Nature Connection: Blowing In The Wind

When I woke early one morning this week the wind was howling in such a way that I knew November had finally arrived. Sure enough, driving along tree lined roads later in the morning proved this point over and over again as leaves flew across the streets and stripped the branches bare under a steel gray sky. The air that had been unseasonably warm had cooled overnight and there was frost everywhere, lovely in its appearance, but deadly in effect.

Winter is here, I heard someone say, but it is still fall. It’s funny how fall is both sweet and lovely in the beginning and cold and blustery as it comes to an end. We are still weeks away from winter on our calendars, but we can feel it coming in our bones.

We aren’t alone in this. Deer, coyotes, and foxes are all quite handsome in their lush winter coats. Not only is their fur thicker, with guard hairs that help repel both cold and rain, but their coloration is a bit duller, allowing them to blend into their favorite places with little effort. If you are out and about often at this time of year you may walk right by these animals as they stand still as statues. If you find a spot to stop, watch, and listen you may see them seemingly materialize before you as your eyes adjust and make out the details of the landscape. What appeared to be a background of shrubbery, grasses and trees may indeed have an animal standing there staring back at you. 

Do be mindful that it is hunting season and wear orange or red clothing. You, too, could be camouflaged and in danger of being targeted by an overeager hunter. Don’t forget that hunting is allowed in many conservation areas, including the National Seashore, so be prudent and prepared. It is illegal to hunt on Sundays in Massachusetts, by the way.

Word among birders was that the seabird show was spectacular on these windy days, so we headed to both bay and outer Cape beaches to see what we could see. On the Atlantic side the waves were spectacularly huge and crashed the beach with such force I could feel the vibrations through my shoes as I stood on the sand. We saw a few birds, mostly gulls, so we headed over to the bay. When you drive into a parking lot and see a bunch of folks with their scopes pointed in the same direction you don’t have to think too hard about where to look. To be fair, it didn’t matter much, the air was full of birds.

Northern gannets were everywhere. These gorgeous bright white seabirds with black wingtips are the largest seabirds we have here and are easy to spot. They dive straight into the sea to catch fish, and when there is a good-sized flock the sea can seem alive with their splashes. There were perhaps a hundred birds in the flock we saw, with more arriving all the time.

Flocks of heavy bodied eider ducks flew by in long strands, and behind them came mixed flocks of scoters, dark diving ducks that winter in our bay and off many beaches where fish and shellfish are prevalent.

From where I stood on the beach trying not to be blown over by the wind, I could see a scattering of sandpipers running back and forth with the incoming and outgoing waves. The tide was beginning to turn, and the shore was covered with seaweed and broken shells. The nearby marshes were flooded almost to the road we had traveled on, and as we left we saw groups of gulls standing watch from the few grassy atolls.

Wind is tough for birds. They get tossed about, especially the smaller ones. Even the larger ones can have difficulty, however, and many will attempt to wait out the wind or to find sheltered areas to forage in. Watching a northern harrier navigate low over a marsh in a high wind can be an interesting physics project, if one is so inclined. They will be blown about a bit but then correct course and adjust continually. They fly into the wind when they can, which allows them to have more control. The wind behind them can just toss them about, though sometimes they must brave that as well.

As the air cools so does the sea, and we are now in the time of year when sea turtles that have been feeding in the bay can become cooled too quickly and stranded on shore. A lot has been written about the protocol when you find a turtle, but I will quickly recap it here. Do not put a stranded turtle back in the water. Carry it past the high tide mark, cover it with seaweed to protect it from cold winds and mark the place well so rescuers can find it. Then call in your finding to 1-888-732-8878. Leave a message. This line is constantly monitored but you may not hear back. Give as much specific information as you can and leave your phone number.

If you feed the birds, you might want to be sure your feeder and birdbaths are in areas that are protected from prevailing wind directions. Placing them near shrubs and trees that break the wind can be helpful as well. Many birds get blown into windows if feeders are too close to houses or other buildings, so please be aware of that.

As we all know, there are rough winds blowing through our country right now, especially around regulations that protect our environment. We must be vigilant, vocal and willing to volunteer to help maintain sane protections and laws. Be like a northern harrier and face into the wind. It doesn’t give up its hunt and neither should we.