travel – Wellfleet Conservation Trust

Record Number of Diamondback Terrapin Nesting and Hatchlings at Head of Duck Creek, Wellfleet Conservation Trust Preserve

In implementing the Wellfleet Conservation Trust’s objectives for land conservation, the Trust prioritizes the preservation of habitats critical to threatened and endangered plants and wildlife. The Trust’s properties in their turn are a source of information about the health of these species. The Trust collaborates with researchers and organizations to survey the properties to help understand how the health of the species are evolving.

One of these notable collaborations is with Dr. Barbara Brennessel who surveys the diamondback terrapins on the Trust’s preserve at the Head of Duck Creek. The good news is 2026 was a very productive year for diamondback terrapins and hatchlings.

2026 Head of Duck Creek Terrapin Report

Submitted by Dr. Barbara Brennessel

For 2026, Head of Duck Creek was the only location I regularly monitored. During nesting season, I was able to patrol after high tide each day. I was quite surprised: unlike last year, the coyotes did not devastate the site and I documented a record number of nests and hatchlings.

I encountered 30 terrapins and was able to PIT tag or scan 22 of them. Five terrapins were recaptures. The first nest was discovered on June 9 and the last was July 7. On busy days, terrapins could be seen wandering past the Head of Duck Creek Conservation area and into the Mobil gas station. The mechanics were very helpful in returning them to the nesting area. With permission from the Wellfleet Conservation Commission and the Wellfleet Conservation Trust, Michael Fisher and I installed a low garden fence on June 24 which helped to contain the female terrapins in the nesting area and away from vehicles. The fence was removed by Michael Fisher in September.

Protected Nests	27
(Protected Nests Breached)	(3)
Wild nests	7
Depredated nests	53
Total Nests	87

Hatchlings from wild nests	40
Hatchlings from protected nests	212
Total Hatchlings	252

Encounters	30
Recaptures	5

Thirteen of the hatchlings from Head of Duck Creek will spend the winter in various outer Cape schools as part of a Headstart program. Next June, I plan to release them in Duck Creek at Cannon Hill, where they will be more removed from the gas station and Route 6.

Professor Emerita of Wheaton College, Norton Mass., Dr. Brennessel has been involved with research and conservation of diamondback terrapins for over 25 years. She is a member of the Diamondback Terrapin Working Group and author of “Diamonds in the Marsh: A Natural History of the Diamondback Terrapin.” Her other natural history books include Good Tidings: The History and Ecology of Shellfish Farming in the Northeast and The Alewives’ Tale: Life History and Ecology of River Herring in the Northeast. Barbara is a Wellfleet resident.

HAWK RESCUE IN DUCK CREEK

On Saturday, Sept. 5th, WCT Trustee Jen Elsenshon received a call from the Wellfleet police letting her know that some folks called to report an osprey or other raptor stuck in the mud by Uncle Tim’s Bridge. She and her husband Jon got some equipment and walked down to Duck Creek to see if they could spot it. They met a man named Doug who showed them where the bird was. Doug had tried to rescue him, too. At this point, the tide was coming in and taking the bird towards the Head of Duck Creek.

Jen walked as far as she could into the marsh to see if she could grab him while Jon went home to get their canoe. Jeff Kemprecos helped Jon get the canoe onto the car. Jen couldn’t get close enough to the bird before the mud became treacherous, so she headed back to Commercial Street. Doug kept an eye on Cooper (they called him that because he turned out to be a Cooper’s Hawk) while Jon and Jen got the canoe into the creek.

Jen contacted Wild Care, the police, and the Conservation Agent to let them know that they would be accessing the creek through a WCT property, the marsh to the right of the bridge. The tide took them to Cooper quickly, and Jen was able to grab him from the marsh grass that he was hung up on. He must have been exhausted because he didn’t resist Jen’s picking him up at all.

The Elsenshons paddled to the trail by Cannon Hill, and Doug helped pull them to shore. Jen disembarked with Cooper, and Doug gave her a shirt to wrap him in. Jen walked back to Commercial Street to meet Jon when he tied the canoe up at Party Duck’s house. They allowed Jon to keep the canoe there overnight.

Another volunteer from Wild Care, Jan, met Jon and Jen at their house on Main St. and took Cooper to Wild Care. She happened to be in the area to pick beach plums but ditched her endeavor to get Cooper. It had a small injury under his wing but seemed okay otherwise besides being tired and cold. He was doing ok as of Sunday. Jen will get an update this week on how he is recuperating.

This isn’t the first time the Elsenshons have encountered an unusual situation involving a juvenile hawk. I spring, they observed a young, red-tailed hawk visiting their house, contemplating how it might approach a squirrel sharing railing space on their deck. (See photo)

Jen and Jon are quickly becoming our resident hawk whisperers.

WCT’S 17TH ANNUAL GUIDED WALK IN OLD CAMP WELLFLEET -SEPT. 6

Our Annual Guided Walk set off from the Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters in the Marconi area. Partly sunny skies and a breeze at our backs made walking easy for the thirty-seven walkers set out at 9 a.m. to a crossroad in the middle of the area. There President Denny O’Connell greeted the participants, and South Wellfleet historian Pam Tice gave a brief history of the creation of the Cape Coc National Seashore.

The walkers headed east through the Seashore’s recycling area, where pallets and old wood were stored. Advice to all was to keep walking. At the top of the high bluff above the ocean, Denny O’Connell discussed beach erosion, and Bill Iacuessa distributed photos of the Camp Wellfleet’s unmanned target planes and told how the military trainees shot at them until the sock trailing behind or the drone plane itself went down.

From there, the walk took a turn to the north and followed a path along the top of the bluff. Dwight Estey, historian of the Wellfleet Museum and Historical Society, outlined the area of notable shipwrecks including the end of the Castagna.

At the end of the path, Alice Iacuessa gave information about the famous Marconi Station a little further to the north. She concluded the history of the Marconi area with more history of Camp Wellfleet during WWII and through the 1950’s and 60’s.

The walkers turned west and crossed the paved road leading to the Marconi towers site and entered a trail that led them to a portion of the Old King’s Highway. Bill Iacuessa gave the final presentation on the history of Old King’s Highway, which ran from Sandwich to Provincetown. This section brought to everyone back to the rear of the headquarters building, completing a full circle from where they began.

Back in the parking lot, many tired, but happy, walkers commented that this walk was one of the best walks ever.