Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary
Encyclopedia
The Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary is a sanctuary owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
, the largest conservation organization in New England
, in the town of Marshfield, Massachusetts
. The sanctuary, formerly the farm of Edward Dwyer, statesman Daniel Webster
and the William Thomas family of Marshfield, the first English landowner to live on the sanctuary land, was purchased by Mass Audubon
in 1984 thanks to the volunteer efforts of the Committee for the Preservation of Dwyer Farm for the People of Marshfield. The sanctuary contains 507 acres (2.1 km²) of mixed cultural grasslands, red maple swamps, a five-tiered wet panne, Webster Pond and a section of the Green Harbor River. It is the site of the annual Daniel Webster Farm Day celebration. Surrounding lands owned by the town of Marshfield and the Marshfield Airport increase the local open space area to more than 1000 acres (4 km²).
, land reclaimed from water by the installation of a dike near the mouth of the Green Harbor River in 1872. The construction of the dike led to the town’s “Dike Feud” in the late 19th century, a political war of words between local fishermen, who opposed its construction, and farmers, who agreed with it, as the draining of the land provided more arable land. Fox Hill, currently the site of an observation platform, routinely sat above water level prior to the dike’s construction, and was known on old maps as Fox Island.
The wet panne is a man-made wetland designed to hold five tiers of water levels in order to attract a variety of birds. Similarly, Webster Pond was created by man, but no record currently exists as to which farmer dug it as his farm pond. The main fields of the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as the hidden Four-Acre Field, were used for dairy cattle grazing and for growing feed for those cattle.
Fox Hill Trail – This long, straight trail leads from the entry building to the observation platform on Fox Hill, overlooking the grasslands of the sanctuary’s back meadows.
Pond Loop – The Pond Loop passes the sanctuary’s purple martin
colony and Webster Pond on the right, with access to the second observation blind on the left. It then passes through a red maple swamp before crossing a field and connecting to the Fox Hill Trail.
Piggery Loop – This small trail cuts through a small apple orchard on land that once was used as a piggery, connecting on both ends with the Fox Hill Trail.
River Walk – The River Walk crosses the Green Harbor River by use of a wooden footbridge, passes through a red maple swamp, and then crosses another footbridge across another section of the river. A short loop formerly known as the Sparrow Loop meets the main trail again on a southward walk toward the Fox Hill Trail along a long wooden boardwalk across a saltmarsh.
Secret Trail – The Secret Trail leads off the Fox Hill Trail and into a birch grove and eventually a red maple swamp. The farthest loop of the Secret Trail runs through an oak hammock that is essentially the only upland on the sanctuary. Before linking again with the pond loop, the Secret Trail passes through a field hidden by the tree line and known as the Four-Acre Field.
members can access the trails for free. The Mass Audubon
South Shore Sanctuaries staff runs regular nature programming at the site year round.
There was no doubt that Mr. Dwyer was ready to sell. As a young man, Edward Dwyer, a resident of Weymouth, Massachusetts
, had excelled at early farming attempts, purchasing a pig for $3 at 12 years old in 1914. He soon graduated to cows, and as a sophomore in high school ran his own milk deliveries before and after school, outputting 13 quarts a day. By the time he earned his high school diploma he boasted a small herd, five of his own milking cows. He began purchasing land in Marshfield in 1931, adding parcels in 1938 and 1970. Although solely a dairy farm in its early years, Dwyer’s land also supported about 25 horses and more than 600 pigs. At the farm’s height, Dwyer and his farmhands turned out 4,000 quarts of milk a day and 30,000 bales of hay per year.
With three sons uninterested in carrying on the family tradition on the farm, Dwyer was looking for a buyer. “I’ve sat down with the Conservation Commission’s appraiser,” Dwyer told the town of Marshfield through the March 22, 1979 edition of the Marshfield Mariner, “and we each thought the other was crazy. As long as I get expenses out of it, I’ll keep operating it. It’s on the market, but I’m not pushing it.”
One woman in town, Dorothea Reeves, had already begun a one-woman campaign to raise the money – Dwyer was asking for $500,000, or $1250 per acre - to purchase the farm for the town, hoping one end result would be shared farmland for Marshfielders to grow their own crops. By September 1980 a growing army of conservation-minded citizens calling themselves the Committee to Preserve the Dwyer Farm for the People of Marshfield, joined her. About 70 people showed up to the committee’s first public rally on September 28 at the parish house of the First Congregational Church.
In an open letter to the committee, printed in the Marshfield Mariner on October 1, 1980, Wayne Petersen, then a school teacher in Hanover, but who would be on his way to a position as a field ornithologist for the Mass Audubon
, outlined some of the important reasons why, for nature’s sake, the farm should be saved as open space. “The farm includes Red Maple swamps, dry hay fields, moist meadows, and protected backwaters and muddy river edges. This combination of habitats produces not only a remarkable diversity of birdlife, but also supports a few species generally uncommon or rare throughout southeastern Massachusetts.” He listed it as hunting grounds for various birds of prey, and nesting grounds for several species of ducks; as “critical feeding grounds” for the six species of heron, ibis and egret that then nested on Clark’s Island in nearby Duxbury Bay
; and as home to several species of mammals, from rodents to foxes. “This combination of features all points to an area worthy of whatever means may be required to preserve it.”
On July 25, 1981, the people of Marshfield turned out in large numbers for the first incarnation of “Save Dwyer Farm Day.” Because the farm had not yet been purchased, the event took place in the Webster-Winslow Cemetery, at the end of Winslow Cemetery Road, with jitney rides in historical cars, hot air balloons and tours of the farm. Tied in with other fundraisers in 1981, Save Dwyer Farm Day raised $8000 toward the goal.
In 1982, the event expanded to include more fun and games for kids and demonstrations by the Marshfield cheerleading squads. Funds continued to trickle in, as Dywer, now 80 years old, held off developers, with the hope of seeing his farm remain forever as open space. On October 29, 1982, the committee released the stunning news that an anonymous donor had pledged $100,000 in support, and that Mass Audubon
would undertake a study of Dwyer Farm’s wildlife and plant populations. On January 25, 1984, the committee announced that a deal had been struck, and that Mass Audubon
had purchased the land.
Dorothea Reeves, the driving force behind the purchase for a decade, couldn’t have been happier. “This is paying off some of our debt to nature,” she told the Marshfield Mariner. “Nature doesn’t last for us if we take it for granted. We don’t look ahead enough. I have felt strongly for a long time there was not a sufficient portion of open land in the southern part of town. Now we have some saved.” About one month after the sale, Edward Dwyer died at 81 years old. Although setbacks and delays postponed the official sale for a few months, in that year of 1984 the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary came into existence, named for an earlier owner of the land, and an important figure in American history.
Mammals
White-tailed deer
live on the sanctuary and in the surrounding open space parcels throughout the year. They can often be seen grazing in the back fields at sunrise. Coyote
s, red fox
and gray fox
prey on mice and voles on the sanctuary, and are visible during daylight hours from time to time. fishers
, short-tailed weasels, gray squirrel
s, red squirrel
s, field mice, and meadow voles have been seen on the sanctuary trails. Northern river otter
s occasionally appear in the Green Harbor River.
Birds
The Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary has historically been home to a large colony of purple martin
s. And, because the sanctuary is one of the last remaining managed cultural grasslands in Massachusetts, species that rely on such habitats breed there in the spring and summer, most notably bobolink
s. Mute Swan
s and several species of duck
s and geese feed on the pond. Ducks, geese, herons, egrets and a wide variety of shorebirds visit the wet panne, while several species of birds of prey, most notably red-tailed hawk
s and northern harriers, feed on the small rodents that breed in the grasslands. Several species of owl
s have historically roosted in the red maple
swamp
s during the winter, including great horned, barred, long-eared, short-eared, eastern screech and Saw-whet Owls. The sanctuary’s plants provide ample food for warbler
s, sparrow
s and many other species during migration.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Several species of salamanders, frogs and toads can be seen on the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. Spring peepers can be heard in chorus in season. Snapping turtles can be found in the Green Harbor River, and Eastern painted turtles often bask in the wet panne. Several common species of snakes inhabit the sanctuary as well.
Hagar, Joseph C. Marshfield, 70’40” W, 42’5” N: The Autobiography of a Pilgrim Town. Marshfield Tercentenary Committee (Marshfield, MA, 1940).
Krusell, Cynthia. Of Tea and Tories. Marshfield Bicentennial Committee. (Marshfield, MA, 1976).
Krusell, Cynthia and Betty Magoun Bates. Marshfield: A Town of Villages. Historical Research Associates (Marshfield, MA, 1990).
Mass Audubon. Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary: A Historical Perspective. Unpublished.
Mass Audubon. Naturalist Guide for Trail Interpretation: Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. Unpublished, 2002.
Richards, Lysander S. History of Marshfeld. Memorial Press (Boston, MA, 1901–1905).
Mass Audubon http://www.massaudubon.org/danielwebster
Mass Audubon Public Programs at Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/North_River/catalog.php
Mass Audubon South Shore Journal http://www.massaudubon.org/southshorejournal
Marshfield Mariner http://www.townonline.com/marshfield
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
, the largest conservation organization in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, in the town of Marshfield, Massachusetts
Marshfield, Massachusetts
Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,132 at the 2010 census.See also: Green Harbor, Marshfield , Rexhame, Marshfield Hills, and Ocean Bluff and Brant Rock....
. The sanctuary, formerly the farm of Edward Dwyer, statesman Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster was a leading American statesman and senator from Massachusetts during the period leading up to the Civil War. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
and the William Thomas family of Marshfield, the first English landowner to live on the sanctuary land, was purchased by Mass Audubon
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
in 1984 thanks to the volunteer efforts of the Committee for the Preservation of Dwyer Farm for the People of Marshfield. The sanctuary contains 507 acres (2.1 km²) of mixed cultural grasslands, red maple swamps, a five-tiered wet panne, Webster Pond and a section of the Green Harbor River. It is the site of the annual Daniel Webster Farm Day celebration. Surrounding lands owned by the town of Marshfield and the Marshfield Airport increase the local open space area to more than 1000 acres (4 km²).
Natural history
The majority of the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary is a polderPolder
A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...
, land reclaimed from water by the installation of a dike near the mouth of the Green Harbor River in 1872. The construction of the dike led to the town’s “Dike Feud” in the late 19th century, a political war of words between local fishermen, who opposed its construction, and farmers, who agreed with it, as the draining of the land provided more arable land. Fox Hill, currently the site of an observation platform, routinely sat above water level prior to the dike’s construction, and was known on old maps as Fox Island.
The wet panne is a man-made wetland designed to hold five tiers of water levels in order to attract a variety of birds. Similarly, Webster Pond was created by man, but no record currently exists as to which farmer dug it as his farm pond. The main fields of the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as the hidden Four-Acre Field, were used for dairy cattle grazing and for growing feed for those cattle.
Trails
There are 2.2 miles (3.5 km) of trails at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary.Fox Hill Trail – This long, straight trail leads from the entry building to the observation platform on Fox Hill, overlooking the grasslands of the sanctuary’s back meadows.
Pond Loop – The Pond Loop passes the sanctuary’s purple martin
Purple Martin
The Purple Martin is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.-Description and taxonomy:...
colony and Webster Pond on the right, with access to the second observation blind on the left. It then passes through a red maple swamp before crossing a field and connecting to the Fox Hill Trail.
Piggery Loop – This small trail cuts through a small apple orchard on land that once was used as a piggery, connecting on both ends with the Fox Hill Trail.
River Walk – The River Walk crosses the Green Harbor River by use of a wooden footbridge, passes through a red maple swamp, and then crosses another footbridge across another section of the river. A short loop formerly known as the Sparrow Loop meets the main trail again on a southward walk toward the Fox Hill Trail along a long wooden boardwalk across a saltmarsh.
Secret Trail – The Secret Trail leads off the Fox Hill Trail and into a birch grove and eventually a red maple swamp. The farthest loop of the Secret Trail runs through an oak hammock that is essentially the only upland on the sanctuary. Before linking again with the pond loop, the Secret Trail passes through a field hidden by the tree line and known as the Four-Acre Field.
Access
The trails of the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary are open from sunrise to sunset throughout the year. A small fee is charged for access. Mass AudubonMassachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
members can access the trails for free. The Mass Audubon
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
South Shore Sanctuaries staff runs regular nature programming at the site year round.
Sanctuary History
In 1974, the Town of Marshfield began to consider the purchase of the Dwyer Farm. That year, the town’s advisory board referred the possible acquisition to a study committee, as the conservation commission, cemeteries and greens, and future school sites committees all had their eyes on the more than 350 acres (1.4 km²) parcel.There was no doubt that Mr. Dwyer was ready to sell. As a young man, Edward Dwyer, a resident of Weymouth, Massachusetts
Weymouth, Massachusetts
The Town of Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,743. Despite its city status, it is formally known as the Town of Weymouth...
, had excelled at early farming attempts, purchasing a pig for $3 at 12 years old in 1914. He soon graduated to cows, and as a sophomore in high school ran his own milk deliveries before and after school, outputting 13 quarts a day. By the time he earned his high school diploma he boasted a small herd, five of his own milking cows. He began purchasing land in Marshfield in 1931, adding parcels in 1938 and 1970. Although solely a dairy farm in its early years, Dwyer’s land also supported about 25 horses and more than 600 pigs. At the farm’s height, Dwyer and his farmhands turned out 4,000 quarts of milk a day and 30,000 bales of hay per year.
With three sons uninterested in carrying on the family tradition on the farm, Dwyer was looking for a buyer. “I’ve sat down with the Conservation Commission’s appraiser,” Dwyer told the town of Marshfield through the March 22, 1979 edition of the Marshfield Mariner, “and we each thought the other was crazy. As long as I get expenses out of it, I’ll keep operating it. It’s on the market, but I’m not pushing it.”
One woman in town, Dorothea Reeves, had already begun a one-woman campaign to raise the money – Dwyer was asking for $500,000, or $1250 per acre - to purchase the farm for the town, hoping one end result would be shared farmland for Marshfielders to grow their own crops. By September 1980 a growing army of conservation-minded citizens calling themselves the Committee to Preserve the Dwyer Farm for the People of Marshfield, joined her. About 70 people showed up to the committee’s first public rally on September 28 at the parish house of the First Congregational Church.
In an open letter to the committee, printed in the Marshfield Mariner on October 1, 1980, Wayne Petersen, then a school teacher in Hanover, but who would be on his way to a position as a field ornithologist for the Mass Audubon
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
, outlined some of the important reasons why, for nature’s sake, the farm should be saved as open space. “The farm includes Red Maple swamps, dry hay fields, moist meadows, and protected backwaters and muddy river edges. This combination of habitats produces not only a remarkable diversity of birdlife, but also supports a few species generally uncommon or rare throughout southeastern Massachusetts.” He listed it as hunting grounds for various birds of prey, and nesting grounds for several species of ducks; as “critical feeding grounds” for the six species of heron, ibis and egret that then nested on Clark’s Island in nearby Duxbury Bay
Duxbury Bay (Massachusetts)
Duxbury Bay is a bay on the coast of Massachusetts in the United States.The United States Navy seaplane tender USS Duxbury Bay, in commission from 1944 to 1966, was named for Duxbury Bay.-References:...
; and as home to several species of mammals, from rodents to foxes. “This combination of features all points to an area worthy of whatever means may be required to preserve it.”
On July 25, 1981, the people of Marshfield turned out in large numbers for the first incarnation of “Save Dwyer Farm Day.” Because the farm had not yet been purchased, the event took place in the Webster-Winslow Cemetery, at the end of Winslow Cemetery Road, with jitney rides in historical cars, hot air balloons and tours of the farm. Tied in with other fundraisers in 1981, Save Dwyer Farm Day raised $8000 toward the goal.
In 1982, the event expanded to include more fun and games for kids and demonstrations by the Marshfield cheerleading squads. Funds continued to trickle in, as Dywer, now 80 years old, held off developers, with the hope of seeing his farm remain forever as open space. On October 29, 1982, the committee released the stunning news that an anonymous donor had pledged $100,000 in support, and that Mass Audubon
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
would undertake a study of Dwyer Farm’s wildlife and plant populations. On January 25, 1984, the committee announced that a deal had been struck, and that Mass Audubon
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
had purchased the land.
Dorothea Reeves, the driving force behind the purchase for a decade, couldn’t have been happier. “This is paying off some of our debt to nature,” she told the Marshfield Mariner. “Nature doesn’t last for us if we take it for granted. We don’t look ahead enough. I have felt strongly for a long time there was not a sufficient portion of open land in the southern part of town. Now we have some saved.” About one month after the sale, Edward Dwyer died at 81 years old. Although setbacks and delays postponed the official sale for a few months, in that year of 1984 the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary came into existence, named for an earlier owner of the land, and an important figure in American history.
Wildlife
Due to its wide variety of habitats, the Daniel Webster Wildlife sanctuary attracts a great variety of species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.Mammals
White-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
live on the sanctuary and in the surrounding open space parcels throughout the year. They can often be seen grazing in the back fields at sunrise. Coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
s, red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
and gray fox
Gray Fox
The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...
prey on mice and voles on the sanctuary, and are visible during daylight hours from time to time. fishers
Fisher (animal)
The fisher is a medium-size mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten...
, short-tailed weasels, gray squirrel
Gray squirrel
Gray squirrel or grey squirrel may refer to several species of squirrel indigenous to North America:*The Eastern gray squirrel , from the eastern United States and southeastern Canada; introduced into Britain, Ireland, western North America, Italy, and South Africa;*The Western Gray Squirrel , from...
s, red squirrel
Red Squirrel
The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia...
s, field mice, and meadow voles have been seen on the sanctuary trails. Northern river otter
Northern River Otter
The North American river otter , also known as the northern river otter or the common otter, is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to the North American continent, found in and along its waterways and coasts. An adult river otter can weigh between 5 and 14 kg...
s occasionally appear in the Green Harbor River.
Birds
The Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary has historically been home to a large colony of purple martin
Purple Martin
The Purple Martin is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.-Description and taxonomy:...
s. And, because the sanctuary is one of the last remaining managed cultural grasslands in Massachusetts, species that rely on such habitats breed there in the spring and summer, most notably bobolink
Bobolink
The Bobolink is a small New World blackbird and the only member of genus Dolichonyx.-Description:Adults are 16–18 cm long with short finch-like bills. They weigh about . Adult males are mostly black, although they do display creamy napes, and white scapulars, lower backs and rumps...
s. Mute Swan
Mute Swan
The Mute Swan is a species of swan, and thus a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and the far north of Africa. It is also an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less...
s and several species of duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
s and geese feed on the pond. Ducks, geese, herons, egrets and a wide variety of shorebirds visit the wet panne, while several species of birds of prey, most notably red-tailed hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West...
s and northern harriers, feed on the small rodents that breed in the grasslands. Several species of owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
s have historically roosted in the red maple
Red Maple
Acer rubrum , is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas...
swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s during the winter, including great horned, barred, long-eared, short-eared, eastern screech and Saw-whet Owls. The sanctuary’s plants provide ample food for warbler
Warbler
There are a number of Passeriformes called "warblers". They are not particularly closely related, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal and insectivorous....
s, sparrow
Sparrow
The sparrows are a family of small passerine birds, Passeridae. They are also known as true sparrows, or Old World sparrows, names also used for a genus of the family, Passer...
s and many other species during migration.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Several species of salamanders, frogs and toads can be seen on the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. Spring peepers can be heard in chorus in season. Snapping turtles can be found in the Green Harbor River, and Eastern painted turtles often bask in the wet panne. Several common species of snakes inhabit the sanctuary as well.
External links and references
Galluzzo, John J. Images of America: Mass Audubon. Arcadia Publishing (Charleston, SC, 2003).Hagar, Joseph C. Marshfield, 70’40” W, 42’5” N: The Autobiography of a Pilgrim Town. Marshfield Tercentenary Committee (Marshfield, MA, 1940).
Krusell, Cynthia. Of Tea and Tories. Marshfield Bicentennial Committee. (Marshfield, MA, 1976).
Krusell, Cynthia and Betty Magoun Bates. Marshfield: A Town of Villages. Historical Research Associates (Marshfield, MA, 1990).
Mass Audubon. Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary: A Historical Perspective. Unpublished.
Mass Audubon. Naturalist Guide for Trail Interpretation: Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. Unpublished, 2002.
Richards, Lysander S. History of Marshfeld. Memorial Press (Boston, MA, 1901–1905).
Mass Audubon http://www.massaudubon.org/danielwebster
Mass Audubon Public Programs at Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/North_River/catalog.php
Mass Audubon South Shore Journal http://www.massaudubon.org/southshorejournal
Marshfield Mariner http://www.townonline.com/marshfield