This spring and summer, the Great Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Wareham Massachusetts is offering Friday forest walks. Because of my traveling schedule. I have not made any of the previous walks. But attended the last one, which was on coastal ecology, which was led by the volunteer naturalist Doug Hlousek.

The walks meet at the great neck parking lot on Stockton Shortcut at 10 AM. The remaining schedule is as follows:
July 13          Natural History of Great Neck.
July 20          Wild Forests Edibles.
August 10     Capturing Wildlife with Your Camera - led by yours truly.
August 24     Eastern Box Turtles

Even little ones can come on the walks

Located in Wareham, Great Neck is truly a sanctuary for wildlife. Here you might spot an Eastern box turtle ambling along the trail or an osprey hovering over Bass Cove. The open forest provides shelter for ovenbirds and great horned owls while the salt marsh feeds wading herons and egrets. And, nearly the entire property is designated as priority habitat of state-listed rare species.
The 2.5 miles of trails follow old carriage roads and deer paths. As you walk along them, you’ll encounter native plants including blueberry, huckleberry and sassafras trees; pass by stone walls built by hand by the early settlers; and discover a large glacial erratic (a massive boulder deposited here by glaciers in the distant past) once used for quarrying.
Great Neck is more than an ecological treasure; it’s testimony of successful land conservation partnerships. Public and private conservation organizations, as well as private land owners, worked together to ensure that this special place will remain a wildlife sanctuary for all to enjoy. Members of this effective collaborative to protect the land include the Wareham Land Trust, Department of Conservation and Recreation, town of Wareham, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Mass Audubon.

Directions:
From Exit 21 off Rte. 195, go southeast on Rte. 28. Stay right before light onto Tremont Road and follow as it merges with Main Street, curves right, and becomes Rte. 6 through downtown. Stay left on Rte. 6 over bridge to light. Turn right onto Narrows Road. Take 3rd right onto Indian Neck Road, which becomes RD Stillman Memorial Drive. At the T-intersection, turn right onto Great Neck Road and follow for 1.4 miles. Turn right onto Stockton Shortcut (becomes unpaved after Little Harbor Country Club) to parking lot on right.