When we hike at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and want to go out to the outer beach across the boardwalk on the salt marsh, we always look at the tide charts to make sure it is not near high tide. We got stuck last year in February and ended up wading in, rolling up our jeans and holding our shoes. Thank goodness it was a warm day but the water was still pretty cold.
This past summer they have marked where they think the tides will be in the future, as they seem to be getting higher each year.
The first photograph shows the trail looking out to Cape Cod Bay with the beach in the distance. The second photograph shows looking back to the trail from where the high tide comes in now. The years they have marked ar 2025, 2050, 2063 and 2075.
It’s amazing how high the tides might rise with the warming climate.
Milkweed wildflower seeds are ready to blow wherever they want here on Cape Cod. You can see the pods are open and bursting with white fluff and attached seeds. The seeds will just disperse in the wind.
The Milkweed plant is the stable plant that the beautiful Monarch butterflies feed upon. There are a lot of Milkweed plants all over Cape Cod where you can see the Monarchs.
I saw this Milkweed plant at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary where you can see many Monarchs in the summer months. I also have seen many Milkweed plants at Fort Hill which is also a favorite place of the Monarch butterflies.
I wonder if the seeds will still be there the next time I visit the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
The leaves are starting to turn colors as the days are getting shorter and cooler. I loved this photograph of the reflections from the Silver Spring Trail at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. There were so many Lily Pads in the water, but their flowers had gone by quite a while ago.
The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary has so much to offer. We see something new each time we go. It is such a treat!
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is one of my favorites places to hike. There are so many different interesting trails. This one is the Silver Spring Trail which meanders along Silver Spring and then across a bridge and along the opposite side.
You can see fall beginning as the leaves are starting to turn such pretty colors along the trails.
The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary has two very rare lobsters in their tanks right now. The Orange Lobster is a rare variety of northern lobsters and grows to 44 lbs., making it the heaviest growing Crustacean in the world. Orange Lobsters occur only 1 in every 10 million lobsters.
The Calico Lobster is ever more rare with only 1 in 300 million lobsters.
The variations in their color are due to genetic mutations.
If you’re on Cape Cod, make sure you go to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and see these very cool lobsters!
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
