Every now and then I get to go to a new magical place that instantly becomes one of my favorites and this new acquisition by the Barnstable Land Trust is just such a place. Fuller Farm is in Marstons Mills and is about 23 acres of rolling farmland, pasture and hay fields. It is a throwback to a time when Marstons Mills was full of dairy farms but which is now unique in its size and untouched nature.

I went for a walk there recently with a group from the BLT and it is truly a beautiful piece of land. We are hoping to find woodcocks there this spring since the land is quite perfect for them and borders a nearby cranberry bog and Middle Pond.

The buildings remain just as they have been for over a century. Some additions have been made over the years but the original buildings are 150 years old.

I’m a sucker for rusty old tools and weathered wood…

The day we were there was cold and windy but we did find proof of recent visits by red foxes…

and coyotes. In fact there is some thought that coyotes are denning there though we did not explore that idea too much…coyotes and foxes will move their dens if they think they’ve been discovered and since both species should be having young about now we didn’t want to disturb them…but we did find some scat near the area we thought they’d be…

If you’re wondering how we knew which was fox and which was coyote…..we really can’t be totally sure except one was quite a bit smaller than the other.Both had lots of fur, bones and teeth and one even had small rocks. Go figure on that one…

There’s a pussy willow tree there though most of the pussy willows themselves were passing by…

And we were quite surprised to find blooming violets in a sunny patch since it was still mid March!

Fuller Farm is going to be a wonderful addition to the Barnstable Land Trust’s holdings and kudos to them for keeping this wild and wonderful place open fields and keeping it free from development!