Cape Cod & Rhode Island - October 2025
Dates: October 16-22, 2025
Leader: Kevin Burke
E-bird
Total Species: 90 birds
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Overall Summary
New England in the fall is a beautiful place. The eastern deciduous forests are near peak color, the weather is typically fair, and the seafood is plentiful. This week that we spent together was pretty special. Great people traveling together to beautiful places to see awesome things—what more could you want? The summer crowds on Cape Cod have gone, leaving a slower pace of life. Newport, Rhode Island is fun any time of year but not quite as busy in October. We looked forward to a great week of birding and fun.
Our first night was spent in Providence, Rhode Island with an introductory dinner. It is always nice to gather and meet over a meal before we get started on a trip. It’s also nice to make sure that everyone arrives! The first full day of our trip was spent traveling to Cape Cod while birding along the way. Scusset Beach State Reservation is a good place to start. This state beach is located at the mouth of Cape Cod Canal and can be quite birdy. It was windy when we arrived, remnants of the huge Nor’easter that had taken place over the last few days. We got our first glimpses of Common Eider, Common Loons, and Northern Gannets. One of the biggest surprises of the trip came when a Wilson’s Storm-Petrel flew straight at us over the dunes within seventy-five feet. Wow! What a great start to the trip.
We had lunch right on the canal and heard Fish Crows in the parking lot. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Red Maple Swamp of Fort Hill, a part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. This is one of my favorite parts of the cape. The views are sweeping over Nauset Marsh and the Atlantic Ocean. Here we had good looks at Purple Finch, Merlin, and Black-capped Chickadee. I always enjoy this place. When we finished, we headed a few minutes down the road to our hotel in Eastham. We had a nice happy hour listening to Jon talk about sparrow genetics. It was a fascinating way to end a nice first day.
The second full day of the trip was supposed to be on a whale watch, but with leftover winds from the Nor’easter, we had to go the next day. This meant we were able to explore the cape a little more. Our first stop was Nauset Light to do some sea watching. Gray Seals bobbed up and down in the surf. We had some good birds here too, including Northern Gannet, all three scoter species, and a distant Pomarine Jaeger. Next we were off to the Wellfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary. This property is one of the crown jewels of Mass Audubon’s properties with saltmarsh, maritime forest, and a great visitor center. We had great looks at Snowy Egret, Greater Yellowlegs, Merlin, Blueheaded Vireo, and more. After lunch at the Lobster Shanty, we headed down to Bell’s Neck Conservation Area, where we saw Wood Duck, Hairy Woodpecker, and both Red-breasted and White-breasted nuthatches. Another great day on the cape.
Full day three was a fun one. We drove up to Provincetown to go on our postponed whale watching trip. The seas had calmed enough for us to venture out on the boat, so we did. Motoring out of Provincetown Harbor we saw dozens of Gray Seals hauled out on the beach. We started seeing great birds right away, too. Cory's Shearwaters were abundant. A small number of Great Shearwaters gave good comparisons. The stars of the show were a pair of Humpback Whales that were around the boat for over an hour. The pair of female Humpbacks were feeding and spraying us with their foul-smelling “whale breath.” It was great! Another surprise of the trip came while looking at photos after the trip, when we were able to identify a Scopoli's Shearwater in among the similar Cory’s. In the afternoon we traveled to Newport, where we would spend the next couple of days.
We had a good bit of rain and wind today, but that didn’t deter us from doing a little birding and sightseeing. A visit to Newport wouldn’t be complete without a trip to “Millionaire's Row.” This area a little South of Newport is home to the mega mansions of some of the country’s wealthiest families. It is sort of fun to see. We also found a large gull roost, which gave us great studies, from the van, of Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed, Ring-billed, Herring, and Laughing gulls. The rest of the morning was a little hampered by rain, but after lunch we visited Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge. This peninsula refuge is always good for birding. Off some far rocks, we were able to pick out a Great Cormorant among the Double-crested Cormorants. Some of us rounded out the day at Norman Bird Sanctuary. This large forest preserve was good for forest species such as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Carolina Wren, and White-throated Sparrow. The day ended at one of my favorite restaurants, the Coast Guard House in Narragansett.
On the final full day of our tour, we were able to have access to Rhode Island’s largest cranberry farm. It was a real treat to see cranberries being actively harvested and learn about the whole process. The birding was great too. We saw Bald Eagle, Merlin, Red-tailed Hawks, and Greenwinged Teal. The setting was excellent. The blue sky, red berries, and fall colors were amazing. What a great experience! After lunch we visited Moonstone Beach, a beautiful rocky beach at the southern end of Rhode Island. The trip rounded out at Marsh Point, where we missed our target, Saltmarsh Sparrow, but were able to see some Brant.
This was a great tour. The people were awesome, the food was great, and the birds were good. It was really fun to get to know everyone from Cornell in this beautiful New England setting. We spent the last evening laughing and talking about the trip. Folks lingered for a while; it was good to see new friendships forming from a good, shared experience.
Day-by-Day Summary
October 16 - Arrivals in Providence, Rhode Island; introductory dinner; night in Providence.
October 17 - Providence; Scusset Beach State Reservation; Cape Cod National Seashore including Fort Hill and Red Maple Swamp; Eastham; night in Eastham.
October 18 - Eastham; Nauset Light; Wellfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary; Lobster Shanty; Bell’s Neck Conservation Area; night in Eastham.
October 19 - Eastham; Provincetown; whale-watching trip with Gray Seals, Cory’s and Great Shearwaters, and Humpback Whales; travel to Newport, Rhode Island; “Millionaire’s Row”; gull roost; Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge; Norman Bird Sanctuary; night in Newport.
October 20 - Newport; Rhode Island cranberry farm visit and harvest; Moonstone Beach; Marsh Point; night in Newport.
October 21 - Newport and surrounding coastal areas; birding and sightseeing; final evening dinner and gathering; night in Newport.
October 22 - Departures.