William von Herff

Massachusetts

Staff Reporter at The Provincetown Independent

Journalist at Freelance

Birder-turned-science journalist in MIT's Graduate Program in Science Writing | #birdnamesforbirds

Articles

A Place for Rare Birds

1 month ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

This is the story of seeing the rarest bird I’ve ever seen on Cape Cod. It was a few days before Christmas when I got an email from Provincetown resident Zygmunt Plater. He included a photograph of a female hummingbird at his feeder. This is an uncommon sight on Cape Cod in the winter. Ruby-throated hummingbirds, our only regular species, are long gone by December, and any hummingbird that appears after mid-fall is bound to be a rarer species from out West.
In the Bay, One New Calf and One Dire Entanglement

1 month ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

PROVINCETOWN — Late April marks the peak of the North Atlantic right whale season in Cape Cod Bay. Since January, more than 180 of these endangered animals have made an appearance here, according to Daniel Palacios, director of the Right Whale Ecology Program at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) — nearly half of the 2023 total estimated population of 372. A handful have even been regularly visible from the beaches at Race Point and Herring Cove, grazing on plankton at the water’s surface.
Against ‘Tyranny of Fear,’ Wellfleet Likes ‘Torture by Democracy’

1 month ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

WELLFLEET — Monday was a perfect spring evening: warm sunshine lingered, and there was a nice breeze blowing off the bay. While the rest of the Cape was enjoying it, 328 Wellfleet voters filed into the elementary school gym for town meeting. Moderator Dan Silverman began by announcing new hires, plugging the elementary school’s spaghetti supper fundraiser, and calling for respectful debate.
A Tale of Two Recycling Systems

2 months ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

WELLFLEET — If there’s one thing Cape Codders can be proud of, it’s being good recyclers. That’s according to Kari Parcell, whose job is to be picky. Parcell is the waste reduction coordinator for Barnstable County Cape Cod Cooperative Extension. The contamination rate in recycling streams across the country is around 25 percent, according to the National Waste & Recycling Association.
Noogaahz Wixon Wants You to Know Who the Nauset Are

2 months ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

BREWSTER — Researching the history of the Nauset people for his 2024 history-memoir, After Aspinet, made Noogaahz Wixon feel like he was walking through a ghost town. Learning about colonial history is easy, he says — there are entire books written about the colonization of the Outer Cape. Learning about the Nauset, which he began doing in earnest for the purposes of his book in 2017, is not.
Nesting Instincts

2 months ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

Every day, before I head into work, I go to see what’s swimming around MacMillan Pier. In the winter, this mostly involves looking at ducks, checking on that one thick-billed murre, and keeping an eye out for Iceland gulls. Now, as these winter visitors begin to depart, they are being replaced by swarms of double-crested cormorants. There were just one or two each day in mid-March, but their numbers are quickly climbing. On March 20, there were 11 roosting on the breakwater.
State Bans All Large-Shark Fishing on Outer Cape

2 months ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

WELLFLEET — A group of fishermen using baited hooks delivered by drones to fish for sharks at LeCount Hollow Beach last September got into an altercation with surfers that led to Wellfleet police and Cape Cod National Seashore officers being called — but the fishermen were released without being charged.
Feds Reinstate Fired Seashore Employees — for Now - The Provincetown Independent

2 months ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

WELLFLEET — A court order has reinstated three full-time Cape Cod National Seashore employees who were terminated by the Park Service on Feb. 14. Their return to work, however, may be only temporary. The reasons are complicated and include an April 8 U.S. Supreme Court ruling favoring an appeal by the Trump administration’s Justice Dept. of a U.S. District Court decision.
Adding Sand Could Help Salt Marshes Recover

2 months ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

PROVINCETOWN — Across the Outer Cape, an ever-growing explosion in the Sesarma crab population is causing salt marshes to rapidly retreat — but a new study suggests that adding sand might be the key to their restoration. Sesarma crabs, also known as purple marsh crabs, are voracious grazers of saltmarsh grasses like the emerald-green Spartina that fills Provincetown’s West End marsh.
The State of the Birds on Cape Cod

2 months ago | provincetownindependent.org | William von Herff

WELLFLEET — A new report on research by leading bird conservation scientists, published by Cornell University, confirms that North American bird populations are continuing a steep decline. The North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s State of the Birds 2025 report, released on March 13, reinforces the conclusions of a 2019 study in Science that found there are 3 billion fewer North American birds than there were in 1970.