Dear Friends and Acton Conservation Trust Members:
The following news and events may be of interest:
Now – April 2
Walk the New Storybook Trail featuring “The Mitten” by Jan Brett
Open dawn to dusk Burgess-Brown Land. Street parking and trailhead found at the end of Murray Lane in Harvard, MA The Harvard Conservation Trust invites you to visit the Storybook Trail. This experience is idea for young readers of all levels. An easy half mile hike takes you through an open meadow, meanders into the forest and past a mysterious boulder field. Read the beautiful book “The Mitten,” based on a popular Ukrainian fairytale. It follows one lost mitten and a group of curious forest animals as they prepare for winter.
Now – September 5
New Exhibit: Alive with Birds: William Brewster in Concord
Thursday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 PM, Walk ins welcome!
Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA
Visit this special exhibition to discover the beauty of birds. William Brewster (1851-1919) was Mass Audubon’s first President He dedicated over thirty years of his life to the study of birds in Concord at his property, which he called October Farm. Drawn to Concord for its natural beauty and abundant bird life, Brewster made October Farm his experimental field laboratory and documented its wildlife for scientific study and public enlightenment. In 2019, Mass Audubon received a 143 acre parcel of land which was once part of October Farm, which has been renamed Brewster’s Woods Wildlife Sanctuary. For more information visit their website.
Members free; Adults $15, Seniors $12, Children (6 to 17) $8
Tuesday, April 5
Woodcock Prowl 2022 – sponsored by Acton Conservation Trust
7-8 PM
Acton Conservation Trust member and local birder, Al Sgroi, will help us view the fascinating courtship ritual of the American Woodcock. The males display a series of peents, twitters, and chirps as they prance on the ground, then spiral rapidly upward, circle and drift down, whistling as they go. Since this is a “crepuscular” or twilight-active bird, we will meet at sunset to watch and listen for the incredible sky dance. No pets on this prowl, thank you!
* Please register here and meeting location will be sent to you a few days before the event. The location will be in Acton or Boxborough, depending upon where Woodcocks are active.
**Please read the “What to expect” section for clothing and gear tips.
***For more information or questions, please contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@jharris
Wednesday, April 6
Make Your Land Available for Farming
12-1 PM
Register for free at landforgood.org/events
Make Your Land Available for Farming is for private landowners and their representatives (real estate agents, etc.) to understand your land’s potential for farming, learn what goes into good farming arrangement, and explore strategies for making any amount of land available to a farmer. When you make land available for farming you help secure a future for farming in your community. Farmers are looking for land, from a small vegetable plot to livestock or crops. Productive, sustainable uses for all or parts of your property can bring many rewards!
Wednesday, April 6
On belonging in Outdoor spaces: Diversity is more than Color
7 PM
As a cancer survivor, paraclimber, outdoor enthusiast, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion professional, Kareemah Batts pulls from her lived experience and education to co-create a world where diversity is intersectional and accessible. She will walk us through her journey, and demonstrate what happens when the narrative shifts from: “you don’t belong here’ to ”you belong here, you exist, and you matter.” Register for the program here. Sponsored by Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and 5 other non-profits.
Thursday, April 7
Birdwatching Basics: Birding by Ear
7-8 PM
Online for Adults
From a sparrow’s song to a woodpecker’s drumming, our noisy avian neighbors can tell us a lot about the natural world, if we’re open to listening. Read more. Registration is required.
Register now with our secure payment portal. For more information contact Mass Audubon at education@massaudubon.org
Monday, April 11
From Land Acknowledgement to Partnership, The Making of ”Pakachoag: Where the River Bends”
1:30-3 PM via Zoom
“Pakachoag: Where the River Bends” is a documentary produced by faculty, staff, and students at the College of Holy Cross about the transformation of land over the last 400 years, focusing on historical and present-day sites of indigenous community in the area of the Holy Cross campus in Worcester, Massachusetts. Watch the documentary. Q&A will follow the presentation. This event is free. For more information please register by April 10. You will receive the Zoom link when you register. Register here.
Tuesday, April 12
7:00pm-8:15pm
A Virtual Electric Vehicles SHOWCASE – with EnergizeActon.org and Energize Wayland
It is a new day for electric cars! Many new vehicles with extended range are coming onto the market. Are you curious about the options? Come and explore the 2022-2023 models with the Drive Green Team of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. There will be lots of time for questions and answers!
This is a virtual event. Please register HERE or go to EnergizeActon.org and click on the Events tab. This event is a collaboration between EnergizeActon.org and Energize Wayland, along with other communities on the Mass Energize platform.
Thursday, April 14
Plan for your Land: “What are the financial benefits of land conservation?”
6:30-8:30 PM
This webinar is presented by by Mark Robinson, Executive Director of The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts. Main sponsor is MassWoods at UMass Amherst, Co-sponsored by MLTC. Learn more and register.
Saturday, April 16
A Parlor Concert at the Faulkner Homestead sponsored by Iron Work Farm in Acton
6:30 PM
Faulkner Homestead, 5 High Street, Acton
Iron Work Farm is pleased to present Soprano Gretchen Harbourt in a program of music of the 18th century.
Broadcast participation limited to 100
Live tickets by reservation only, live audience limited to 16. Libations and hors d’oeuvres are included
For more information and reservations go to www.ironworkfarm.org. Donations gratefully accepted.
Sunday, April 17
Robbins Ride with the Acton Minutemen
5:30 PM
For more information and reservations go to www.ironworkfarm.org.
Monday, April 18
Patriots Day Spirit celebration
1-4 PM
Faulkner Homestead, High St. Acton
Come travel back in time with us to learn why we celebrate Patriots Day in Acton as the start of both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. What better place to do it than at the Faulkner Homestead, the home of Col. Francis Faulkner in 1775, and Col. Winthrop E. Faulkner in 1861!
Friday, April 22
Earth Day Walk at Pratt’s Brook
10-11:30 AM
Join Acton Conservation Trust as we explore the Pratt’s Brook trails and look for signs of spring. This family friendly walk is about a mile and a half, and has several beautiful stream crossings. Your friendly, well-behaved dogs are welcome to attend as well! Stay for snacks in the park after our walk. Please RSVP by registering here. You will receive an emailed copy for your records and location information prior to the event. For more information or questions, please contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@gmail.com
Tuesday, April 26
Wild Animals We Thought We Knew
5:30 – 7 PM
Online.
Naturalist and professional tracker Susan Morse has traveled North America photographing and studying some of our most iconic creatures, including cougars, bears, caribou, wolverines, and Canada lynx. Her studies of scent-marking and “babysitter trees” have contributed to the new body of research that shows how little we have understood these animals, potentially resulting in management assumptions and practices that are inappropriate. Sue argues that it’s time to approach conservation and management with humility. With global warming and habitat fragmentation already impacting the lives and populations of many species, there is no time to lose. This presentation will offer a fresh synthesis of new discoveries. Sue’s breathtaking wildlife photos will illustrate the talk.This event is co-hosted with Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center.This event is free and made possible by NEWT’s wonderful community of supporters. Please consider a $5-10 donation to support Northeast Wilderness Trust’s work to save wild places. Click here to make a gift…thank you!
Sunday, May 1
ACT Spring Service Day 2022
1-3 PM
Adjacent to 18 Wright Terrace. At the end of Wright Terrace, park off the road on the east side, facing the garden.
Join ACT members and friends as we work to remove bittersweet and other invasive plants from our beautiful Wright Hill property. The work will include a combination of pulling, digging, cutting and stacking removed invasive brush in compost piles.
FAMILY GROUPS ARE WELCOME! Following a brief orientation of what bittersweet looks like and how best to remove it, volunteers will be shown to a work area. If Scout groups would like to stay longer, please let us know!
Come dressed in boots or sturdy shoes with long sleeves and pants, sprayed for ticks and mosquitos. Expect weedy, rocky and uneven terrain, with poison ivy growing on some stone walls. Please bring leather work gloves (best for thorns) and clippers, bypass pruners and loppers if you have them. Weed wrenches are ALWAYS welcome! We will have extra tools and some loaner gloves available. We’ll also have water and refreshments.
Register here. For more information or questions, please contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@gmail.com
Friday, May 6
Behind the Scenes Tour at Stonefield Farm
9-10 AM
Stonefield Farm, Acton
Join Usha Thakrar, Executive Director of the Boston Area Gleaners and Christa Collins, SVT Director of Land Protection to learn about how Acton’s Stonefield Farm was protected and what its future holds. The farm serves as BAG’s hub for storing and packing crops for hunger relief, and Usha will describe how this non-profit addresses food insecurity, on-farm food waste, and local farm sustainability through a variety of programs. Co-sponsored by the Boston Area Gleaners. Register at https://www.svtweb.org/node/10740/register
VOLUNTEER!
Boston Area Gleaners (BAG) is back to grocery box packing! Join them in their greenhouse on Wednesday, 4/6 to pack more ‘Just Eats’ grocery boxes for local pantries and low-income housing facilities. Sign up to volunteer at https://www.bagetc.org/gleanlist.php
Wednesday, 4/6
1-4 PM Pack grocery boxes
Stonefield Farm, Martin Street, Acton, MA
Town of Littleton Conservation Department
Amphibian Crossing Brigade Handbook 2022
How you can help amphibians on the road – https://www.mass.gov/news/watch-for-amphibians-on-the-road
- Please drive cautiously and carefully.
- Whenever possible over the next 2 months, please consider not driving on rainy nights when air temperatures are 40°F or higher. If you must travel during such conditions, delaying beyond the first 2 hours after sunset is recommended.
- Travel on larger highways rather than small, wooded roads if possible. Plan routes that minimize the number of wetlands or vernal pools passed.
- If observing amphibian migrations, consider arriving at your destination prior to sunset, and then conduct your monitoring on foot.
- If assisting amphibians across roadways or handling them for other reasons, be sure your hands are free of lotions, bug repellent, or other chemicals.
- Report high levels of amphibian activity or mortality to the Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife initiative, which compiles data to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions on problem roadways.
- If you encounter any of our state-listed rare amphibian species (eastern spadefoot, blue-spotted salamander, Jefferson salamander, and marbled salamander), please take a clear photograph of the animal, carefully record the location, and submit an observation report to MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.
- Go the extra mile to help preserve amphibian habitat by certifying vernal pools on your property. The data you collect is used to help MassWildlife and local conservation organizations better understand habitat resources for our native amphibians.
Goat Hikes – Good Pickin’ Farm
5 Gould Road, Westford
Goat Hikes. $65/group up to 8 people. Informative nature hike led by an ecologist, focusing on different flora or fauna of the area that is seasonal. Have fun while the goats walk and run along with you and enjoy their silly antics! For more information call 425-306-7203 or email hello@goodpicikinfarm.com
March Through May
Join Central Mass. Goat Rental for a Walk with Goats
48 West Acres Drive, Lunenberg
Take to the trails with friendly farm animals at your side. Anywhere from 6 to 16 goats will go on the hikes. Goats have a natural instinct to follow the leader, which makes them perfect hiking companions. The hike is relatively easy, lasting about an hour. Masks and social distance are required and group size is limited due to Covid-19. Each hike costs $35 per adult, $10 per child (under the age of 15 years old), and children ages 5 years and under are free. To book a hike, visit www.centralmagoatrental.com and choose the date of your hike.
Hiking with Dogs – The Trustees Did you and your family get a pandemic puppy? Are you and your older dog a little tired of the same old walking routes? Let our dog-friendly properties give you a burst of inspiration to get some fresh air for you and your four-footed companion. These 7 places might be just the thing this spring.
Support Acton Conservation Trust while you make purchases on AmazonSmile! ACT will receive a small payment, and these add up! From your desktop or laptop computer, AmazonSmile is available at at smile.amazon.com on your Web browser. Bookmark it for easy use! AmazonSmile is available from your mobile phone as well. To activate AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app, simply tap on “AmazonSmile” within the Programs & Features menu or Settings and follow the on-screen instructions.
Sincerely,
Susan Mitchell-Hardt
President, Acton Conservation Trust
www.ActonConservationTrust.org
P.S. Welcome to new “Events of Interest” subscribers! As a nonprofit organization, we rely upon the support of our members. Visit our ACT website, and click on “Join Us”!
Be sure to tell your friends that “Events of Interest” is also available on our new ACT website www.actonconservationtrust.org