Wet Sand, Wet Boots, Birds

Wet sand, wet boots, happy me. Who would have guessed that there are so many walk­ing trails here on Cape Cod. Or so much birdlife!

Despite the raini­est April ever recorded in Mass­a­chu­setts, I’m out on Cape Cod’s walk­ing trails every day. It’s beau­ti­ful here, even when it rains. The sum­mer peo­ple haven’t arrived yet, so the trails are vir­tu­ally empty. I may pass a dog walker or two, but oth­er­wise the bird life pre­dom­i­nates.

It’s mat­ing sea­son so the birds are com­pet­ing for atten­tion with vibrant col­ors, pas­sion­ate cho­ruses and chore­o­graphed mat­ing dances. If I stop and wait qui­etly, there are mar­vels to see and hear.

Flirt­ing car­di­nals, eye-catch­ing Bal­ti­more ori­oles, danc­ing dow­itch­ers, ele­gant swans, mal­lards, osprey, robins and blue­birds, great blue and white herons, tufted tit­mice, finches, spar­rows, chick­adees, red-winged black­birds — the list goes on and on, if only I had the skill to name all the birds I see or hear.

Thanks to years of hik­ing in the Pacific North­west, I’m well equipped to enjoy nature’s courtship rit­u­als and musi­cals, despite inclement con­di­tions on these coastal trails. I put on a Gore­Tex jacket, don a rain hat and off I go. For pro­longed down­pours I just add rain pants, some semi-water­proof hik­ing boots and a pair of warm wool socks.

Rain mists my glasses, speck­les my out­er­wear and the birds wel­come me back. The sand crunches under my boots. It’s a daily bless­ing to be here.