Birding in Massachusetts: Fort Hill

After leaving New York and Connecticut behind, we continued east into Massachusetts, where we would spend the next week birding and visiting as many historic sites as possible!

Follow along with us as we bird our way through New England!


Our first stop in the beautiful state of Massachussets was Cape Cod.  And it was love at first sight.


We picked up some dinner and headed straight to Fort Hill in Eastham, a birding hotspot with a stunning view of lupines, saltmarsh and dunes far beyond.  We ate on a bench, rather distractedly, as I paid far more attention to the glorious scenery and birds than the food.  (Food?  Forget the food!  There are birds here!!)

Almost immediately, a pair of American Black Ducks flew past, giving me great in-flight looks at yet another lifer bird!  A flash of brick red and a song I had previously known only from bird apps alerted me to the presence of another very exciting bird: Orchard Oriole!  Not one but two dapper males vied for the attention of a female as the trio bounced around a clump of large shrubs near our bench.

Orchard Oriole

Orchard Oriole


While watching and photographing the Orchard Orioles, I heard one brief call of yet another bird I had been dearly hoping to see there: Northern Bobwhite.  My attention was divided between watching the oriole and listening for the bobwhite to call again... which it never did.  I'd have to try again later... 

Orchard Oriole


Meanwhile, in a stand of trees behind me, Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow Warblers, Northern Cardinals and Gray Catbirds sang, filling the evening air with sound, while the strident calls of gulls and Willets rang out across the saltmarsh.

Gray Catbird


The next evening, after a full day of birding on Cape Cod, we returned to Fort Hill, this time with Liam, a friend and excellent birder who has had years of experience birding the Cape.  While Eric went to find us something for dinner, Liam and I followed the beguiling calls of bobwhite into a stand of trees, following a narrow path through thick underbrush.  Moving slowly and quietly to avoid flushing any birds, we kept our eyes on the ground as we searched for this skulky, ground-dwelling quail.  But the sound was coming from farther up ahead... farther up the hill... near the parking lot... In fact, it sounded just like it was coming from the very clump of large shrubs where the Orchard Orioles had been the night before.  And, to our surprise, it was!  Perched on a limb, several feet off the ground, and peering through the perfect opening in the vegetation, was our calling bobwhite!  

Northern Bobwhite


We were able to watch the bobwhite for as long as we wanted, and I was overjoyed to get good, long looks at a beautiful new bird that I had assumed I would probably only be able to hear.  Who knew a quail could be so exciting!   

Northern Bobwhite

After a walk along the edge of the saltmarsh in an unsuccessful search for Saltmarsh Sparrows, we ate our dinner on the same bench as the previous night, watching the birds and soaking in the incredible view.  

Lupines, saltmarsh, dunes, the Atlantic... so much beauty, so many birds!  Sometimes you just fall in love with a place!  

Fort Hill

But Cape Cod had even more loveliness in store for us as we headed out to Race Point!

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