Breakwater, Long Point, Provincetown, Ma

Back in early December of 2016 we hiked the Provincetown breakwater out to Long Point. The breakwater/dike is over a mile long with wonderful views of Provincetown, the harbor, Wood End lighthouse and Long Point lighthouse. We also saw a raft of Eider ducks on the bay and seagulls on the rocks. Several of the rocks were covered with broken shells, so I imagine that the gulls drop the clams on the rocks and feast on them there. Most of the shells were quahog shells, but there were also soft shell clams, blue mussels, and oyster shells. In the photo below you can see some of those shells littered around my feet.

On our way out on the breakwater we saw this male Eider by itself. It may be injured; I could see a feather sticking out a bit at the back. I do hope it is okay. 

​Near the end of the breakwater as we reached the dunes of Long Point I saw these tiny sparrow like birds. I did not know what they were....but with the help of Joppa Flats Audubon in Newburyport - now I know! They are Snow Buntings!

When we finally reached the beach over the dunes, we saw Harbor seals swimming right off shore. My husband took a short video of them. If you watch for a few seconds then he zooms in so you can see them better. They were so cool to watch!

We explored the beach a bit but did not stay too long because we needed to get back over the breakwater before the tide was too high. Several sections of the breakwater are covered at high tide. So if you do go - note the high tide time.
​I did end up picking up a few shells as you can see in the photo below. These are bits of bay scallops, a shark's eye moon snail, oysters, a ribbed mussel, and a blue mussel. I also picked up a piece of a quahog (the blue/purple piece) from the breakwater itself. 

Finally, I leave you with a few shots of the lighthouses and salt marsh.
It's a remarkable place and worth the long hike over the breakwater.