Cape Cod Observations (Pt. 3)

 The morning light on the dunes was spectacular going into our second day of Cape Cod exploration. It's only unfortunate that it never back-lit the dorsal fin of a white shark for us.

As the dunes erode, sand from different strata slides down the face in streams and forms delta like deposits down slope. These vary in color depending where the sand came from in the dune itself. 

A favorite viewing spot featured high dunes overlooking seal colonies that didn't have a dry outer bar to take refuge on. We though that the fact that these seals had to be in the water might make them more likely targets.

We noticed a few of these spiders and their burrows at the top of the dunes. I fed this one some of the deer flies I swatted. 

One of our most interesting observations was the massive number of cicada killer wasps around. In this photo, there's one in the top left corner. It had been resting on one of the grass tufts. I never managed to get a good shot of one. The most interesting behavior we saw these wasps engaging in was chasing after swallows and kingbirds. We don't really know what this was about.

As with the previous day, we couldn't just spend the entire time on the dunes and beach looking for sharks. There was more of the Cape to see.

The white shark angler's tackle box.

Oil tanker leaving the east end of the Cape Cod Canal.

I pulled out the fly rod for the third and final time at the Cape Cod Canal when some sort of scombrid species began blitzing for a short time. They were probably Atlantic mackerel, though they looked a bit on the large side. I didn't catch one, so who knows. Those were our last minutes on Cape Cod, at least for that trip. We will see a white shark, though it certainly will take some tie and effort to do so fro the beach.

 Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.
Fish for the love of places fish live.
Fish for you.
And stay safe and healthy.

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