Early Bird Special at the Stony Brook Herring Run in Brewster 4-16-18

Early Bird Special at the Stony Brook Herring Run in Brewster
April 16, 2018
by Laura M. Reckford
Cape Cod Wave Magazine

BREWSTER – Gulls are starting to line up early knowing that thousands of herring will soon be swimming upstream in an annual ritual that attracts gulls and people to one of the Cape's most scenic herring runs.

The early herring — the scouts — have already started. The electronic fish counter told the story and the gulls confirmed it.

Numbers posted at the Stony Brook Factory Village Gristmill and Museum stated that in the seven days from April 2 to 9, there were 173 herring counted. That was the official tally. But in order to get to the fish counter on the south side of Stony Brook Road, the herring have to evade a gauntlet of gulls lined up along the stream on the south side of the road.

That means the herring that make it to the counter can be considered very lucky fish indeed.

Blossoming daffodils and herring traveling upstream to spawn—two of the classic signs of spring on Cape Cod.

For more photos from across Cape Cod, please see Scenic Cape