Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

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A red-tailed hawk soared in the wind over the meadow as volunteers gathered for Wellfleet Bay’s first Statewide Volunteer Day. Families, children, and couples dispersed into small groups to help with a variety of projects around the sanctuary.

The McDonald family (Bill Jr. and Sr., Janet, and Caroline), all avid campers at Wellfleet, were a perfect fit as they volunteered to clear debris from the campground sites. Bill Sr. had been coming to Wellfleet to camp since 1974 and had passed along his love of the sanctuary to his son and granddaughter. Meanwhile, Destinee was having fun picking up sticks and getting a ride in the wheelbarrel at a nearby campsite. She and adult chaperone Patricia Perry moved a huge log from one of the campsites and discovered that a woodpecker had used the log for drilling. Other ambitious volunteers rearranged picnic tables and hauled away fallen branches and other debris. Anything that campers would not want to find themselves sleeping on was removed!

And to make a camper’s experience at Wellfleet even more pleasant, the bathrooms received a much-needed facelift. Mahiri Paget, Douglas Franklin, and Connie Larrabee spent the morning on ladders and in between bathroom stalls painting the interior of the building.

Farther down, along the shore, the wind whistled through the pine trees as volunteers Claire Thompson and Stephen Clem, along with Property Manager James Nielson, removed black locust that was taking over the heathland. By the end of the morning the hard-working crew amazed Volunteer Coordinator Cynthia Franklin with all they had accomplished in a short amount of time, saving the staff many weeks’ worth of work.

Cynthia led an informative nature walk along Goose Pond Trail as we learned about the history of Wellfleet and the diverse habitats that make up the beautiful sanctuary property. Along the way we spotted scat from muskrats along the path where they had traveled back-and-forth near the water. And down by the marsh fiddlers crabs darted in and out of their holes.

Accomplishments of the day included:

• 21 campsites were cleaned up and picnic tables were put in place; 8 truckloads of debris were removed 
• 2 campground bathrooms (interior) were painted–about 600 square feet   
• Approximately 1 acre of heathland was cleared of invading black locust, scrub oak, barberry, honeysuckle, and cherry 

Many thanks to each of the volunteers who dedicated their time and effort!