photo contest | Mass Audubon – Your Great Outdoors

For a lot of Massachusetts folks, summer is synonymous with the Cape. Families and friends have been flocking to the shores of Cape Cod every summer for generations. If this sounds like you, you don’t want to miss out on visiting Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary in Barnstable.

Sandy beaches, butterfly-filled meadows, woodland trails, and farm animals combine to make Long Pasture a unique experience. Gentle, varied trails lead to what some have called a “million dollar view”—with Barnstable Harbor flanked by the dunes of Sandy Neck Barrier Beach. Explore the expansive tidal flats or sign up for a kayak tour, boat cruise, or family nature program.

Whether or not you make it down to the Cape this summer, enjoy these five photos taken at Long Pasture and submitted to our Picture This: Your Great Outdoors photo contest. The 2018 photo contest is open until September 30, so be sure to submit your beautiful nature photography soon!

Long Pasture © Hong Ren Wang

Monarch Butterfly at Long Pasture © Matthew Magann

Long Pasture © Frances Strawn

Long Pasture © Robert Allen

Horseshoe Crabs at Long Pasture © Gregory Malloy

Plentiful and easy to spot, dragonflies are some of the largest insects you’re likely to see in Massachusetts. They come in a dazzling array of colors, some even appearing iridescent in sunlight. Best of all, adult odonates eat a steady diet of other flying insects, including those pesky mosquitoes and black flies.

The summer issue of Explore, Mass Audubon’s member magazine, included an “Ode to Odonates,” highlighting the dragonflies and damselflies that make up the order Odonata. Learn more about odonates, common species found in Massachusetts (more than 160 have been recorded!), and how to tell the difference between dragonflies and damselflies on our website.

Here are five stunning dragonfly photographs that were submitted to our Picture This: Your Great Outdoors photo contest in past years. The 2018 contest is open now through the end of September, so submit your great nature photos today!

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Tag Archives: photo contest

Take 5: Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary

Take 5: Dashing Dragonflies