and two Swallow-tailed Kites were also seen in Chatham. Another Swallow-tailed Kite was in Mashpee.
A survey of Stellwagen Bank waters tallied a Ruby-throated Hummingbird several miles out to sea, a Razorbill, a Common Murre, 16 Northern Fulmar, a Sooty Shearwater, a Manx Shearwater, and 76 Northern Gannets.
A fallout of migrants noted at the Provincetown Airport/Race Point area on the 17th included a Wilson’s Phalarope, 3 Solitary Sandpipers, 9 Glossy Ibis, 242 Eastern Kingbirds, 812 Blue Jays, 4 Cliff Swallows, 710 Cedar Waxwings, 12 Purple Finches, 505 Bobolinks, 17 Northern Waterthrushes, 75 Black-and-white Warblers, 45 American Redstarts, 30 Cape May Warblers, 60 Northern Parulas, 90 Magnolia Warblers, 8 Bay-breasted Warblers, 10 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 42 Blackpoll Warblers, 150 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 2500 additional unidentified warblers, and 8 Scarlet Tanagers. On Tuesday an additional 1500 Cedar Waxwings, 780 Blue Jays, and a Pine Siskin were noted passing the airport.
Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included an American Golden-Plover, 2 Common Murres, a Little Gull, and a Cliff Swallow.
And Three Chuck-will’s-widows continued at Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, and other sightings around the Cape included a Harlequin Duck and a Purple Sandpiper at South Cape Beach in Mashpee, 2 Worm-eating Warblers in Mashpee and 3 more each in Sandwich and Falmouth, 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons and a Hooded Warbler in West Barnstable, a Little Blue Heron in Yarmouth, a Blue Grosbeak in Harwich, a Kentucky Warbler and a Hooded Warbler at Fort Hill in Eastham, and a Lark Sparrow elsewhere in Eastham.
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].