Start your visit at Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary's green nature center
Want to go walking through woods and fields, around ponds and across marshes to the beach, experiencing nearly every type of habitat on Cape Cod? Maybe you’re interested in green living or learning about the natural history of the Cape.
If any or all of these things strike your fancy, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is the place to go. The sanctuary is open year round, although the nature center is closed on Mondays in cooler months.
Walk around the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
The Massachusetts Audubon Society protects and manages this site for a variety of Cape Cod wildlife. In spring and fall the Silver Spring Trail’s trees are full of migrating birds and the freshwater pond is a great place to see native turtles sunning themselves on warm days.
In the marshes and on the edges of Goose Pond, shorebirds and waders probe for food. Hawks and other birds of prey drift overhead, or zoom past intent on their prey. You may also see chipmunks and red or gray squirrels.
Along the boardwalk as the tide drops fiddler crabs emerge to feed. Once you are on the beach (no swimming allowed, this one is for wildlife), take time to watch for seals and seabirds offshore. Be aware of tides though, as part of the trail is underwater at high tide.
Spend time at the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary nature center
The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary’s Esther Underwood Nature Center is a green building, with Platinum certification from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Inside you’ll see displays about the solar panels (you’ll see them as you head out on the trails), grey water gardening and composting toilets used to make the sanctuary as green as possible.
The nature center hosts a small gift shop, which is always worth a stop. This is good place to look identification books on the plants and animals of Cape Cod. The exhibit area has aquariums, with a varying display of local native aquatic species.
A collection of mounted animal and bird specimens will help with identification out on the trails. Plan to spend some time looking out the windows. The two birdfeeder areas attract a variety of birds and small mammals, so on cold days you can wildlife watch in comfort.
Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary 291 State Hwy Rte 6 South Wellfleet
Phone: 508-349-2615 Email: wellfleet@massaudubon.org
other places to visit and eat near the sanctuary:
Comments
I'm going to go back through your articles before my next trip to Cape Cod, as you have so many interesting locations and stories. The slide show wasn't working today, so I'll save this link and come back to it.
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