Events update _ Garlic and arts volunteers wanted
Da...@dhsmall.net
Athol Bird & Nature Club
Field Trips & Meetings 2025
http://www.atholbirdclub.org
Help Wanted
Many programs can use some extra help: We need Garlic and Arts volunteers both for working at the ABNC Booth and volunteer time with the festival committee to help ABNC’s festival commitment.
We hope to have 3 volunteers for each shift. Volunteers will be assisted by experienced ABNC Board members
Contact Dave if you want to assist and which shift you prefer. Da...@atholbirdclub.org
2025Garlic and Arts (ABNC Booth) | ||
Saturday September 27 | Sunday September 28 | |
9:30 - 12:30 | 9:30 - 12:30 | |
Dave Small | Bob Mallet | |
Jeff Blanchard | ||
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12:00 - 3:00 | 12:00 - 3:00 | |
Deb Bergeron |
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2:30 - 5:30 | 2:30 - 5:30 | |
Cathy Szal |
| Ernie Leblanc |
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Field Trips in Brown Text – Indoor Meetings in Black Text
The ABNC Kestrel Nest Box Program is showing signs of success
Undisclosed Location
Image by Jeff Blanchard
Sunday July 13, 2025, 1:00 pm in-person Sunday Open House A close look at Pond Life - Aquatic biologist Cathy Szal 
and Katrina Walton Aquatic biologist Cathy Szal and science teacher Katrina Walton will offer a hands-on exploration of pond life. There will be a brief introduction to ponds and different types of pond life. They will bring in live aquatic invertebrates, plankton samples and aquatic vegetation. There will be microscope tables with both compound and dissecting scopes for visitors to observe microscopic pond life and aquatic vegetation. There will be pans of live aquatic invertebrates and magnifying glasses. They will also have drawing materials for nature journaling.
Friday July 18th.from 9:30 to 11:30. The North Central Mass. Nature Journal Collaborative will meet at Bright Water Bog, 727 Wendell Road, Shutesbury on July 18th.from 9:30 to 11:30.All are welcome. Parking is limited, carpooling is recommended. To get carpooling info. Contact Trina at thewa...@gardnerale.com.
Saturday July 19th ,2025, 9:00 PM to whenever. The infamous "MothBall" Kicks off National Moth Week in 2025. 
The Mothball returns, Shelley and I invite our friends and neighbors to our Annual MothBall at our home at 1542 Pleasant Street, Athol. July 19th, 2024, 9:00 PM to whenever… Bring Flashlight, camera, lawn chair, a beverage and/or snack to share (keep it simple grab and go) and your sense of adventure. No rain dates. This will be an all-outdoor event with portable toilets in place. Please register with Dave just to let us know who is coming. We are Looking forward to a fun evening, Welcome to the dark side 😊 Dave at Da...@atholbirdclub.org to register or if you have additional questions.
Sunday 1:00 pm July 20, 2025, in-person (Will Close – "4 Season Nature Journaling- a Series" 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. Bring your sketch pad, pencils, and a portable chair for comfortable drawing in the field. Meet at the Millers River Environmental Center 100 main Street Athol Ma
Friday, July 25th 1:00-3:00 p.m. Family Stream Walk at Gifford Family Memorial Forest, 101 Tully Road, Orange. Parking is available at the opening just south of the Gifford Family Memorial Forest entrance and along the road just to the north. Free, all ages. Please rsvp to Caitie at dwyer-...@mountgrace.org.
Join Mount Grace in an adventure with Athol Bird and Nature Club Board member and biologist Cathy Szal with science teacher Katrina Walton for a family stream walk in Gifford Memorial Forest by the West Branch of the Tully River. We’ll explore the stream and look at the aquatic invertebrates living within it. We’ll discover what the invertebrates can tell us about the stream’s health. Did you know that you can read a stream?! Cathy and Katrina will teach us how by looking at its banks, bottom and water flow patterns. We’ll have fun child-friendly activities at the stream side. Boots or water shoes are suggested. Prepare for bugs. Long sleeves, hats and perhaps bug repellent might be helpful. https://www.mountgrace.org/get-involved/events/event/family-stream-walk
Directions to Gifford Family Memorial Forest: From Main Street in Athol, drive north on Exchange Street for 1/3 mile, then take a left onto Pinedale Avenue. Pinedale Ave turns into Tully Rd. Continue on Tully Rd for 2 miles just past Noel’s Nursery. The Gifford Family Memorial Forest sign is on the left (west).
Friday July 25, 2025, 7:00 PM – Dinner “meet and greet” Los Agaves Grill, 491 Main St, Athol, MA 01331. Neurocordulia (Shadowdragon) hunt on the Millers (sunset is around 8:30)
Saturday July 26, 2025, 9:00 AM Leverett Co-op (180 Rattlesnake Gutter Rd, Leverett, MA 01054) and carpool to Brightwater Bog Shutesbury – (GPS address: 727 Wendell Rd, Shutesbury, MA.) limited parking and no cell phone coverage/
Saturday July 26, 2025, Noon -Lunch at Bub’s BBQ (676 Amherst Rd, Sunderland, MA 01375) Search Sunderland site for Tiger Spiketail Cordulegaster erronea
Sunday July 27, 2025, 9:00 am – Meet Millers River Environmental Center (100 Main Street Athol) carpool to Riceville Dam, Tom Swamp and sites in Petersham as Time allows. Lunch at Petersham General Store.
Sunday July 27, 2025, 1:00 PM –presentation - Dragonflies of the Ware River Watershed Sheila Carrol. Millers River Environmental Center
Sunday July 27, 2025, 2:30 PM explore the Tully/Millers River confluence (walkable from the Center parking lot)
These events are free and open to all. Field events may involve wading in shallow water. Bring a camera, an insect net, and a sense of adventure. Questions should be directed to organizers Josh Rose op...@mindspring.com and/or Dave Small Da...@atholbirdclub.org
Sunday August 3, 2025, 1:00 PM , in-person Junior Duck Stamp open house -Please join us in celebrating the 2025 Junior Duck Stamp Artists on Sunday August 3, 2025, between the hours of 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. at the Millers River Environmental Education Center, 100 Main Street, Athol, MA. The MREC is wheelchair accessible. No RSVP required.
Attend this open house to leisurely enjoy the artwork of students in grades K-12. Take some time to meet other student artists, educators, and guests. In addition to the artwork, you are invited to enjoy the natural history exhibits, native pollinator gardens, and the adjacent Alan Rich Environmental Park. Lite refreshments will be offered.
The intention of the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation through the Arts Program is for students to communicate visually what they have learned 
about waterfowl, habitat, and wetland conservation by creating and submitting artwork of a native North American duck, goose, or swan. In Massachusetts, the Junior Duck Stamp Program is sponsored by MassWildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with support from the Massachusetts Sportsmen’s Council.
Wednesday 7:00 pm September 10th, The Impact of Rodenticides on Wildlife in New England.
A zoom presentation with Stephanie Ellis and Laura Kiesel. Hawks, owls, eagles, foxes and other predators are highly effective at keeping rodent populations in check and ecosystems in balance. But the increased use of rodenticides, particularly second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, poses a growing threat to wildlife. These highly toxic and persistent pesticides are having a wide-ranging impact on predator and prey species in both urban and rural environments, sickening and killing non target species and becoming widespread in the wildlife food web. Several states have introduced legislation to restrict or ban anticoagulant rodenticides, and some municipalities in Massachusetts have successfully worked to pass regulations restricting or prohibiting their use.
Stephanie Ellis, wildlife rehabilitator and Director of Wild Care, Inc. in Eastham, and Laura Kiesel, journalist and founder of Save Arlington Wildlife and the nonprofit Save Massachusetts Wildlife, will lead a discussion around the reasons behind the rise of the use of anticoagulant rodenticides, how they are impacting wildlife, and how citizens can advocate for safer and more effective alternatives to rodent poisons in their communities.
The WARE RIVER NATURE CLUB newsletter for July is available with the link below.
It can also be accessed by copying and pasting this link into your browser: wrnc_july_2025_newsletter_plus_inserts.pdf
Dave Small
978-413-1772
Athol Bird and Nature Club
Millers River Environmental Center
100 Main Street, Athol Ma 01331
The Environmental Center is now open by appointment and available for use by our partners
