Cape Cod and Rhode Island - October 2026
Dates: October 4 - 10, 2026
Leaders: Kevin Burke & Mariah Hryniewich
E-bird
Total Species: 103 birds
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Overall Summary
Cape Cod and Rhode Island in October are magical places. The crowds of summer have faded, bringing a sense of calm to the area. We visited vast coastal marshes, maritime forests, and sandy beaches. Delicious seafood is another highlight of this trip. The Fisherman’s View and The Coastguard House are always culinary favorites. We spent a fun few days exploring the region and had some terrific wildlife encounters along the way. The final day was spent visiting a large cranberry farm. We got to see the berries actively being harvested and bird the largest privately held property in Rhode Island.
The first full day of our trip was a fun one. After breakfast, we drove to the base of Cape Cod to Scusset Beach State Reservation. Here, we got looks at the Cape Cod Canal. Common Eider, Common Terns, and Great Black-backed Gulls were highlights of the stop. A great way to begin the tour! Lunch was at the Fisherman’s View restaurant, where the big bay windows overlooking the canal are always a treat. The afternoon was spent at Fort Hill, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. We encountered a few lingering migrant passerines here, including Bay-breasted Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, and American Redstart. We finished the day by checking into our hotel for the next couple of nights.
Weather can sometimes be a limiting factor on tour. We were supposed to go on a whale watch today, but high winds canceled the trip. There was plenty to fill our time. The morning started at Wellfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary. We encountered some more migrants here, such as American Redstart, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Black-and-white Warbler. The resident Wild Turkeys were under the feeding station, as they are during most visits here. A quick visit to Marconi Station for some sea-watching gave us views of White-winged Scoters. The afternoon was spent back at Fort Hill and Nauset Light. The last stop of the day was at the Bird Watcher’s General Store. This is a must-stop shop for bird enthusiasts. It has anything and everything bird-related, and judging by the size of everyone’s bags, they did well today. We had a fun day all around.
The winds were lighter on day three, so we rescheduled our whale watch. We were all happy that we could get out on the water to see whales and potentially pelagic birds. We took a Dolphin Fleet whale watch out of Provincetown around Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Here, the deep water comes close to shore and can bring whales and pelagic birds closer to land. We motored out around Race Point Beach and began to see huge numbers of White-winged Scoters. It wasn’t long before we saw Great Shearwaters. A small number of Cory’s Shearwaters came by for good looks. A surprising number of Manx Shearwaters were present all day, too. We motored for around an hour before we found our first Humpback Whales of the day. A small pod of around seven to nine whales foraged around the boat for quite some time. There were even some calves in the group. What a treat to see such majestic animals up close! Other highlights of the day were Wilson’s Storm-Petrel, Northern Fulmar, and Brant. This was definitely a highlight of the trip. Lots of lifers on the boat! After a successful boat trip, we had some ground to cover to get to Newport, Rhode Island.
Newport, Rhode Island, is full of beautiful scenery, from natural beauty to mega-mansions. We started our Rhode Island leg of the tour by visiting Brenton Point State Park. Here, Rhode Island pays tribute to the Portuguese who settled the area. It is also a beautiful rocky coastline with huge mansions dotting the landscape. Ruddy Turnstones, a huge feeding flock of Laughing Gulls, and Semipalmated Sandpipers were highlights. Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge was our other stop for the morning. We walked the trail and found at least two Great Cormorants on the rocks. That was the major target for the day. A huge cloud of Tree Swallows came off their roost while we were there. We counted several thousand birds in the flock. A Peregrine Falcon buzzed the peninsula looking for a meal. The afternoon consisted of a couple of stops on Conanicut Island near the community of Jamestown. Beavertail State Park is another peninsula park that can hold some interesting birds. We had good looks at a perched Bald Eagle and a flyover Osprey. The last stop of the day was at Fort Getty marsh, where we saw an American Oystercatcher.
Our final day was much anticipated. We toured the largest cranberry farm in Rhode Island. The Greene Family Farm has over one hundred acres of cranberry bogs that it actively manages. It was harvest time, so we got to see exactly how the berries are extracted from the vines. It was fascinating and educational. The birding was great, too! We watched an awesome encounter in which a Peregrine Falcon chased an American Kestrel. An Eastern Meadowlark, a farm first, along with a Red-shouldered Hawk and Wilson’s Snipe, rounded out the highlights. Moonstone Beach and Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge were our afternoon birding stops. This long, rocky beach abuts a large freshwater pond, so both saltwater and freshwater species congregate here. We added many new birds to our trip list, including American Golden-Plover, Dunlin, Black Scoter, Ruddy Duck, and Greater Scaup. It was nice to see the ashy young Mute Swans, too. This was a great way to round out our day and the tour. We headed to our final hotel and enjoyed a nice final dinner, sharing our favorite memories of the trip.
This was a fun tour. The scenery and wildlife of New England were on full display. We did have a little wind on one day, but we rolled with it and made the best of what we had. We enjoyed a lot of seafood along the way, with oysters being my personal favorite. The fair weather, camaraderie, and a great whale watch put this tour over the top. Thanks to all who joined! I can’t wait to do it again next year.
Day-by-Day Summary
October 4 - Meeting and introductory dinner.
October 5 - Drive to Scusset Beach State Reservation, lunch at the Fisherman's View on the canal, birding at Fort Hill part of Cape Cod National Seashore.
October 6 - Today we birded at Wellfleet Bay, a Massachusetts Audubon property, Marconi Station Site for sea watching, Nauset light, Fort Hill, and a trip to the Birdwatcher's General Store.
October 7 - We took a whale watch out of Provincetown, We saw Great Shearwater, Corey's Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Wilson's Storm-petrel, and Humpback Whales. Drove to Newport, RI.
October 8 - Today we birded Brenton Point State Park. We drove around millionaires' row to look at the mansions in Newport, RI. We birded Sachuest National Wildlife refuge and Beavertail State Park.
October 9 - Today we learned about Cranberry farming at the largest Cranberry farm in Rhode Island. We birded Moonstone beach. We had a nice farewell dinner.
October 10 - Departure day.
Wildlife Seen:
Humpback Whale
Coyote
Whitetail Deer
Eastern Chipmunk
Eastern Gray Squirrel