Birding

Come to Joppa Flats Education Center where adults and children can learn about the transitional habitat of the mud flats at Joppa and spend quality family time in the great outdoors finding, observing, and admiring local wildlife. Excursions include a group game to burn off some steam, an on-the-water scavenger hunt, or a guided tour. We'll observe, investigate, and compare coastal environments and their inhabitants, both on- and offshore.

Come for an exciting visit to the Joppa Flats Bird Banding Station on the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. See Mass Audubon scientists capture, measure, weigh, examine, and release migrant songbirds. Learn about migration, habitat use, and scientific research at a real field station. The station operates only during the height of migration in spring (April and May) and fall (September and October).

Celebrate spring by building a bluebird house with your child. We’ll supply all the materials and instruction to build a nest box for bluebirds and tree swallows. These wonderful nest boxes also attract chickadees, tufted titmice, house wrens, and woodpeckers. A short slide presentation will introduce families to the natural history and behavior of birds in Massachusetts, and we’ll discuss where and how to place your nest box. Dress for the weather because we will take a short walk to look and listen for bluebirds.

The Trustees of Reservations invites families to come learn birding basics while enjoying the woodlands and heathlands at the weather-beaten bluffs of Halibut Point State Park or the wide open spaces of Coolidge Point Reservation. Swarms of shorebirds can be viewed at this these prestigious coastal birding points! Meet at the parking area. Pre-registration is not required.

The Cape Ann Community Cinemawill be hosting a showing of the film 'Birders: the Central Park Effect' to benefit Kestrel Educational Aventures! 'Birders is a film that celebrates the diversity of birds that live in and migrate through New York's Central Park and the New Yorkers who make birding in Central Park part of their lives. Come see this fascinating film and help raise funds for a unique local organization at the same time!

Preschoolers will Imagine, Sing the Learn about water fowl and swans! This parent/child program is designed for the creative, curious, and active preschooler. Each 90-minute session offers a structured series of activities including original songs, movement, dramatic play, hands-on science, and a thematic snack. You'll receive coloring pages, song lyrics, vocabulary, a fun fact sheet, and a suggested reading list in an electronic goody bag!

Preschoolers will Imagine, Sing the Learn about water fowl and swans! This parent/child program is designed for the creative, curious, and active preschooler. Each 90-minute session offers a structured series of activities including original songs, movement, dramatic play, hands-on science, and a thematic snack. You'll receive coloring pages, song lyrics, vocabulary, a fun fact sheet, and a suggested reading list in an electronic goody bag!

Come to Joppa Flats Education Center where adults and children can spend quality family time in the great outdoors finding, observing, and admiring local wildlife. Excursions include a group game to burn off some steam, an on-the-water scavenger hunt, or a guided tour. We'll observe, investigate, and compare coastal environments and their inhabitants, both on- and offshore.

Each year on the first warm rainy night of spring, wood frogs and mole salamanders begin a mass migration to vernal pools where they breed. If you happen to be out on one of these evenings, the experience can be spectacular. Tonight, a part of the sanctuary will be transformed into a Big Night scene. Participants will take a one-hour guided walk along the Vernal Pool Trail, where they will meet some interesting characters who will share some facts and stories about themselves, vernal pools, and this special time of year.

Join us at Halibut Point State Park, a nationally renowned destination for viewing winter birds, to learn the basics of birding, natural history, and behavioral traits of our area's winter birds such as ducks, gulls, cormorants, loons, grebes, gannets, and alcids.