Owl Prowl
2022-01-29 19:30 - 22:00, 2022-02-11 19:30 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002
Owl Prowls
with Dan Ziomek
Saturday, January 29th or
Friday, February 11th (cancellation date of Saturday, February 12)
7:30pm – 10pm
Have you been hearing the Great Horned Owls at dusk and dawn? They are hooting. Join valley birder Dan Ziomek for this extra special treat of searching for owls on winter nights! Dress super duper warmly. For ages 12 and up. Space is limited. Cost $25.
REGISTER HERE

Winter/Spring Birding Course - Field Trip
2022-02-12 05:00 - 17:00, 2022-02-19 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-02-26 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-05 07:00 - 12:00 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002
Winter/Spring Birding Course

with Scott Surner
Join birder extraordinaire and veteran bird course instruction for this bigger and better than ever late winter/spring birding course. This course is all field trips, in all sorts of habitats with all kinds of birds! Course is limited to 12 participants and will be outdoor only for COVID Safety. Participants must be vaccinated and willing to carpool. Sliding Scale Pricing – Tier A- $550 Tier B- $500 Tier C- $450 Tier D- $400.
REGISTER HERE
*Registration opens on Tuesday, January 18 at 9am
FIELD TRIPS:

February 12 – 5AM-Dusk. Cape Ann or Plum Island- Coastal Specialties – Scaups, Common Eider, Harlequin Duck, Surf, Black and White-winged Scoters, Common Goldeneye, Buffleheads, and Red-breasted Mergansers. Purple Sandpipers, Iceland Gull, Glaucous Razorbill, Black Guillemot, and perhaps a Snowy Owl.
February 19 –7AM-12PM. Local – Amherst-Hadley. Winter birds- Hawks, Horned Larks and maybe Lapland Longspur or Snow Buntings. American Tree Sparrows.

February 26 –7AM-12PM. Local – Amherst/Hadley Region. Early waterfowl.

March 5 – 7AM-12PM. Local Waterfowl. By this time waterfowl will be returning to the Valley. We’ll take a look at several vantage points along the Connecticut.

March 19 – 7AM-12PM. Local Waterfowl migration is in full swing. We’ll hit areas in Hadley, Hatfield and Turner’s Falls.

March 26 – 5AM- All Day. Moose Bog, VT. This trip is very weather dependent. Northern Specialties- possibilities include, Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Canada Jay, Boreal Chickadee and perhaps some winter finches, Crossbills, Siskins.

April 2 – 7AM-12PM. Local Local 7:00AM-12:00 Waterfowl and early migrants.

April 9 – 7AM-12PM. Local TBD

April 16 – 7AM-12PM. Ludlow– Looking for Upland Sandpipers at Westover AFB.

April 23rd– 7AM-12PM Fannie Stebbins Refuge, Longmeadow. Early Warblers, (Palm, Yellow-rumped, Pine, Yellow and maybe Northern Waterthrush)

April 30 – 5AM-Dusk. Plum Island. Waterfowl, Egrets, Shorebirds and maybe a lingering Snowy Owl?

May 7 – 7AM-12PM. Local. Warbler migration starting to ramp up. We’ll visit local areas in Amherst.

May 21 – 6:30AM-12PM. Mt.Holyoke We’ll hike up the main road to the Summit House. Nesting Cerulean and Worm-eating Warblers will be our goal.

May 28th– 5:30AM-12PM. Southwick WMA. We visited this area for the first-time last spring. Nesting Grasshopper Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Prairie Warblers, Eastern Meadowlarks and much more.

Overnight Trip – June 10-12– Ct. Lakes, Pittsburg, NH? To be discussed by class.

Winter Forest Bathing at the Hitchcock Center
2022-02-12 14:00 - 16:30, 2022-03-19 14:00 - 16:30 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002
Winter Forest Bathing at the Hitchcock Center
With Todd Lynch
Saturday, February 12, 2pm – 4:30pm
and/or Saturday, March 19, 2pm – 4:30pm
$25 per class
REGISTER HERE
Come experience a guided Forest therapy walk with Todd Lynch, certified ANFT guide. Forest and Nature Therapy offers us the opportunity to slow down. It re-aligns our rhythms with the landscape, allowing our senses a respite from everyday demands and uncertainties. It’s a chance to remember our connections to nature and the joyful relationships that await us outside. This guided experience is not a hike or naturalist adventure, but an opportunity to slow down and allow our bodies to engage all of our senses. Please note that this is not “therapy” as commonly denoted in our culture, but an offering of a therapeutic way to be in nature. Guides are not trained clinicians; they hold the space to let the forest be the “therapist”.
What to Expect:
A leisurely walk of about a mile with stops along the way where we will gather and sit. We’ll all wear our masks when we gather together and the walk will be planned in a way to promote safe physical distancing of 6 feet or more between participants.
We will focus on our senses to develop an immediate connection with the forest. This is a very relaxed, slow, and mindful way of walking. The walk should last about 2-2.5 hours and we will finish with a gathering circle where we can share about our experiences..

Fireside Chat – Natural History of a cup of Hot Chocolate
2022-03-17 18:00 - 19:30 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002
Fireside Chats
with Hitchcock staff and guests
Casual conversations centered on nature, around a fire, enjoying the beauty of a crisp winter evening with hot beverages and nibbles.
Thursdays at 6pm
January 20 – Moon Gazing & Winter Owls
March 17 – Natural History of a cup of Hot Chocolate
April 14 – Indigenous Plant Wisdom- Sacred Plants of New England
REGISTER HERE

Winter/Spring Birding - Field Trip
2022-03-19 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-03-26 05:00 - 17:00 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002

Spring Birding Field Trip
2022-04-02 07:00 - 12:00 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002

Spring Birding - Field Trip
2022-04-09 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-16 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-23 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-04-30 05:00 - 17:00, 2022-05-07 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-05-21 06:30 - 12:00, 2022-05-28 05:30 - 12:00, 2022-06-10 - 2022-06-12 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002

Fireside Chat – Indigenous Plant Wisdom- Sacred Plants of New England
2022-04-14 18:00 - 19:30 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002
Fireside Chats
with Hitchcock staff and guests
Casual conversations centered on nature, around a fire, enjoying the beauty of a crisp winter evening with hot beverages and nibbles.
Thursdays at 6pm
January 20 – Moon Gazing & Winter Owls
March 17 – Natural History of a cup of Hot Chocolate
April 14 – Indigenous Plant Wisdom- Sacred Plants of New England
Cost: Sliding Scale
REGISTER HERE

Fall Birding Course Registration Opens
2022-07-29 09:00 - 17:00
Join the Hitchcock Center’s beloved Fall Birding Class with birding extraordinaire, Scott Surner. This fall class will consist of ten field trips to various locations in the Connecticut River Valley, plus three coastal areas. Scott will help you work through the confusing plumages of fall warblers, and the streak and unstreaked plumages of fall sparrows. Our trips to the coast should provide us with an opportunity to study the different plumages of adult and juvenile southbound Shorebirds, Herons, Gulls, Terns, and with a little luck, some pelagic birds (Shearwaters, Storm-Petrels, and Jaegers) off the beaches of Cape cod. All trips depart from the Hitchcock Center and car-pooling will be encouraged. The class will be limited to fifteen observers.
Scott has been birding for more than forty-five years all around the Connecticut River Valley, Canada, and North and Central America. Scott just finished up a very successful Spring Class that traveled to more than thirty-six different locations and encountered 201 species of birds!
Course is limited to 15 participants and will be outdoor only for COVID Safety.
Participants must be vaccinated and willing to carpool.
Sliding Scale Pricing; $700, $650, $600, and $550.
FALL BIRDING REGISTRATION

Registration opens Friday, July 29 at 9:00 AM.
Course is limited to 15 participants and will be outdoor only for COVID Safety. Participants must be vaccinated and willing to carpool.
Field Trip Dates and Details:
Aug 20: 5:00 AM – all day. Plum Island or another coastal location within a two-hour drive. This trip’s primary focus will be migrating Shorebirds from their breeding grounds in the Arctic.
Sept 3: Local. 7:00 AM -12:00 PM. Fall Warblers/Shorebirds of Hampshire & Franklin County.
Sept 10: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Warblers, with a special focus on locating the elusive Connecticut Warbler.
Sept 17: Local. 7:00 AM -12:00 PM. Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, etc.
Oct 1: Local. 7:00 AM -12:00 PM. Sparrows & Late Warblers.
Oct 15: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Prime time for migrating Sparrows!
Oct 21 – 23: Cape Cod Weekend. We’ll explore areas from Chatham down to Provincetown. More info after signing up. If accommodations are hard to come by, we may do a one-day trip to the Connecticut shore.
Oct 29: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Waterfowl & Sparrows
Nov 5: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Dec 3rd: 5:00 AM – all day. Last class, back to the MA Coast. Probably Cape Ann (Gloucester/Rockport area) Sea ducks, Grebes, and more.
All trips depart from the Hitchcock Center and car-pooling will be encouraged.

Fall Birding Course with Scott Surner
2022-08-20, 2022-09-03 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-09-10 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-09-17 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-01 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-15 07:00 - 12:00, 2022-10-21
Join the Hitchcock Center’s beloved Fall Birding Class with birding extraordinaire, Scott Surner. This fall class will consist of ten field trips to various locations in the Connecticut River Valley, plus three coastal areas. Scott will help you work through the confusing plumages of fall warblers, and the streak and unstreaked plumages of fall sparrows. Our trips to the coast should provide us with an opportunity to study the different plumages of adult and juvenile southbound Shorebirds, Herons, Gulls, Terns, and with a little luck, some pelagic birds (Shearwaters, Storm-Petrels, and Jaegers) off the beaches of Cape cod. All trips depart from the Hitchcock Center and car-pooling will be encouraged. The class will be limited to fifteen observers.
Scott has been birding for more than forty-five years all around the Connecticut River Valley, Canada, and North and Central America. Scott just finished up a very successful Spring Class that traveled to more than thirty-six different locations and encountered 201 species of birds!
Course is limited to 15 participants and will be outdoor only for COVID Safety.
Participants must be vaccinated and willing to carpool.
Sliding Scale Pricing; $700, $650, $600, and $550.
FALL BIRDING REGISTRATION

Registration opens Friday, July 29 at 9:00 AM.
Field Trip Dates and Details:
Aug 20: 5:00 AM – all day. Plum Island or another coastal location within a two-hour drive. This trip’s primary focus will be migrating Shorebirds from their breeding grounds in the Arctic.
Sept 3: Local. 7:00 AM -12:00 PM. Fall Warblers/Shorebirds of Hampshire & Franklin County.
Sept 10: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Warblers, with a special focus on locating the elusive Connecticut Warbler.
Sept 17: Local. 7:00 AM -12:00 PM. Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, etc.
Oct 1: Local. 7:00 AM -12:00 PM. Sparrows & Late Warblers.
Oct 15: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Prime time for migrating Sparrows!
Oct 21 – 23: Cape Cod Weekend. We’ll explore areas from Chatham down to Provincetown. More info after signing up. If accommodations are hard to come by, we may do a one-day trip to the Connecticut shore.
Oct 29: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Waterfowl & Sparrows
Nov 5: Local. 7:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Dec 3rd: 5:00 AM – all day. Last class, back to the MA Coast. Probably Cape Ann (Gloucester/Rockport area) Sea ducks, Grebes, and more.
All trips depart from the Hitchcock Center and car-pooling will be encouraged.

Hitchcock Harvest Feast and Celebration
2022-10-16 15:00 - 18:00 | Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA, 01002
The Hitchcock Center has been sowing seeds of change and educating for a healthy planet in the Valley for 60 years. Hitchcock Harvest will celebrate the Hitchcock Center’s 60th anniversary with food, drink, community, garden and building tours, mission-based activities, a short program, and lots of fun. Come and help us celebrate the harvest with local friends and businesses and learn what we are brewing up next!
Sunday, October 16, 3:00pm – 6:00pm – outside at the Hitchcock Center
LEARN MORE AND GET TICKETS NOW
