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Weekly Bird Report

The Weekly Bird Report with Mark Faherty can be heard every Wednesday on WCAI, the local NPR station for Cape Cod, Martha"s Vineyard, Nantucket, and the South Coast. Mark has been the Science Coordinator at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary since August 2007 and has led birding trips for Mass Audubon since 2002. He is past president of the Cape Cod Bird Club and current member of the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee.

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All Episodes

3:55

I guess they call them storm petrels for a reason

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/09/30

Leach's Storm-Petrels, Long-tailed Jaegers, Northern Fulmars, a South Polar Skua and two Sabine's Gulls all rode in on a stubborn nor'easter. Here's a look at who showed up, where to find them, and why the storm just wouldn't leave.

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4:15

A whale of a birding trip

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/09/23

A whale watch out of Barnstable Harbor turns into an unforgettable show of humpbacks, dolphins, and pelagic birds feeding together off Stellwagen Bank. Plus, a Red-necked Phalarope, four species of shearwater, and one very out-of-place Black Vulture in Orleans.

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4:18

Migration stories

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/09/16

Fall migration turns the yard into a crossroads, from a pale young Blackburnian Warbler foraging on the ground to a bedraggled Broad-winged Hawk pausing mid-journey. Both are headed thousands of miles south, possibly converging in the cloud forests of the Andes.

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3:46

Shorebird homework

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/09/09

The Crested Caracara pulled its usual disappearing act in Wellfleet, and a Swallow tailed Kite in Mashpee just set a state record for the latest sighting ever. It's peak shorebird migration season, and it's time these underrated travelers got some airtime, with a beginner's guide to the sandpipers and plovers gathering on Cape Cod's flats before their long flights south.

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3:43

Return of the caracara

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/09/02

A Crested Caracara turns up at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, marking the second Cape sighting of this warm-climate raptor this summer. This report covers the species' puzzling northward push since 2020, plus other notable birds including a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Tricolored Heron, and a performative Clapper Rail in West Harwich.

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4:25

Kite excitement

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/08/26

After literally years of trolling us, the weirdest presumed breeding bird on Cape Cod has finally given up the goods. The huge, unmistakable birds in question, known to nest prominently in the tallest tree around, have somehow hidden definitive evidence of actual nests with chicks in them since at least 2022.

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4:00

migration at the cliffs

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/08/19

That famous Bridled Tern is back in the news again, this time at Seagull Beach in Yarmouth. But there's bigger birding happening on the Vineyard, where a marathon dawn watch at Aquinnah produced 91 species and some early signs of fall songbird migration.

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3:14

thrifty birds

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/08/12

Late-summer Cape Cod brings rare Swallow-tailed Kites and spectacular waves of migrating shorebirds. Find out where to see both before the season flies by.

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4:03

A tern of the head

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/08/05

Shorebird migration is picking up, but the world's friendliest rare bird stole the show. This week, the famous bridled tern toured Cape Cod and the Islands before returning to Scituate.

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4:37

A tern of the head

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/07/22

A rare tropical seabird has spent weeks charming its way around Scituate Harbor, perching on cars, deck railings, and even the heads of beachgoers and their dogs. Bridled Terns almost never show up in Massachusetts outside of hurricanes, let alone linger all summer acting like a friendly parrot. This week we dig into the sighting history, compare it to a more standoffish bird that's been working the coast of Maine and New Hampshire since 2024, and consider a few Cape reports from earlier this summer

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4:08

It’s not a falcon

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/07/15

A Crested Caracara, a tropical bird of prey rarely seen north of Florida and Texas, turned up at Race Point in Provincetown this week, one of several surprising sightings across the Northeast this summer. A look at the species' odd habits, its wandering history in Massachusetts, and a running debate about whether it really belongs with the falcons.

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4:16

Bath time

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/07/08

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.

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3:33

Cousin Chuck isn’t leaving

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/07/01

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.

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4:22

(More than) one good tern and other June surprises

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/06/24

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.

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3:48

Putting the nature in nature playground

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/06/17

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.

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4:04

May’s last hurrah

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/06/11

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

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3:53

The hawk and the hummingbirds

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/06/10

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.

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3:23

Ibisfest part 2 and the longspur has landed

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/05/27

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.”

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4:22

Ibis Invasion and much more!

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/05/20

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.

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3:55

Mid-May Madness

Weekly Bird Report ·

2026/05/13

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!

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