Calendar of Events
Special Event for Harris Center Supporters: Soaring with Raptors
Join us for our annual celebration of everyone who helps the Harris Center soar — featuring live raptors from the Vermont Institute of Natural Science! This special event is offered by invitation only to Harris Center supporters.
Birding the Heald Tract
Join avid birders Gail and Gerry Coffey for a 2-mile hike through a variety of habitats that are home to many breeding birds at the Forest Society’s Heald Tract in Wilton.
Celebratory Paddle at Robb Reservoir
Join Phil Brown, Alan Rumrill, and Geri Bailey for a leisurely paddle through one of the most diverse ecosystems in New England, where we'll look for eagles, turtles, and herons – and discuss the remarkable history of the 1,750-acre Robb Reservoir reservation.
Hike to Mount Wantastiquet and Indian Pond
Join Brian Bishoff and Betsy Marshall for a hike through the Forest Society’s Madame Sherri Forest to Mount Wantastiquet, with excellent views of the Connecticut River Valley.
Beech Hill Bug Safari
Bring your sense of adventure as we hunt, spy, and sweep for tiny creatures of all sorts and shapes! Perfect for families with elementary school-aged children.
Turtle Time
Join Matt Patterson, illustrator of the award-winning books "The Book of Turtles" and "Of Time and Turtles," on a slow meander in search of nests, basking sites, and other turtle finds. Perfect for elementary school-aged children and their families.
Babies in Backpacks & Toddlers in Tow at Ashuelot River Park
Join Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol for a morning ramble with your young children! Together, we’ll search for everyday magic like caterpillars, butterflies, salamanders, and more.
Biodiversity in the SuperSanctuary: iNaturalist Field Training & Mini BioBlitz
Join ecologist Nate Marchessault for a hands-on introduction to iNaturalist. We'll start with group instruction on how to collect and submit natural history observations via the iNaturalist app, then venture out to document as many species as possible along the Eastview and North Pond Trails!
Paddling for Loons at Lake Skatutakee
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 Jaden Brutsman of the Loon Preservation Committee and Harris Center ecologist Brett Amy Thelen to learn the answers to these questions and more!
Environmental Studies Institute: Forest Bathing by Moonlight
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin certified yoga instructor and experiential educator Marilyn Wyzga and Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol to discover the immersive power of nature under this summer’s full moons.
SuperSanctuary Butterfly Count
Join the SuperSanctuary Butterfly Club as we survey local meadows, woodlands, and wetland edges for coppers, crescents, skippers, swallowtails, fritillaries, and other beautiful butterflies! The data we collect will be submitted to both the North American Butterfly Association and the NH Butterfly Monitoring Network.
Family Ponding Adventure
Join Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol for a pondlife safari on the shores of Norway Pond. Wild treasures await!
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! Spend a morning with a team of Harris Center naturalists as we count monarch eggs, caterpillars, and butterflies for science.
Monitoring for Monarchs
Take part in the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz by joining Harris Center ecologists Brett Amy Thelen and Nate Marchessault to survey for monarch eggs, caterpillars, and butterflies in a local milkweed patch. No experience necessary!
LGBTQ+ Community Hike on the Hiroshi Loop Trail
Join Hunter Kirschner (he/they), Audrey Dunn (she/her), and Richard Doherty (he/him) to explore the sights and sounds of summer on an LGBTQ+ community hike along the 1.9-mile Hiroshi Loop Trail.
Hike to Eagle Rock and South Outlook on Beech Hill
Explore the history of Beech Hill and hear about exciting plans for the future of this special property on a 2.5-mile loop hike with Jeremy Wilson and Nikko Gagnon.
Lead Mine Road Ramble
Join Jeremy Wilson and Brett Amy Thelen for a relaxed, 3.2-mile ramble along one of the SuperSanctuary's most scenic country roads — and to learn some of the remarkable conservation history of the protected lands surrounding Lead Mine Road, Center Pond, and Silver Lake, which total hundreds of acres in all.
Hiking the Skatutakee-Thumb Loop
Lace up your hiking boots and join Harris Center naturalist Nikko Gagnon to trek to the top of Skatutakee Mountain, and saunter over the saddle to Thumb. The perfect outing for those with adventure in their heart and pep in their step!
Easygoing Hike to High Five Reservation and Wilson Hill
Join avid hikers Ben Haubrich and Phil Brown for an easygoing, 1.3-mile hike at the Forest Society’s High Five Reservation, with great views from Wilson Hill.
Environmental Studies Institute: Forest Bathing by Moonlight
Harris Center for Conservation Education 83 Kings Hwy, Hancock, NH, United StatesJoin certified yoga instructor and experiential educator Marilyn Wyzga and Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol to discover the immersive power of nature under this summer’s full moons.
Babies in Backpacks & Toddlers in Tow at MacDowell Lake
Join Harris Center naturalist Susie Spikol for a morning ramble with your young children! Together, we’ll search for everyday magic like caterpillars, butterflies, salamanders, and more.
Rock Hounders Family Rock Club: Beryl Mountain
Calling all rock hounds! Join naturalists Susie Spikol and Julie Brown for a rockin’ adventure in search of mica, feldspar, quartz, beryl, and other geological treasures at Beryl Mountain, a former pegmatite mine in Acworth.
Listening to the Nocturnal Migration
Every autumn, the night sky comes alive with the sound of migration as songbirds join geese, ducks, shorebirds, and others in an epic exodus that is one of the great natural wonders of the world. Join Eric Masterson for this special evening to listen, learn, and marvel at the wonder of it all.
Kestrels Young Birders Club: Nighthawk Migration Watch
Join Phil Brown and Susie Spikol for a look up at the remarkable evening migration of Common Nighthawks. If it's an average night, we should get good looks at a handful of these acrobatic flyers. If it's better than average, we just might see hundreds of nighthawks foraging in giant flocks.
Birding for All: Birding the Nighthawk Migration
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!
Mushroom Meander with the Morel Quandary Club at the Harris Center
Come get your ‘shroom on with fun-gis John Benjamin and George Caughey as we search for mushrooms, slime molds, and other fascinating fungi.
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!
Kestrels Young Birders Club: SuperSanctuary BioBlitz
Are you a tween or a teen with an interest in birds and birding? Don’t miss this opportunity to grow your skills, connect with other wildlife fans, and contribute to community science!
SuperSanctuary BioBlitz
Our SuperSanctuary of protected lands encompasses more than 26,000 acres, and it’s chock full of native biodiversity. We’re documenting as many of these species as possible via the community science platform iNaturalist, and we need your help to find even more.
SuperSanctuary BioBlitz After Dark: Moth Lighting
During this BioBlitz bonus round, we’ll use the iNaturalist community science app to identify and document as many moth species as we can. Prepare to be amazed by the diversity, size, and beauty of our local nocturnal insects!
