In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary
The 29th video in the In My Footsteps: Cape Cod series features a hundred acres of natural beauty and pristine views known as Long Pasture. With miles of walking trails and incredible scenery along Barnstable Harbor it is a sight to behold.
This place and dozens more are featured in my first book In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide available in stores and online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Schiffer Books, and Christopher Setterlund In My Footsteps.com.
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Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Cape Cod
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Cape Cod. Massachusetts. July 19, 2013.
Skunknett River/Bumps River Road, Osterville, MA
Skunknett River Wildlife Sanctuary, a MA Audubon property.
• One of five Mass Audubon Sanctuaries on Cape Cod (three in Barnstable: Great Marsh, Long Pasture and Sampsons Island);
• There are 147 acres and about one mile of trails;
• Along these tree-lined trails, visitors will witness nature reclaiming former mill sites and explore a fragrant Atlantic White Cedar swampland;
• There are three historic mill sites and abandoned cranberry bogs at this site; in the 19th century Skunknett Brook was dammed for a mill, but the marsh has since recovered. At low tide visitors will see remains of Atlantic White Cedar stumps, a testament to the hardiness of this type of wood;
• The name Skunknett is Algonquin for fishing place for eel (American eels may be seen in the sanctuary’s waterways);
• On the Overlook Trail, walkers will see West Pond and quite possibly black-crowned night-herons, ospreys and migrating ducks;
• Along the narrow Holly Trail (named for the surrounding American hollies), the Trail is the site of a vernal (spring-time) pool.
• The unique wetlands within the Sanctuary are breeding sites for a variety of amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates (many of these depend on temporary bodies of water — such as vernal pools — for their existence. In March and April, visitors will see the central floating island in this pool (otherwise known as a “doughnut” vernal pool, a quaking bog in the middle of a vernal —a disappearing or spring ephemeral — pool. One can also listen for chorusing male wood frogs here at during early springtime.
• Permanent water bodies, such as West Pond, are home to fish, which will consume the amphibious, reptilian and invertebral creatures' eggs and larvae, this these vernal pools are vital;
• Since Skunknett’s three dams were breached, Atlantic White Cedars (increasingly rare along the Atlantic coast), are re-generating along the swamp’s moist edges. Here visitors can see these cedars of varying sizes while enjoying the air redolent of their unique fragrance;
• In 1994, a storm and subsequent flooding blew out the old earthen dams to four ponds here: North, South, West and Mill. Probably some of the ponds had existed, some were man-enhanced. Their waters had been used for 200 years: one use was for a grist mill; a 2004 report to the Town of Barnstable mentions that, “North and South Ponds were dammed in the late 19th C. for stocking with fish. The area was also flooded in part for cranberry bogs;
• Skunknett is listed on the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program's BioMap 2 as core habitat where two state-listed threatened species dwell: water willow stem borer and scarlet bluets (described by the state as about an inch long with red eyes and an orange body);
• There are also sundews returning, cardinal flowers, rose pogonias, bog orchids, turtleheads, and ladies tresses; Robert Buchsbaum, regional science director for the Audubon Society’s southeast district, suggests that pine barrens buckmoth may be here as well, another protected species. Not to mention the great blue herons that hang out here, with other birds and animals;
Information courtesy of William DeSousa-Mauk, DeMa Public Relations
In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Highland Lighthouse
Cape Cod (Highland) Lighthouse is located in North Truro, Massachusetts on South Highland Road. It is one of the sites featured in Christopher Setterlund's book In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide. It is now available through SchifferBooks.com and Amazon.com as well as most book stores. Keep on the lookout for more beautiful Cape Cod travel videos, subscribe to be updated.
Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Chatham Cape Cod
Discovering the beauty and magic of Morris Island and the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham, Massachusetts. Our family walked for miles along the trails and beaches. Spotted the Chatham Lighthouse from the beach.
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Best Attractions & Things to do in Chatham, Massachusetts MA
Chatham Travel Guide. MUST WATCH. Top things you have to do in Chatham. We have sorted Tourist Attractions in Chatham for You. Discover Chatham as per the Traveler Resources given by our Travel Specialists. You will not miss any fun thing to do in Chatham.
This Video has covered Best Attractions and Things to do in Chatham.
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List of Best Things to do in Chatham, Massachusetts (MA)
Chatham Lighthouse Beach
Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge
Chatham Lighthouse
Atwood House & Museum
Harding Beach
Chatham Shark Center
Chatham's Godfrey Windmill
Ridgevale Beach
Oyster Pond
Eldredge Public Library
New England Coastal Wildlife
Video montage of some of the wildlife we encountered while kayaking in Seapowet Marsh in Tiverton, RI and biking along the Cape Cod Canal September 4-5, 2013.
Little orphaned otter on Cape Cod
On today's CapeCast: A little orphaned otter from Chatham has landed at the Cape Wildlife Center where she will spend the next year learning the tricks of the otter trade.
In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Cape Cod Rail Trail
The 31st video in the In My Footsteps: Cape Cod series will definitely get you outside and active. The Cape Cod Rail Trail is 22-miles of scenic beauty running from Dennis to Wellfleet. There is also an 8-mile offshoot the Old Colony Rail Trail which leads into Chatham.
This place and dozens more are featured in my first book In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide available in stores and online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Schiffer Books, and Christopher Setterlund In My Footsteps.com.
Find it on Amazon:
Walk to Great Pond, Steps to Eastham Bike Trail, Cape Cod Vacation Rental, property 7612
Lovely Cape Family Escape, nestled in the pine trees, right off the National Seashore Bike Trail minutes to Coast Guard / Nauset ocean and bay beaches. Walk to fresh water ponds, including Great Pond, Surf, Sail, Fish. Fireplace, kitchen w/French doors opens onto large deck with new patio furniture,gas grill, deck surrounded by Colonial fence - dead end street - safe for children. 2 full baths, outdoor enclosed shower. Rec room with ping pong and pool table. A/C, 2 bedrooms-main floor(sleeps 4)upstairs (sleeps 4) amenities: Hi-speed internet, washer/dryer, dishwasher, 2 cable TVs, DVD, VCR, oak floors.
Close to best restaurants/shopping located between Orleans and Wellfleet (20 minutes to Provincetown) Sleeps TOTAL 8. Ideal for families.
Location of house: Directly off the bike trail - bike 10 minutes to
Coast Guard Ocean Beach or Nauset Beach.
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Cape Cod Commission: Regional Policy Plan - A Brief History of Development
An introduction to some of the events and history leading to the development we see on Cape Cod today. It was prepared as part of the Regional Policy Plan Update stakeholder process for 2015.