Unpacking the Massachusetts Climate Action Plan
2024-01-31 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Virtual workshop with Steve Roof
Wednesday, January 31
7 pm – 8:30 pm
Massachusetts has a meaningful Clean Energy and Climate Action Plan that quickly and dramatically reduces our carbon emissions to 50% by 2030, 75% by 2040, to net zero by 2050! Come hear from Hampshire College professor Steve Roof about the state’s strategies for meeting this goal and get us thinking about how we can contribute as a region. Registration required, donations appreciated.
REGISTER HERE

Winter Tracking with Kathryn Dean
2024-02-03 09:00 - 12:00
Winter Tracking with Kathryn Dean
Collaboration with Adventure East

Saturday, February 3rd
9 am – 12 pm
Location: Graves Farm
Sliding Scale Tickets: $30, $40, $50
Space is limited, register now!

Join the Hitchcock Center and Adventure East for an invigorating winter morning exploring the tracks and signs that animals have left behind in the woodlands and wetlands of western Massachusetts, led by Kathy Dean of Trotting Fox Programs We will cover track and sign identification, track patterns and gaits, and discuss animal behaviors revealed by their signatures in the snow. All adults and all levels are welcome. Space is very limited, please register now. Adventure East will provide snowshoes or microspikes depending on weather.
Kathy Dean of Trotting Fox has worked in the field of outdoor education since 1983 as a wilderness guide, rock climbing instructor and teacher of wildlife tracking, bird language and nature awareness. In addition to working with several nature education centers, she offers her own Women’s Wildlife Tracking Intensive, Winter Wildlife Tracking Intensive, custom-tailored nature programs and one-on-one mentoring. Kathy is the author of Abbreviated Field Guide to Mammal Behavior: New England Region.
REGISTER HERE

What We Should Know about Knotweed 101 (Virtual)
2024-02-08 18:30 - 20:00
Thursday, February 8
Virtual Event
6:30 pm – 8 pm
What do we need to know about Knotweed, what are its environmental impacts, and what can we do about it? This talk will explore how and why knotweed destabilizes soils, which amplifies and exacerbates erosion along waterways. This impact on soil stability allows us to frameshift this group of invasive plants from a “merely” ecological problem into a “shovel ready” climate resiliency opportunity to protect ecosystems, infrastructure, and private property from flood damage.
REGISTER HERE

Winter Birds at Quabbin with John Green
2024-02-11 10:00 - 12:00
Winter Birds at Quabbin with John Green
Collaboration with Adventure East
Sunday, February 11
10 am – 12 pm

Have you gone on a nature walk with John Green? If not, you should and if so, you should again! John has been studying, and marveling at, the nature of the Quabbin Reservoir area for well over 30 years. His amazement is contagious. Join John at the Quabbin to see what winter birds, and other signs of wakefulness in winter, you can find. Space is limited; please register now. Adventure East will provide snowshoes or microspikes depending on weather.

Book Circle: All We Can Save
2024-02-12 19:30 - 20:30, 2024-02-26 19:30 - 20:30, 2024-03-11 19:30 - 20:30, 2024-03-25 19:30 - 20:30, 2024-04-08 19:30 - 20:30, 2024-04-22 19:30 - 20:30, 2024-05-13 19:30 - 20:30
All We Can Save Book Circle
January – May
2nd and 4th Mondays of the month, 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Are you hungry for deeper dialogue about the climate crisis and building community around solutions? We are too. All We Can Save Circles are like a book club, but a cooler, deeper, extended version. Let’s strengthen the “we” in All We Can Save. Circles were created by Dr. Katharine Wilkinson. Join us for this bimonthly book circle, must commit to most dates. Please submit interest here or email casey@hitchcockcenter.org. Some copies available to borrow from Hitchcock.
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and solutions for the Climate Crisis
Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson
REGISTER HERE

Nature Trivia Night in Support of the Scholarship Fund
2024-02-15 18:00 - 20:00
Thursday, February 15
6 pm – 8 pm
Sliding Scale Tickets: $20, $30, $40
Located at Hitchcock Center
Teams up to 4, pub style fun.

Join us for a fun evening of testing your nature knowledge to raise money for our scholarship fund! Winning team will split the pot with Hitchcock! What’s a group of seals called? When do the Great-horned Owls mate? What is this bird? Do you know? Come test yourself and hang with others who also love to geek out about nature stuff.
REGISTER HERE

Spring Birding Course
2024-02-24 05:00 - 17:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
Feb 24: Travel day. 5 pm – all Day. Plum Island or Cape Ann. We start the class by birding along the Massachusetts coastline looking for winter ducks, Loons, Grebes, Purple Sandpipers, and perhaps a Snowy Owl.
REGISTER HERE

Big Migration AKA "Big Night" Volunteer Info & Training
2024-02-28 18:00 - 19:00
Big Migration – “Big Night” Volunteer Information and Training Session
Wednesday, February 28, 6pm – 7pm
It is getting close to the time of year again for Big Migration! On the first rainy, warm nights of spring, thousands of spotted salamanders, wood frogs, spring peepers, and other amphibians travel to vernal pools and other wetlands to breed. This migration is known as “Big Night” — though it rarely occurs on just one evening. Most years, “Big Night” is actually one or two Big Nights, a few Medium-Sized Nights, and a Small Night here or there, which can take place anytime from mid-March to early May. In Amherst, this happens on Henry Street, where amphibians make their annual journey from their forest territories to their breeding pools at Henry Street in North Amherst.
We will have a short presentation on the yellow-spotted salamander, and the history of the salamander tunnels. We all also discuss how volunteers can help this year, by gathering data and being ambassadors for others who come to the tunnels, to share how to safely participate in this once-a-year event.
Join us to help prepare for the excitement of the Big Migration and assist the Henry Street amphibians on their journey – generally, the first rainy night( or nights) of spring when temperatures remain above 40 degrees.
Sign up for our training session on February 28 and to get migration updates through Spring!
BIG MIGRATION EMAIL LIST

Film Screening: Kiss the Ground
2024-02-29 18:00 - 20:30
Thursday, February 29 at 6 pm
Registration required, donations appreciated.

Come watch Kiss the Ground with us at Hitchcock Center.
REGISTER HERE

Fireside Chat: Astronomy
2024-03-01 18:30 - 19:30
Friday, February 2 at 6:30 pm
(Bad weather date is Friday, March 1)
Registration required
Sliding scale: $12, $20, $32
We love crisp, clear winter nights here! Join us for warm drinks and snacks around the campfire along with stargazing.

Workshop: How to Talk about Climate Change
2024-03-06 19:00 - 20:30
How to Talk about Climate Change: Climate Action through Conversation
A workshop with Ezra Markowitz
Wednesday, March 6
7 pm – 8:30 pm
Registration required, donations appreciated.

Most people spend very little time talking about environmental issues with their colleagues, friends and family members. Yet research shows that these are exactly the conversations we need to be having in order to promote greater public engagement with the climate change and sustainability challenges we face. In this talk, I will present some of the research we and others have done on the key role of interpersonal communication—everyday social interactions and conversations—in climate change decisions. I will then highlight how this work can be used to support pro-environmental decision-making across a variety of issues. This will be a moderated conversation with lots of time for Q&A.

Spring Birding Course
2024-03-09 07:00 - 12:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
March 9: Local. 7 am – 12 pm. We’ll visit several areas in the Hadley, Northampton, and Hatfield areas looking for newly arriving waterfowl and perhaps Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and Lapland Longspur.
REGISTER HERE

Bark & Winter Tree ID with Michael Wojtech
2024-03-12 18:30 - 20:00, 2024-03-17 10:00 - 12:30
Bark & Winter Tree ID with Michael Wojtech
Collaboration with Adventure East
Tuesday, March 12
6:30 pm class, located at Hitchcock Center

Sunday, March 17
10 am – 12:30 pm class, outdoor field location TBD
Sliding Scale Tickets: $45, $60, $75
Space is limited, register now!

There is no better local naturalist to teach you about winter tree identification. Michael wrote the book, literally. Join Michael Wojtech, author of BARK: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast for a two part class, in collaboration with Adventure East. There will be a Tuesday evening classroom presentation followed by a Sunday morning in the field. The traits typically used to describe trees—leaves, twigs, and buds—are often hard to see or seasonally absent.
Join Michael for an exploration of bark, which is always visible, in any season. As you hone your perceptive abilities you will learn about a system for identifying tree species by their bark, and discover why such a variety of bark characteristics exist. Why do some species have smooth bark, while on others it is thick and broken? Why does bark peel? Space is limited, please register now. Adventure East will provide snowshoes or microspikes depending on weather.
REGISTER HERE

Spring Birding Course
2024-03-16 07:00 - 12:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
March 16: Local. 7 am – 12 pm. Hampshire/Franklin Counties- more arriving waterfowl.
REGISTER HERE

Senior Nature Walk with John Green
2024-03-20 10:00 - 12:00
Wednesday, March 20
10 am – 12 pm
Sliding Scale Tickets: $10, $15, $20
Space is limited, register now!

Join naturalist John Green on this gentle and slow walk through the woods. There should be signs of springs and the fading of winter to explore.
REGISTER HERE

Workshop: Climate Change in New England
2024-03-20 19:00 - 20:00
Climate Change in New England (Virtual)
Workshop with Dr. Elizabeth A Burakowski
Wednesday, March 20
7 pm – 8 pm
Climate in the northeastern United States has shifted remarkably over the past few decades, with notable impacts on ecosystems and society. Trends include warmer and shorter winters, fewer days with continuous snow cover, changes in leaf out dates and chilling periods, and dramatic swings in precipitation and drought. How will the climate choices we make today affect native plants in the future? This talk will provide an overview of climate trends past and future, based on historical observations and future climate model projections.
Workshop leader:
Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Burakowski is Research Faculty at the Institute for the Study of Earth Oceans and Space at University of New Hampshire. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Earth Sciences. Dr. Burakowski earned her Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Science in 2013, studying the climate impacts of deforestation in the northeastern United States. She has co-authored over two dozen publications on New England climate change, including the 2021 New Hampshire Climate Assessment. Dr. Burakowski is an avid perennial and vegetable gardener and enjoys eliminating invasive plants in her yard for sport.

Spring Birding Course
2024-04-06 07:00 - 12:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
April 6: Local. 7 am -12 pm. Hampshire County- Early warblers, Wilson Snipe, and perhaps some more waterfowl.
REGISTER HERE

Spring Birding Course
2024-04-13 07:00 - 12:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
April 13: Local. 7 am – 12 pm. Depending on reports, we could visit Westover to look for Upland Sandpipers and rough-winged Swallows and then hike in Tilley Street. Other possibilities include looking for Vesper Sparrows in Hadley, along with Wilson’s Snipe.
REGISTER HERE

Climate Cafe at Hitchcock Center
2024-04-21 14:00 - 15:30
Sunday, April 21
2 pm – 3:30 pm
Free to attend
One of the biggest challenges of the climate crisis is knowing what to do with the complex set of emotions regarding the planetary emergency. Where is it safe to talk about the fear, outrage, and grief? The idea is that the more comfortable we become with these difficult feelings, the more able we are to cope with our situation. Climate Cafes offer a structured space for informal open, respectful discussion of emotional responses and reactions related to the climate.
The Climate Cafe is a facilitated, welcoming space for people concerned about the climate and ecological crises, and their impacts on the global, local, and individual levels.

Garden Design 101
2024-04-24 18:30 - 20:00
Wednesday, April 24, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Mary Jo Maffei of Garden Path Designs
Sliding Scale $10, $15, $20
Garden Design 101 takes concepts from architecture, interior design, and garden design, and shows you how to incorporate these principles into your greenspace. Topics include: assessment and function, enclosure and third dimension, texture and shape, rhythm and repeat planting, timing and massing, color, and maintenance.
LEARN MORE

Spring Birding Course
2024-04-27 05:00 - 17:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
April 27: Plum Island area. 5 am – all Day. Herons, early shorebirds, Ibis, and more.
REGISTER HERE

Spring Birding Course
2024-05-04 07:00 - 12:00
Spring Birding Course with Scott Surner
February 24 – June 8 2024
Classes and field trips
Sliding scale tickets: $375, $325, $280
Up to 15 participants. Registration required.
May 4: Local. 7 am – 12 pm. Looking for arriving Warblers, Vireos, Kinglets etc
REGISTER HERE

Birding By Ear with John Green 1/2
2024-05-15 08:00 - 10:00
Wednesday, May 15, 8 – 10 AM
And/Or
Saturday, June 9, 8 – 10 AM
Sliding Scale $15, $25, $35

Sometimes the most amazing birds you can’t spot, but their song gives them away! Join naturalist John Green and his great ear to see what birds you can find by sight or sound during this special time of year for birds, the height of bird migration and nesting.
