As part of COASTSWEEP 2021, volunteers are encouraged to come to Crane Wildlife Refuge on the Crane Estate to help in the statewide effort to keep our coastline clean along the shore in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Trash collected will be measured and analyzed, and the data will be sent to Washington DC to aid the government in creating legislation to minimize trash in our oceans!
Stage Fort Park is one of the most visited spaces in Gloucester, and for good reason. It's beautiful and it provides fields, playground and tables for everyone to enjoy. To protect this incredible resource, we need to do our part. This Hands Across the Sand event and cleanup will bring people together to oppose new offshore drilling and other fossil fuel development and promote a clean energy future! We will gather just before noon for a non-hand holding lineup photo along the shore in solidarity with people around the globe on this day, calling for an end to offshore drilling! We look forward to seeing you out there.
Join Greenbelt and North Shore Nature Programs to discover wild edible plants! Our leader will show us how to find and identify a variety of delicious things to eat in fields, in the woods, and maybe right in your backyard! Appropriate for all ages.
Joppa Flats Education Center invites families to join them for a full day of free outdoor and indoor nature activities, art projects, and biodiversity! Connecting with nature starts with developing a good sense of place, and a great place to start is right here at Joppa Flats. This full-day family event will feature an exciting mixture of indoor and outdoor activities that encourage children and adults to learn more about the biodiversity of all the animals, plants, and insects that frequent our butterfly garden, salt marsh, and backyard!
Wetlands are a hotbed of activity in mid-June and this program will focus specifically on the amphibians and reptiles that make ponds and streams their home. Join the Essex County Greenbelt Association to look for nesting turtles, tadpoles, and snakes that may be patrolling the shoreline. Families will learn the key differences between reptiles and amphibians, and hopefully will begin to be able to identify specific species.
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge invites families to join Katie Hone, The Monarch Gardener, for a fun and hands-on program that will focus on the charismatic monarch butterfly and its fascinating life cycle. Meet live monarch caterpillars. Make a common milkweed seed bomb to take home and start your very own monarch habitat. Visit the refuge's butterfly garden to see milkweed and to look for monarch eggs. Meet in
Essex County Greenbelt Association will host an exploring insects workshop. Using nets and bug boxes, families will explore fields in search of insects. Special attention will be paid to differing insect lifecycles as well as how some insects are masters of camouflage. Families will be encouraged to design and hide their own insect to see how well they can use camouflage.
Joppa Flats Education Center invites families to join them for a full day of free outdoor and indoor nature activities, art projects, and live insects! July is the time to see such winged wonders as American ladies, swallowtails, monarchs, skippers, and more. At Joppa Flats, you'll see wild butterflies and captive caterpillars, learn about environmentally friendly products and practices for the home and garden, enjoy a guided nature walk on the grounds, and take home a fun craft or two.
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge invites families to join Katie Hone, The Monarch Gardener, for this fun and interesting one hour program about the monarch butterfly. The program will include a presentation about monarchs with interactive role playing and live animals AND making milkweed “seed bombs” (to take home). Meet, tag and release live monarch butterflies to the wild! This program is geared to younger children and their parents. This program will take place in the refuge visitor center classroom. NO preregistration for this program.
Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary invites families to join them at Endicott Wildlife Sanctuary to discover the amazing journey of the monarch butterfly to Mexico. Learn about the monarch life cycle and the challenges facing its habitat. Find out more about butterfly gardening and create a paper butterfly that will spend the winter with children who live near the monarch sanctuaries in the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico. We will then work together as citizen scientists to tag and release several monarchs to start their journey south.
