Boston Flora

Tag: Athol Bird and Nature Club

  • Saturday, May 31, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Dragonfly Field Trip

    Join Athol Bird & Nature Club President Dave Small on May 31 in search of early season dragonflies (and butterflies) starting at the Mount Grace Land Trust Eagle Reserve in Royalston, Massachusetts. As time allows, a look at nearby Birch Hill WMA and Millers River will be included. Meet at 10 am at the parking area for Birch Hill opposite 69 Winchendon Road in Royalston. There are no facilities in the general area, so please be self-contained with food, water, snacks, insect repellant, sunscreen, binoculars, camera, bug net, and shoes for wading in shallow water. The program is free and open to all. For additional information contact Dave Small at Dave@atholbirdclub.org

  • Sunday, May 25, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Natural History Exploration

    Join artist and journalist Will Close for this series of natural history explorations at the Millers River Environmental Center. In this Athol Bird & Nature Club workshop on May 25 you will get a chance to deepen your awareness and connection to the natural world through wildlife tracking and the use of nature journaling and field sketching. You will be guided through various foundational techniques designed to strengthen your observational skills. This workshop will be primarily held in the field. All experience levels are welcome.

    Will Close is an artist, designer, educator, and wildlife tracker who specializes in the intersection of nature, art, design, and teaching. He holds a degree in Fine Art Painting from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and studied wildlife track and sign under Dan Gardoqui and Daniel Hansche. Currently, Will resides in Concord, Massachusetts where he maintains an artistic studio practice and is an outdoor education instructor with the Carroll School located in Lincoln, Massachusetts. His passion for nature illustration, tracking and sharing it with others, has taken him from the spruce forests of Maine to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Most recently, he was the inaugural artist in residence with North Country Land Trust in North Central Massachusetts. For more information visit www.atholbirdclub.org

  • Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 pm Eastern – Five Years in the Life of Sandhill Cranes, Online

    Since May 2020, Alan Rawle and his wife Wendy have been following the behaviors and activities of a pair of Sandhill Cranes in Hardwick, Massachusetts. In this Athol Bird & Nature Club program on March 12, Alan will describe successful and unsuccessful nestlings documented over that period along with additional information from 2019. The talk will first provide a background to the history of Sandhill Cranes in New England, noting the increased numbers in the region since about 2000, and then focus on detailed observations of the pair of cranes that they’ve been fortunate to encounter over a 4-year period. 

    Alan has diligently pieced together the timescales and locations of the crane family–2 adults and 2 young/juveniles (colts).  The presentation will include pictures of cranes eating, walking, flying, bathing, and “at play”, together with other pertinent and relevant information. To register for the zoom webinar. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vhNt_dXTTKCqOoKlrtQYdA This virtual program will not be recorded.

  • Sunday, September 22, 1:30 pm – Forest Stand Improvements in the Quabbin Watershed

    In the winter of 2023 DCR Division of Water Supply Protection launched the Forest Stand Improvement pilot project. This project seeks to improve Forest Resiliency in young forests to increase native tree biodiversity, improve wildlife habitat, and climate resilience. Millers River Environmental Center 100 Main Street, Athol, at 1:30 pm on September 22, with speaker Austin Gelinas. Free and open to the public, sponsored by the Athol Bird & Nature Club.

  • Saturday, December 18 – Christmas Bird Count, Live and Online

    Join the Christmas Bird Count on December 18, the longest continuously running bird data event in the area. Contact Dave Small for additional information and to participate in this nationwide annual event: 978-413-1772 or Dave@atholbirdclub.org  Covid-19 rules are in effect National Audubon has issued guidelines which ABNC will use.  Then, enjoy the Christmas Bird Count Wrap-up and Party, online. Join us as we find out the preliminary results of the Annual Christmas Bird Count. An informal group discussion and meeting. Find out what unusual birds were seen during the days’ count. 

    You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: Dec 18, 2021 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
    Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkd-iorj8sE9wnkJnlGODdr5O6n1tsjP-D  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

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  • Thursdays, July 29 – August 12, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, and Saturdays, August 7 & 14, 9:00 am – 11:00 am – Butterfly Institute: Introduction to Butterflies

    This 3-week hybrid course led by members of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club (3 online lectures, 2 field experiences) will introduce you to the diversity, ecology, and life history of our beautiful New England butterflies, along with management tools to help them. This Tower Hill Botanic Garden course is designed for the butterfly enthusiast who wants to dig deeper, and for those who would like to further their appreciation of the natural world around them. This program consists of five classes. When registering, please make sure all five classes are selected.

    General Outline (For a full breakdown click this link)
    Week 1:  Introduction to New England Butterflies: Diversity, Anatomy, Field Identification
    Week 2:  Butterflies in the Wild: Ecology and Behavior
    Week 3: Butterfly Conservation: Creating Habitat through Gardens  

    Bill Benner is a life-long East Coast gardener who has been planting for wildlife and pollinators in western Massachusetts since 2004.  His gardens are particularly focused on butterflies and hummingbirds, with both nectar and host plants, and a strong emphasis on natives.  He is eager to share his enthusiasm for pollinator gardening with others, and he has lectured and taught on butterflies and gardening for the Native Plant Trust, the Hitchcock Center, and a number of garden centers, garden clubs, and conservation groups.  He is a past president of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, and currently serves as the editor of its publication, Massachusetts Butterflies.

    Martha Gach is current president of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club and Conservation Coordinator and Regional Education Manager with Mass Audubon, based at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary and Conservation Center in Worcester. She also teaches at Worcester State University. An ecologist and evolutionary biologist, Martha designed the Broad Meadow Brook campus landscape to support butterflies and pollinators, but also birds and wildlife, and was featured on “Ask This Old House”  for a segment on butterfly gardens.. She coordinates the annual Butterfly Festival at Broad Meadow Brook and serves on her town’s Conservation Commission, advocating for native plantings.

    Dave Small is president of the 250-member Athol Bird and Nature Club and Director of the Millers River Environmental Center. Dave shares his passion for Birds, Butterflies, Dragonflies and most recently moths through workshops, lectures and field trips around New England.  Dave volunteers for several non-profits including Millers River Watershed Council, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, Mass Watershed Coalition, and Mass Audubon’s Important Bird Area Technical Advisory Committee, National Moth Week Science Advisory Board, and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program Advisory Committee. Working for the Commonwealth of Mass for 35 years, Dave served as Assistant Regional Director at the DCR Quabbin Reservoir in Central Massachusetts retiring in 2013.

    $150 Member Adult, $175 Adult(Registration includes admission to the Garden on field session days) To register, click HERE

  • Thursday, April 22, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Introduction to Butterfly Watching Webinar

    Join Athol Bird and Nature Club president Dave Small on Thursday, April 22 Eastern Daylight Savings Time, to learn about the life cycle, Identification terminology, best equipment to bring (binoculars and camera) and the families of butterflies you can encounter here in the North Quabbin. Be ready as temperature warm and butterflies begin to emerge, any days that are sunny and 60 degrees will bring out butterflies. This webinar is co-hosted by Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. And special thanks to the Massachusetts Butterfly Club. Use the link below to sign up. 

    https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_40iChhrNS16cHe7R5_k0AA

  • Sunday, August 12, 2:00 pm – Our Native Massachusetts Bees

    Join the Athol Bird& Nature Club on Sunday, August 12 at 2 pm at the Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street in Athol, for an Open House and lecture on Our Native Massachusetts Bees. Can you tell a bee from a wasp? What about a native bee from a honey bee? What is a bee and where does it live? The University of Massachusetts Bee Lab members -Andrea Sroka, Aliza Fassler, and Phoebe Hynes — will have specimens of bees and their look-alikes on hand for you to look at under a microscope. You will also learn about native bee nesting strategies and how to help bees in your backyards. Free.  For more information visit www.atholbirdclub.org

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  • Tuesday, March 20, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Attracting Pollinators to Your Landscape

    Celebrate the first day of spring with this illustrated evening program on transforming gardens and landscapes into native bee habitat. Learn about native bees and what steps we can take to create pollinator friendly landscaping including providing food for bees and nesting opportunities to raise their young. Join Tom Sullivan, M.A.L.D, of PollinatorsWelcome.com, for an evening filled with ideas and inspiration – from simple techniques to community practices focusing on connectivity. Tom is a pollinator habitat designer, land consultant, and educator with a special focus on native bees. He gives talks and workshops on the nesting, foraging and life cycles of native bee species in New England. A beekeeper in his youth, Tom switched his interest from honeybees to native bees in 2008 after Colony Collapse Disorder emerged and it became clear how intricately tied whole ecosystem health is to pollinator well-being and human survival. This event is co-sponsored with the Northfield Bird Club and the Athol Bird and Nature Club. Free and open to all, at the Northfield Mountain Recreation and Environmental Center 99 Millers Falls Road Northfield, MA 01360. For more information contact (413)659-4462 or visit http://www.h2opower.ca/recreation/northfield-mountain-recreation-and-environmental-center/

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  • Wednesday, November 8, 6:00 pm – The Majestic Moose

    Join Wildlife photographer Bill Fournier for this wonderful look at our largest resident mammal the Moose. Bill will include images from both Maine and from our own backyard at Quabbin. This Athol Bird and Nature Club talk is part of the annual meeting, open to the public, on Wednesday, November 8. As usual, the annual dinner meeting begins at 6 p.m. in Liberty Hall at the Athol Town Hall (584 Main St.), with the program at 7 p.m.

    Reservations are required for the dinner and must be received by Thursday, November 3rd. To reserve, call Cindy Hartwell at 978-544-5783, or email cindyhartwell56@gmail.com. There will be two dinner options available, stuffed chicken or vegetarian lasagna. Please indicate your preference when making the reservation. She will call or email you back with a confirmation of your reservation. No reservations are necessary for the program. The event will also feature our always popular tin can auctions; participants are encouraged to bring an item to donate.