TO CAPE COD IN SUMMER.
THE VIBRANT AND VARIED LANDSCAPES, RUGGED SHORE, AND QUAINT TUCKED AWAY HARBORS.
IN SPRING, BEACHES APPEAR FAR FROM BUSTLING, BUT IF YOU HAVE THE PROPER TOOLS -- >> WE CAN GET AS MANY AS 12 SPECIES AND 200 BIRDS.
THE PILGRIM HEIGHTS HAWK WATCH REPORTS A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY.
>> RED TAILS, BROAD WINGS OF COUR WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO PASS BY THIS VISTA?
>> THIS IS THE BEST OFFICE IN TOWN.
>> DON MANCHESTER IS A WATCH VOLUNTEER.
HE HAS BEEN SCANNING THE SKY FOR VISITORS FOR 20 YEARS.
>> CAN THE MONTH OF APRIL, MAY AND JUNE.
>> THE WATCH HELPS TRACK RAPTOR POPULATIONS, KEY TO CONSERVATION.
>> THERE ARE BIRDS IN THIS NET.
>> JAMES IS COUNTING BIRDS BUT ALSO CATCHING THEM.
HE HEADS UP THE BIRD BANDING EFFORT AT MASS AUDUBON SANCTUARY.
SONGBIRDS ALSO STOPPED BY THE CAPE AS THEY JOURNEY FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THIS TIME OF YEAR.
22 NETS DESIGNED TO BLEND INTO THE BRUSH ARE CHECKED EVERY 40 MINUTES.
>> WE TAKE THE BIRDS OUT OF THESE NETS, PUT THEM IN THE BAGS AND BRING THEM BACK HERE TO PROCESS AND COLLECT THEM.
>> HIS TITLE IS MASTER BIRD AND HER.
HE IS CAREFUL BUT CONFIDENT.
>> A BABY BIRD BANDED IN NORTH AMERICA GETS A UNIQUE NUMBER.
IF THIS BIRD WERE TO BE RECAPTURED, IT WOULD TELL THEM WHERE IT WAS ORIGINALLY BANDED.
>> HE EXPLAINS THE FEATHERS INDICATE THIS LITTLE GUY HATCHED LAST YEAR.
A TODDLER.
HOW LONG DO THEY LIVE?
BIRDS GIRL FAST, SO IT IS ACTUALLY A BREEDER NOW.
BABIES HAVING BABIES.
MOST BIRDS DIE IN THE FIRST YEAR, BUT IF THEY MAKE IT THROUGH, THE AVERAGE IS FOUR OR FIVE YEARS.
>> THE BANDING PROGRAM ALLOWS FOR THE STUDY OF MIGRATION PATTERNS AND GIVES INSIGHT INTO HOW THE SANCTUARIES BEING UTILIZED.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS THE PRESERVATION OF AS MANY SPECIES AS POSSIBLE.
>> WE ARE LOSING A LOT OF DIVERSITY ON THE PLANET AND JUST HAVING DIVERSITY ITSELF IS INCREDIBLY VALUABLE.
A LOT OF BIRDS HAVE AN IMPORTANT IMPACT ON THE ECOSYSTEM.
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE IMPORTANT SPECIES ARE UNTIL THEY DISAPPEAR, SO WE’RE TRYING TO MANAGE THEM.
>> AUDUBON SCIENCE COORDINATOR SAYS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN MANAGED WELL FOR DECADES IS THE EFFORT TO PROTECT A CONTROVERSIAL CAPE COD BIRD, THE PIPING CLOVER.
>> THE PIPING CLOVER IS ONE OF THE GREAT SUCCESS STORIES OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.
THE CHICKS ARE ADORABLE.
THEY ARE COTTON BALLS ONTO PICKS IS HOW THEY ARE OFTEN DESCRIBED.
>> AS POPULATIONS STARTED FALLING IN THE 1970’S, STRING FENCING STARTED GOING UP.
EACH COVERS MAY GROAN ABOUT RESTRICTIVE ACCESS, BUT IT WORKS.
>> TAKING THE STEP HAS BROUGHT THEM BACK FROM THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION TO DOING WELL, PARTICULARLY IN MASSACHUSETTS NOW.
>> HE WARNS DESPITE THE SUCCESS, THERE IS A GROWING THREAT TO CLOVERS, THRIVING ON FOOD SOURCES PEOPLE HAVE BROUGHT TO CAPE COD.
>> THERE ARE A LOT OF PREDATORS THAT WERE NOT HERE EVEN 40 YEARS AGO.
THINGS LIKE COYOTES DIDN’T GET TO CAPE COD UNTIL THE 1970’S.
THAT IS A NEW PREDATOR.
>> THIS PROVINCETOWN ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER TOOK US TO FIND SOME TRACKS.
>> THE STRAIGHT LINES YOU ARE SEEING OUR COYOTE PATHS.
>> AS WIDELY AS EVER, FINDING THE ACTUAL ANIMALS IS A LOT HARDER.
>> WILL GET CALLS THAT PEOPLE WANT US TO REMOVE THE ANIMAL, BUT BY THE TIME I GET THERE, USUALLY IT IS NOT THERE ANYMORE.
>> ALWAYS ON THE MOVE, COLLIERIES ON CAPE COD CAN CAUSE ANXIETY TO THOSE UNFAMILIAR WITH THEM.
>> THERE ARE NOT JUST COYOTES, THEY ARE A HYBRID BETWEEN COYOTES AND WOLVES, AS WELL AS A LITTLE GRAY WOLF AND DOG.
>> DR. JONATHAN HAS STUDIED THE HYBRID FOR YEARS.
>> THEIR GERMAN SHEPHERD LOOKING, SO A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE 60 TO 80 POUND ANIMALS AND THERE REALLY 30 OR 40 POUNDS.
>> HE SAYS THEIR SIZE ALLOWS THEM TO TAKE DOWN BIGGER PREY THAN THEIR SCRAWNY OR COYOTE COUSIN, BUT THE WOLF DNA DOESN’T SEEM >> TO MAKE THEM ANY MORE AGGRESSIVE.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF OIL PEOPLE.
>> THEY MIGHT RUN 25 FEET THEN STOP AND TURN AROUND AND GIVE YOU THAT LAST LOOK OVER THE SHOULDER.
I JUST TELL PEOPLE, STAND BIG, STAND TALL, CLAP YOUR HANDS, BE ALLOWED.
>> ANOTHER MORE FIERCE SOUNDING PREDATOR THAT ONE TIME WAS SENT TO PROWL CAPE COD, THE PLUME OF.
THE LOCAL KIDS PLAYGROUND IS ACTUALLY NAMED FOR THE CREATURE OF LEGEND.
IT STARTED IN SEPTEMBER, 1981.
THERE WERE A RASH OF KILLINGS.
>> ROBIN SMITH JOHNSON SPENT YEARS AS THE NEWSROOM LIBRARIAN FOR THE CAPE COD TIMES.
THE HEADLINES FROM THE TIME DETAIL DREAD.
>> A WILD CREATURE ROAMS THE NIGHT, KILLING NOT JUST CATS BUT CATS WITHOUT HEADS.
IT WASN’T JUST TAKES, IT WAS PIGS THAT WERE MAULED.
THE NEW YORK TIMES LABELED DIPLOMA AS THE LOCH NESS OF CAPE COD.
>> THE TRANQUILITY OF THIS WINTER HAS BEEN DISTURBED BY INDUSTRY.
>> DONNA DOWNES REPORTING FOR CHRONICLE, A BRAND-NEW SHOW THEN.
SHE SPOKE TO WITNESSES.
>> ITS ALONG, THEN TURNED AND LOOKED AT US.
>> IT HAD A LONG TAIL THAT WENT DOWN.
>> AND ONLINE HAD BEEN SEEN ON THE CAVE SINCE THE 1800S.
THERE WERE DOUBTERS.
BUT ALSO PLENTY OF BELIEVERS.
>> THERE WERE STRANGE NOISES IN THE WOODS.
CATLIKE SIGHTINGS, AND I THINK PEOPLE JUST DIDN’T REALLY BUY THAT THE DOG THERE.
>> WHICH IS WHY THE PLUME A LEGEND LIVES.
>> THE COYOTE-WOLF HYBRID FORMED IN ONTARIO AT THE START OF THE 1900’S.
WOLVES WERE FEW IN NUMBER FROM HUNTING AND HABITAT LOSS, SO THEY STARTED BREEDING WITH COYOTES.
IN THE EARLY 1980S, "COYWOLVES" STARTED COMING ONTO THE CAPE.
THERE WASN’T A SIGNIFICANT POPULATION THERE UNTIL THE 1990S.
NATURE AIMS TO TAKE ITS COUR