Summer is ending but not our enjoyment of the changing seasons.
Da...@dhsmall.net
Athol Bird & Nature Club
Field Trips & Meetings 2025
http://www.atholbirdclub.org
Note: September calendar error resolution is explained at the bottom of this email
Field Trips in Brown Text – Indoor Meetings in Black Text
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Membership Renewal Time
It’s that time of year again when the Athol Bird and Nature Club asks you to please consider renewing your membership that helps us to enhance the appreciation of natural history in the Athol/North Quabbin/Mount Grace region, and to provide activities, including field trips and programs, in natural history observation, management, and conservation. Your membership also supports the Millers River Environmental Center.
Our fiscal year will be moving to the calendar year beginning January 1, 2026,
so renewed memberships will be valid until December 31, 2026.
Click on this link to renew and pay online or to print a membership renewal form and mail us a check: RENEW HERE
Our event notifications are delivered via email and are also available any time on our website www.atholbirdclub.org .
We very much appreciate your past support and we hope to see you at one of our many upcoming events.
Athol Bird & Nature Library
Did you know we have a library at the Millers River Environmental Center? Books are available for loan, and you can browse the collection online by author or subject. Request the volume for loan by emailing in...@atholbirdclub.org and volunteers will arrange pickup.
This year’s BioBlitz should be MEGa fun! It will take place September 1-14, 2025, and will focus on Maple, Elm, and 
Grapevine (MEGa). Each of these plants is a favorite of one of three invasive insects that’s a threat to Massachusetts’ environment and economy: Asian long horned beetle, elm zigzag sawfly, and spotted lanternfly.
How to participate: Sign up for iNaturalist if you don’t already have an account.
Join our iNaturalist project. Choose an area with at least one of the following plants that Asian long horned beetle, elm zigzag sawfly, or spotted lanternfly like to eat: a) Maple, b) Elm, c) Grapevine
Any time from September 1 to 14, 2025, check the plants you chose, and photograph any insects, egg masses, leaf damage, holes, or tunnels that you see. Pay particular attention to any holes or tunnels in the trunk or branches of trees that look like Asian long horned beetle damage, any zigzag leaf damage, and anything that looks like spotted lanternfly. Upload your photos to iNaturalist and add them to MDAR’s project.
Fridays September 5, 12, 19, 26, and October 3, 10, @ 7:30 am - Early 
Bird Birding with Jeff Johnstone. Join Jeff Johnstone here at the Center (100 Main St, Athol) before heading out to explore the North Quabbin area for fall migrant birds. These are great events for the novice birder to learn from one of our best field naturalists. Come for as long as your schedule allows. Severe weather cancels. Call to reserve your spot: Jeff Johnstone, 978-249-9052.
Friday Sept 5th 2025, 7pm Eastern Mass Hawk Watch Annual Meeting: IN PERSON! at Middlesex Community College, Bedford Campus. Public Invited! The meeting will take place in the Cafe East section of the Campus Center. Please see a detailed campus map on our website here: https://massbird.org/emhw/annual-meeting/
We'd like to extend the invitation to our meeting to the public and welcome all who are interested in learning more about hawkwatching and our organization. The annual meeting is the traditional kick-off to the Fall hawkwatching season in Massachusetts - it won't be long before the first kettles of Broad-wings gather over the skies of New England!
Our keynote speaker this year is Ben Nickley from The Berkshire Bird Observatory. Ben will present on Berkshire Bird Observatory’s efforts to recover American Kestrel populations in the Berkshires through their American Kestrel Nest Box Project. Ben will present on the development of BBO’s Kestrel trail and the early success of the project.
The meeting is free and open to the public (donations appreciated) and will take place in the auditorium. A social hour with beverages, appetizers and snacks starts at 6pm, followed at 7pm by a brief business meeting and the keynote presentation. The business meeting will review EMHW Watch Sites and how you can visit or participate this upcoming migration season! We’ll also have the return of our famous raffle, including many raptor-related and birding items and some fantastic photography. Join us for a great evening!
Wednesday 7:00 pm September 10th, The Impact of Rodenticides on Wildlife in New England. Register for Zoom event A zoom only 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.
September 19th, 2025, 9:30 am The North Central Mass. Nature Journal collaborative - to look at Tully Lake. We will park on Doanes fall road. Please rsvp Trina at thewa...@gardnerale.com if you want to join us in case of schedule change due to weather.
DCR Less and Terry Campbell Quabbin Visitor Center
Saturday, September 20, 2025 11am – 1pm
Exploring the Ware River Watershed – group hike near Rutland State Park
4.4 miles Moderate Ware River Watershed, Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT)/Mid State Trail Parking Area, Route 122
Rutland, MA 01543 https://maps.app.goo.gl/dgzSozmffyz7NFJr7 Join us for a 4.4-mile lollipop loop hike in the Ware River Watershed. The route climbs/descends roughly 200 ft. in elevation. We will all meet at the MCRT parking area located on Route 122 in the town of Rutland. The hike begins/ends on the MCRT with a loop in the middle consisting of Camel’s Hump, Long Meadow Road, and Prison Camp Road. Visit the following website for additional information on the route: https://www.trailforks.com/route/4-mi-inner-loop-near-rutland-state-park/ Please dress appropriately for the weather and bring water and snacks. Register at: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/f208ca793b8942ab90a15d366110a424
News from the Cornell Ornithological Lab:
The fall bird migration is underway. Use Cornell's "Migration Dashboard" to see what's happening in your area.
We love our Garlic and Arts volunteers.
We hope you will join us once again on September 27th and 28th in 2025 to work with the Organizers on the field. Sign up to volunteer as an individual or a team.
2025 ABNC Calendar Error
As previously communicated, an error was identified on two pages of the 2025 ABNC calendar. The starting day for August was shown as occurring on Saturday, when it should have been Friday. The starting day for September was shown as occurring on Tuesday when it should have been Monday.
There are several options for correcting this mistake:
- Request corrected sheets with an adhesive back peel-off cover for each of the two months. Complete the request on the ABNC website, including your mailing address and the number of calendars you are amending. The sheets will be sent to this address free of charge.
- PDF copies of the corrected months are available on the ABNC website. Simply download the corrected months, print, and either tape or glue the PDF copies over the impacted months. If you would like to have the PDF copies sent to your mailing address, please complete the request on the ABNC website, including your mailing address and the number of calendars you are amending. The sheets will be sent to this address free of charge.
- You can simply make a notation on the impacted months indicating the change in the starting date.
Use this link to request corrected pages - ABNC Calendar Revision - Athol Bird & Nature Club
We regret this error and appreciate your continued support when purchasing this unique calendar.
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
