Posts by mike

When someone tells you to “take a hike” on Cape Cod, they’re doing you a favor! That’s because the Cape is home to great trails that weave through beautiful conservation lands. From Falmouth to Provincetown, you’ll find wonderful places to explore, reconnect with nature and get some exercise.   To help you along the path,…

Celebrate the start of spring, meet farmers from across Cape Cod and learn more about supporting local agriculture at the “Meet Your Local Farmers” event on March 29, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Harwich Community Center (100 Oak St., Harwich). Up to 50 farms and farm-supporting organizations will be on hand…

Thanks to generous Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) donors and a savvy bird expert, beautiful Purple Martins have a new home at the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve in the heart of Harwich Port. A striking gourd rack has been installed, with hopes that feathered friends soon take up residence. This winged adventure took flight…

Update: The Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project is underway! Work began in March 2025 and is expected to take about six months. During the construction process, the site is closed, for public safety and the safety of workers. The Cape Cod Rail Trail will be open as usual and it provides a…

In case you missed or would like to revisit Harwich Conservation Trust’s (HCT) 2025 Winter Talk Series, please see talk descriptions and recording links below.  Coyotes in Your Neighborhood with Peter Trull Eastern coyotes, found throughout eastern North America, have a genetic make-up that can be a combination of two species of wolves, western coyotes,…

HCT volunteers stay busy even in the winter by removing invasive plants, maintaining trails, and tending pile burns, as seen in the photos below. This week, HCT staff and volunteers joined the Town of Harwich Conservation Department at Thompson’s Field to help maintain the sandplain grassland habitat by cutting woody tree and invasive plant growth…

Thank you for making a lasting local difference for land, water, wildlife, and people. Through your support of Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) in 2024, you have ecologically restored the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve, launched new and exciting land preservation campaigns like the 50-acre Cape Cod Rail Trail Project, funded innovative land stewardship projects,…

Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) has secured a rare opportunity to acquire two upland properties totaling 6.3 acres in East Harwich in the Pleasant Bay Watershed by working with two different landowners over the last four years. The parcels to preserve include a 2-acre forested property and an additional 4.3-acre forested property for a total of…

In August, Naturalist and Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) walk leader Andrea Higgins discovered two baby flying squirrels in a nest that had fallen out of a tree at Sand Pond Woodlands. Flying squirrels are named after their unique ability to glide through the air as they navigate the forest. A special membrane stretching from the…

Reflections by Naturalist & Walk Leader Andrea Higgins Photos courtesy of HCT Outreach & Administrative Coordinator Halley Steinmetz Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) hosts Preschool Explorer Adventures led by naturalist Andrea Higgins on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at a selection of Preserves. Geared towards cultivating curiosity and a lifelong appreciation of nature in youngsters, these expeditions…