Calendar of Events
December 2019
Nature on Tap: Santa’s Magic Mushroom
Mythology meets natural history in this holiday-themed Nature on Tap! You’ll look at Santa in a whole new light after Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol reveals the fascinating link between the divine soma mushroom and the origins of Jolly Old Saint Nick.
Learn more »“Bobcats Before Breakfast” Reading and Discussion Group
Join naturalist Susie Spikol for this special opportunity to read and discuss John Kulish’s classic 1969 book, "Bobcats Before Breakfast."
Learn more »46th Annual Christmas Bird Count for Hancock, Peterborough, and Surrounding Towns
Begun locally in 1973, the Christmas Bird Count is the world’s oldest and largest biological survey and citizen science endeavor, with thousands of participants worldwide. No need to be an expert!
Learn more »Young Birders Club: Christmas Bird Count
Join the Harris Center’s youth birding team for the annual Peterborough-Hancock Christmas Bird Count!
Learn more »Keene Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count is the world’s oldest and largest biological survey and citizen science endeavor, with thousands of participants worldwide. The Keene count is one of the oldest, dating all the way back to 1900.
Learn more »January 2020
Easygoing Hike on Pack Monadnock
Join Lee Baker and Rich Taylor for a moderately strenuous 1-mile roundtrip hike to the halfway house site on Pack Monadnock.
Learn more »Harris Center Big Year of Birding: Winter Finch Hike
Join Eric Masterson for this next installment in our “Big Year” series of seasonal birding outings to Harris Center protected lands – a 5-mile roundtrip hike through spruce country in search of winter finches.
Learn more »Cross-Country Ski Around Dublin’s Dark Pond
Join Tom Warren for a 3-mile roundtrip ski around Dark Pond in Dublin, followed by hot cocoa.
Learn more »Evening Snowshoe Around Howe Reservoir
Join Tom Warren for a 2-mile snowshoe around Howe Reservoir, where we’ll listen for owls and look for winter-bright stars.
Learn more »Trees and Tracks
Join forest ecologist Jeremy Wilson and naturalist Susie Spikol for an afternoon of looking at winter trees and the animal tracks found around them. Learn to tell the trees from the forest and read the stories told by tracks!
Learn more »Forest Bathing by Moonlight: Reconnect to Nature
Join Susie Spikol and Marilyn Wyzga for a peaceful, moonlit ramble. Taking our cue from the Japanese Shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”) practice, we’ll open our senses through gentle yoga poses, deep breathing, “coyote walking,” and quiet reflection.
Learn more »Cross-Country Ski from Stone Pond to Old Troy Road
Join Tom Warren for a 2-mile cross-country skiing excursion around scenic Stone Pond.
Learn more »Utterly Otters
Join naturalist Susie Spikol for a lively talk on the largest member of the weasel family in New England: the bounding, sliding, swimming, charismatic otter!
Learn more »Rainbow Hike
Join naturalist Dee Denehy (she, her) and daughter Lily Denehy (she, her) for a 2-mile hike in a LGBTQ+ safe space.
Learn more »Stories in the Stars
The winter night sky is filled with brilliant stars and legendary constellations. Get to know some of them during an evening of stargazing and storytelling with astronomy buff Victory Novotny and constellation mythology fan Susie Spikol.
Learn more »Film Showing: “The Lost Forests of New England”
This homegrown documentary tells the story of central New England’s old-growth forests through drone and wildlife camera footage, as well as field interviews with Tom Wessels, David Foster, and other renowned ecologists.
Learn more »February 2020
Forest Bathing by Moonlight: Reconnect to Nature
Join Susie Spikol and Marilyn Wyzga for a peaceful, moonlit ramble. Taking our cue from the Japanese Shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”) practice, we’ll open our senses through gentle yoga poses, deep breathing, “coyote walking,” and quiet reflection.
Learn more »Easygoing Hike Along the Jaquith Rail Trail
Join Rich Taylor for a moderately easy, 3-mile roundtrip hike along the old Keene to Concord railroad line.
Learn more »Hiking Through the Decades: The Briggs Preserve
In celebration of our 50th Anniversary, we're offering Hiking Through the Decades, a four-hike series that will trace the history of the Harris Center's land protection efforts. Join Meade Cadot and Ben Haubrich for the inaugural hike -- an easy outing through the Briggs Preserve, one of the Harris Center’s earliest land protection projects.
Learn more »Cross-Country Ski on Old Troy Road
Join Tom Warren for a 2-mile cross-country skiing excursion on scenic Old Troy Road and the Brook Trail.
Learn more »Nature on Tap: Love, Sex, and Wow in the Animal World
Join Harris Center naturalists Brett Amy Thelen, Jenna Spear, and Susie Spikol for a special Valentine’s Day discussion on some of the unusual ways wild animals court and mate. Drinks on you, conversation on us!
Learn more »Babies in Backpacks and Toddlers in Tow
Join naturalist Susie Spikol for a gentle winter hike around the Harris Center’s grounds, specially geared towards babies, toddlers, and their caregivers.
Learn more »Following in the Footsteps of John Kulish at Robb Reservoir
Join Stan Smith and Vic Starzynski for a 4-mile roundtrip hike around one of John Kulish's favorite haunts -- the shoreline of Robb Reservoir.
Learn more »New England’s Long Ago Elephants: Woolly Mammoths and Mastodons
Discover the long-lost lives of the woolly mammoths and mastodons that once roamed New England with Harris Center naturalist and woolly mammoth lover Susie Spikol!
Learn more »Bobcats Before Breakfast: John Kulish, His Book, and His Legacy
Join Susie Spikol and Meade Cadot to learn about the Harris Center’s first naturalist, John Kulish. Dig deeper into the life of this charismatic trapper-turned conservationist and, if conditions allow, do one of the things he loved the most – winter tracking!
Learn more »Snowshoe Hike to Osgood Hill through Partridge Woods
Join Kathy Schillemat for a 4-mile roundtrip hike along the new Partridge Woods trail network to the top of Osgood Hill, the second-highest peak in Cheshire County.
Learn more »Winter Adventures Camp
Join us for Winter Adventures, a three-day winter vacation camp filled with snowshoeing, fort building, animal tracking, nature crafts, games, songs, and more!
Learn more »Winter Survival Skills for Middle Schoolers
Join Harris Center naturalist John Benjamin for a day of of outdoor adventure and survival skills practice, including hiking, fire making, shelter building, orienteering, and more.
Learn more »3rd Annual Norway Pond Symposium
Join us for a day of talks highlighting recent research, and plans for future study, on the ecology of Norway Pond in Hancock.
Learn more »March 2020
Easygoing Hike Along the Aldworth Manor Trail
Join Rich and Linda Taylor for a moderately strenuous, 3-mile roundtrip hike along the Aldworth Manor Trail in Harrisville.
Learn more »
