Join naturalists from Joppa Flats Education Center on the deck in the salt marsh at Rowley's Rough Meadows for a sing-a-long of sea shanties and maritime poetry, and learn how music was used to entertain, focus on work, and tell stories of nautical life. Bring your blanket and dinner and plan to stay for a picnic under the rising full moon. Instruments and shanty singers are welcome.
Learn about spiders at Ipsiwch River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield during this spooky time of year! All spiders spin silk, but not all make webs to catch their prey. How does a spider spin a web and not get caught in it? Come and find out the other ways these fascinating little animals use their magic threads.
Join Essex County Greenbelt Association and Mark Carlotto for a guided walk around the mysterious Dogtown area, and discover areas of interest along the way. This monthly walk is a great way to venture into this unique section of Gloucester, and learn about the interesting history of this natural area. FREE
Join us at Bradley Palmer State Park for a FREE program for all ages. Bob Metcalfe, of New England Discovery will take you on an adventure in tracking wild animals. Winter is an especially beautiful time to visit the diverse State Parks of Massachusetts. Ability to identify the tracks and sign of wildlife along the trail will add to your enjoyment of your favorite state lands.
The Grand Allée, or Mall, was designed by landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff and completed in 1914-15. Inspired by the Cypress Allee at Boboli Gardens in Florence, Italy, the design was truly a grand undertaking, involving significant regrading and heavy planting to transform farm fields into this magnificent forced vista.
An evening adventure for the whole family! Join us for a hike down the Cedar Point trail to the Pine Grove. We’ll look for the flash of fireflies in the fields that stretch to the marsh, along the fringes of the woods that line the trail to the Pine Grove, and in the dark of the Pine Grove itself. Did you know that different species of fireflies have different flash patterns? We’ll try to differentiate between our bioluminescent buddies and count how many different species of fireflies live around the Crane Estate.
Join a ranger for a tour of a beautiful spot that few people visit: Nelson Island. If we’re lucky, we might catch a glimpse of a nesting osprey. Learn about the history of this little known refuge jewel. If weather and tide permits, we’ll take a very short walk along the marsh. (Muddy, wet areas are possible so rubber boots are recommended.) Consider bringing binoculars and/or a camera. *Please note: Those who call and leave messages after hours, your registration is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation call from a refuge staff member.
Many animals live on the refuge, but are hard to find. They are either active at night, wary of people, or both. Though you may not see them, their tracks can be just as interesting to find. Go out on the refuge with intern Dominic Noce as he teaches you how to find and identify tracks of different types of animals. Meet the program leader in the refuge visitor center auditorium for a brief slide show, after which he’ll lead you on a tracking exploration on the refuge. Please wear long pants and boots (for tick prevention) and otherwise dress for the weather. NO preregistration for th
Take your 3-5 year old youngster on a good old fashioned nature discovery walk. Meet at the refuge visitor center before driving together to the head of the day's trail on the refuge (no parking fee charged). For each session, a refuge volunteer will lead the children and their caregivers on a walk to explore different aspects of the refuge: beach, dune, marsh, scrub forest, cranberry bog. Come dressed for the weather. If the weather is completely unsuitable for outdoor enjoyment, then an indoor program comprised of a story, activity and craft will be held at the visitor center instead.
To spark a sense of wonder, Rachel Carson said, every child needs an adult "who can share it, rediscovering with him [or her] the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." To this end, knowing facts about nature matters less than feeling a sense of beauty, admiration, excitement, and love, which can prompt a wish for knowledge later on and create an enduring legacy of meaning. Exploring nature, Carson reminds us, means being receptive to the surrounding world - "learning to use your eyes, ears, nostrils, and finger tips, opening up the disused channels of sensory impression."
