Calendar of Events
Wildlife
Beech Hill’s Going to the Birds
Flap your wings and soar over to Beech Hill for a bird-focused morning with the Harris Center’s newest naturalist, Nikko Gagnon. Beginning birders welcome!
Field Forays with the SuperSanctuary Butterfly Club
Calling all butterfly fans! Join wildlife biologist Mark Ellingwood and other members of the SuperSanctuary Butterfly Club for this two-part course as we practice identifying butterflies on the wing and in the net, in preparation for a statewide butterfly survey in July.
Environmental Studies Institute: CyberTracker Track & Sign Evaluations
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin Nate Harvey for a two-day tracking intensive through CyberTracker's Track & Sign Evaluation program. This is both a certification for those who desire it and a rich learning experience for anyone who wants to learn more about wildlife track & sign.
Birding for All: An Accessible, Inclusive Birding Outing at Crotched Mountain
Ramble along Crotched Mountain’s accessible trails with Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol and Bird Conservation Director Phil Brown. We’ll look and listen for mid-summer singers, secretive nesters, and young fledglings, taking our time to notice the mountain’s other wild delights as well.
Kids Count for Wildlife: Monarchs and Milkweed Survey
If you love monarch butterflies and want to help scientists find out more about these remarkable insects, here’s your chance! Join a team of Harris Center naturalists at a local milkweed patch, where we’ll count monarch eggs, caterpillars, and butterflies.
Monitoring for Monarchs
Get ready for the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz by joining Harris Center ecologist Brett Amy Thelen to survey for monarch eggs, caterpillars, and butterflies in a Harris Center-conserved milkweed patch.
Snake Search with Wildlife Artist Matt Patterson
Join wildlife artist, conservationist, and snake enthusiast Matt Patterson for an afternoon snake search around the Harris Center grounds! Perfect for families with children in elementary school and above.
Paddling for Loons at Willard Pond
Have you ever wondered what loons are saying with those eerie calls in the night, or why loon chicks ride on their parents’ backs? Join Melanie Carolan of the Loon Preservation Committee and Harris Center ecologist Brett Amy Thelen to learn the answers to these questions and more!
Birding for All: Birding the Nighthawk Migration in Keene
Nighthawks are among the last migrants to arrive each spring and the earliest to depart each “fall,” with southbound migration peaking in late August. Join nighthawk enthusiasts Cliff Seifer and Brett Amy Thelen to search for the spectacle from a good vantage point in the Ashuelot River Valley.
Birding for All: Birding the Nighthawk Migration in Peterborough
Nighthawks are among the last migrants to arrive each spring and the earliest to depart each “fall,” with southbound migration peaking in late August. Join nighthawk enthusiasts Phil Brown and Susie Spikol to search for the spectacle from a good vantage point in the Contoocook River Valley.
An Update on the Harris Center’s Kestrel Project
To bolster local kestrel populations, the Harris Center recently launched an initiative to install and monitor kestrel nest boxes throughout the Monadnock Region. Join Will Stollsteimer, former Harris Center Bird Conservation Intern and current Antioch University New England graduate student, for an update on these critical conservation efforts.
Native Plant Sale
Great news: locally grown native plants are available in the Monadnock Region! Come meet grower Aaron Abitz — a man on a mission to help both pollinators and people — and take home some beautiful plants for your yard and garden.
Monarch Butterfly Tagging
Every fall, monarch butterflies undertake a spectacular, 3,000-mile migration from New England to central Mexico. Here’s your chance to marvel at monarchs up close while contributing to the scientific understanding of their impressive annual migration!
Migratory Raptors of Pack Monadnock
Join Harris Center Bird Conservation Director and raptor aficionado Phil Brown for a look at the upcoming hawk migration season and the migration spectacle that can be viewed from the Pack Monadnock Raptor Observatory in Peterborough.
The Kestrels Young Birders Club: Hawkwatching at Blueberry Ridge
Are you a teenager with an interest in birds and birding? Join a growing movement of young adults who are honing their wildlife observation skills, learning to recognize birds and their calls, and spending time outside building community with other young birders.
Book Launch Party: “Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell”
Join us for this special event with award-winning author Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson as we celebrate their newest book on publication day. "Of Time and Turtles" relates the dramas and insights gleaned from working in a hospital for injured, sick, and abandoned turtles and, at the same time, investigates the mystery of time itself.
Birding for All: An Accessible, Inclusive Birding Outing at Dillant-Hopkins Airport
Join avid birder Phil Brown and naturalist Susie Spikol on a search for migrating birds of all feathers. We’ll slowly make our way up a wide, paved road out to a large wetland in hopes of encountering hawks, waterfowl, warblers, and other songbirds. Beginning birders and all ages welcome!
Kids Count for Wildlife: Red-backed Salamander Survey
Calling all wildlife lovers ages 9 through 18! Try your hand at field research and develop your naturalist skills by joining Harris Center naturalists for an afternoon of salamander counting.
Surveying for Salamanders
Join Harris Center ecologist Brett Amy Thelen for an afternoon of salamander monitoring at the Harris Center’s long-term study plots.
Birding for All: World Migratory Bird Day Big Sit at Pack Monadnock
Join Harris Center raptor biologists Levi Burford and Katrina Fenton as we tally all bird species observed during a single day from a single location: the Pack Monadnock Raptor Observatory in Peterborough. Beginning birders and all ages welcome!
The Kestrels Young Birders Club: Falconry Demonstration
Are you a teenager with an interest in birds and birding? Join a growing movement of young adults who are honing their wildlife observation skills, learning to recognize birds and their calls, and spending time outside building community with other young birders.
Running Wild: A Day in the Life of a New Hampshire Wildlife Rehabilitator
Join Catherine Greenleaf, director of the Saint Francis Wild Bird Center in Lyme, as she shares stories from two decades of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in the Granite State.
Saw-whet Owl Banding Demonstration
Join the Harris Center's saw-whet banding team to learn what owl banding efforts are revealing about this diminutive bird of prey, and to see a demonstration of the banding process.
Saw-whet Owl Banding Demonstration for Families
Join the Harris Center's saw-whet banding team to learn about this tiny bird of prey, and to see a demonstration of the banding process.
Saw-whet Owl Banding Demonstration
Join the Harris Center's saw-whet banding team to learn what owl banding efforts are revealing about this diminutive bird of prey, and to see a demonstration of the banding process.
The Kestrels Young Birders Club: Saw-whet Owl Banding Demonstration
Are you a teenager with an interest in birds and birding? Join a growing movement of young adults who are honing their wildlife observation skills, learning to recognize birds and their calls, and spending time outside building community with other young birders.
Film Showing: “The Mighty Weasel”
The weasel family is often associated with unsavory behavior – we “badger” people, “ferret” out the enemy, and “weasel” out of obligations – but do these critters deserve their bad reputations? Decide for yourself during a big-screen showing of this enlightening PBS Nature documentary.
How Urbanization Affects Wild Birds with Researcher Lauren Pharr
In our increasingly urban world, anthropogenic (human-produced) changes such as light pollution are dramatically affecting wildlife. Join Lauren D. Pharr, a PhD student at North Carolina State University, for a discussion of her research into the impacts of urbanization on birds.
50th Annual Peterborough-Hancock Christmas Bird Count
Every winter for 50 consecutive years, volunteers have scoured a 15-mile diameter circle in the Peterborough-Hancock area for birds as part of the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) – the largest and longest-running community science project in the world. In addition to the teams who fan out in the field, birds are also tallied at backyard feeders.
The Kestrels Young Birders Club: Christmas Bird Count
Are you a teenager or tween with an interest in birds and birding? Join a growing movement of young adults who are honing their wildlife observation skills, learning to recognize birds and their calls, and spending time outside building community with other young birders.
