"Fowl" Weather Abounds in Barnstable County

The weather in the summer of 2010 had simply been lovely leading up to our weekend to visit Barnstable County.  The emphasis in the past sentence is the word "had".   David and I were heading down to my aunt and uncle's home and were eager to get out on the boat onto the Sound.  While Falmouth is surrounded by water on the east and west sides, there are a series of finger "salt ponds" that are on the east side that lead out onto Nantucket Sound.  The salt ponds are a beautiful haven for birds, and on this rainy weekend, there were many of them in this pond.

We'll start off with the swan family.  Two parents  and four cygnets (or baby swans) were soon heading up the path from the salt pond to my aunt and uncle's home.  I never had seen a swan up so close and the protective nature of the parents were similar to all parents -- they didn't want anyone messing around with their young'uns.   Swans are herbivores and they enjoyed the crackers that we fed the family.  Swans also mate for life.  They make a hissing sound especially when they thought we would come close to their babies.  There was no way I was going to tangle with these very large birds!

The rain let up for a little bit, so I headed out on the shore of the salt pond to see if I could collect anything interesting to bring to school.  Out in the middle of the water, a cormorant was perched on a buoy, looking around for a fish to eat for dinner.  On the shore, three mallard ducks gracefully glided past the cormorant.   There is a group in Falmouth dedicated to preserving these ponds so they can continue to support the wildlife.  If you want more information, you can go to:
http://www.preservefalmouthbays-ponds.org/content2.php?p=1

The next morning, the weather was not any better :(.  On our way home, we decided to go to the Cape Cod Canal Visitor's Center in Sandwich.  I had never been to this end of the canal before.  The Visitor's Center offers a comprehensive displays about the history of the Cape Cod Canal and how the canal works.  There is as lot of hands-on displays which would make it a great stop for those with children.  There is no admission fee, and if the weather would have been better, we could have walked along the trail to the true end.

So, even though this was not a beach and boating weekend, there is lots to see and do in Barnstable County.