Cape Cod’s Wing Island Featured in Free Community Event

(SOUTH YARMOUTH, MA) – Wing Island in Brewster, one of Cape Cod’s most ecologically diverse and important landscapes, will be the topic of a free “virtual walk” open to the public at Thirwood Place in South Yarmouth on Friday, October 23^rd at 2 pm.

The 122-acre tract of protected land includes a barrier beach and tidal salt marsh that is located behind the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. It acts as a miniature snapshot of the entire Cape Cod landscape.

The Virtual Walk, guided by noted beachcombing guide and former biology teacher Bud Ferris, will provide a “hands on” look at artifacts of the ecosystems on Wing Island, including needles and pinecones from various trees and shells from tidal pools.

Ferris is well-known for his extensive knowledge of local shoreline ecology. He teaches visitors how to spot subtle coastal life like crab molts, decorator worms, and tide pool creatures along Cape Cod’s beaches. He’ll be joined by several members of the Natural History Coastal Explorer Team for this interactive community event.

Wing Island has an extraordinary history on Cape Cod, dating back 9,000 years. Experts say it was used for thousands of years by Native peoples as a seasonal waystation between Cape Cod Bay and the mainland, followed by the Wampanoag and 17^th-centure English settler interactions.

Current-day visitors cross through pitch pine woodlands, tidal saltwater marshes, salt meadows, and sand dunes before reaching the barrier beach on Cape Cod Bay. Also located on the island is a bird banding station, where researchers have tracked and banded over 158 bird species.