Flora and Fauna Walks 2026
Celebrate & Support Community and Biodiversity in Spring 2026!
Whether you live in the woods or in the city, nature is all around us! Each spring, Hitchcock Center puts on a Flora and Fauna fundraiser that gets you out to explore nature wherever you are. In addition to being a celebration of nature, and biodiversity, it is an important community action to know and study our place.
Whether you are a lifelong naturalist or simply want to appreciate and count the species in your neighborhood, our annual Flora & Fauna celebration is for you! This year, explore your neighborhood, backyard, nearby hiking trails, or a city park to see how many common birds, trees, plants, and more nature of Western Mass you can find with the help of the scavenger hunt below. From noticing the trees and wildlife in your backyard or on your dog walk, to finding rare species of birds (this will be nearly the peak for bird migration) or woodland flowers on a local hiking trail (some spring ephemerals will still be out), enjoy getting out and finding nature all around us.
This year, you can also support Hitchcock naturalist teams as they survey the region and record the flora and fauna they find. Want to create your own fundraising team? Contact Shelly@HitchcockCenter.org
We have two upcoming nature walks guided by local artist and Forest Bathing Guide Todd Lynch, and herbalist and arborist Alex Klein, and invite you to register below! Post what you see on iNaturalist to help you identify different species, and meet other people exploring the outdoors. Post pictures of what you find on social media and tag us @hitchcockcenter so we can celebrate your finds.
Spring Forest Bathing
With guide Todd Lynch
Sunday April 19, and Sunday May 17, from 2 – 4 pm
Sliding Scale: $18, $25, or $35
Slow down, listen to the birds and discover what the forest might share at the Hitchcock Center on a Forest Bathing walk with certified guide, Todd Lynch. Forest Bathing allows us to renew and connect to the joyful relationships that await us outside through meditative walking and awakening the senses. Experience the magic of the Hitchcock forest and see what you might discover.
What to Expect:A leisurely walk of about one mile with stops along the way where we will gather and sit. We will focus on our senses to develop an immediate connection with the forest and have time to get to know and explore the beauty of the forest. This is a very relaxed, slow, and mindful way of being in nature. The walk lasts about 2 hours and we will finish with an herbal tea made from Todd’s organic herb garden.
Todd Lynch is an artist, garden designer and Forest Bathing guide. His passion is to connect people to the world around them through art, plants, beauty and immersion into nature. Todd is an ANFT certified forest therapy guide and has led many walks that connect people to place, plants and ecology. Learn more about Todd on his website or see some stories on Instagram @counseloftrees.
Tree Walk
Sunday, May 31, 1pm – 3pm
with local herbalist and arborist, Alex Klein
Sliding scale $25, $32 or $40
Now that the trees have fully leafed out, there’s no mistaking who’s who, or at least it might seem that way… Join local herbalist and arborist, Alex Klein, for a walk through the trees, getting to know the species by not just their leaves, but by their bark and branching patterns, habitat and form. We’ll go over some identification techniques to parse out different genera and species and discuss the different forest types and levels of ecological succession where we’d expect to find different groupings of trees. Trees are foundational to the life of the forest and the growth of humanity, so we’ll carve out some time to think about the roles our woody friends are playing in the environment and how they have contributed to human history as well.
About Alex Klein, intermediary between plants and people. I am an herbalist, an arborist and botanist, and an avid forager of wild food and medicine. In my practice as an herbalist, I work with folks on a wide range of conditions, both chronic and acute, using almost entirely plants I have gathered or grown myself. I have botanized up and down the East coast, getting to know intimately the flora of our region and beyond. I also love to teach about all subjects plant-related, whether it be herbal medicine, botany and ecology, tree ID, or processing hickory nuts or maple syrup. Core to my work is being able to connect people to the natural world in a tangible and tantalizing way, one that allows people to more deeply appreciate the value of what’s growing around them and to feel more connected to the natural world.
Start with a Scavenger Hunt
In Allie The Brave’s neighborhood, wooly bear caterpillars are underfoot, and cardinals are squabbling. White-tailed deer step softly beneath our windows in the early morning. Frog songs begin the moment it gets dark.
As a collab with Hitchcock Center, local artist and Hitchcock staff Allie Martineau has drawn this scavenger hunt with common birds, bugs, mammals, insects, and plants of the Connecticut River Valley for you to identify.
See how many you can find just in your neighborhood, then see how many more on local trails, while hiking, out the car window, or at a city park!
Want to support a Flora and Fauna Team as they explore and survey our region?
Feel like exploring and surveying the Valley yourself, and submitting what you find? Create your own survey team as an individual, or with friends, neighbors, and loved ones!
How do I participate?
- Register as an individual or as part of a team. The registration fee is $30 and includes a Flora & Faunathon fanny pack. 100% of your registration is tax-deductible and supports education for a healthy planet. There is no fundraising minimum, but those who fundraise will be eligible to earn prizes. For questions about registration contact shelly@hitchcockcenter.org.
- Set up your personal fundraising page! Use our easy templates to collect donations from friends, family, and neighbors. There’s no fundraising minimum, but fundraisers are eligible for awesome prizes! Here is a toolkit to help you with setting up your page and making your goals.
- Explore & Track Your Findings! Head outside April 21 - 28 and set a personal goal! Whether it’s exploring four new places or identifying 100 species, every step supports education for a healthy planet.
- Share Your Adventure! Post photos using #HitchcockCenter and tag @hitchcockcenter on social media. You can also send photos to Shelly for us to share. You can also email your photos to shelly@hitchcockcenter.org and we will share them for you.
- Log Species on iNaturalist! Track your findings using our official Flora & Fauna Walks iNaturalist event page.
Can I seek/explore/find with a team?
Absolutely! You can fundraise as a team, and you can seek/find/explore together or apart. You’ll see there’s an option to join or create a team when you register. Each member of your team must register as an individual. You will receive one fanny pack per individual registration, and each individual on the team will be eligible for the individual prizes.
Who can participate?
Anyone can participate! There are no age restrictions. You don’t have to live in the area to participate. Even if you know nothing about different species you can seek/find/explore! We will provide lists of accessible flora & fauna to search for at various knowledge levels. The use of iNaturalist can help guide you, too.
Where can I go to seek/explore/find?
You can find plants and animals everywhere! In your backyard, walking down the street, in the woods, even in the city! Any state, any trail, any mountain. You can find suggestions on these websites, or follow us on Facebook for recommendations from other hikers. Here are some websites with trails to check out.
I can’t participate this time around, can I just donate?
Of course! You can choose to sponsor an individual (or several!) or you can make a general donation here.
Can my workplace sponsor Flora & Faunathon?
Yes! Sponsorship opportunities are available for any business that wants to support the event. Contact Kim Snyder.
For questions about registration contact shelly@hitchcockcenter.org.
ABOUT THE HITCHCOCK CENTER
The Hitchcock Center is not just teaching about climate change, it’s helping people develop the skills needed to create climate solutions and foster climate resilience by helping them to reconnect to and learn from nature’s efficient and sustainable systems, to develop a problem-solving mindset, and to shape a positive vision for the future. We are developing hopeful, creative problem-solvers who can take on the challenges of climate change.
The Hitchcock Center provides opportunities for people of all ages to develop a relationship with nature; we are leading sustainable engineering and design challenges for youth; we are teaching communication, organization, and leadership skill-building for teens; we are convening adults for discourse and civic engagement around climate change and sustainability; and we are continuing to broaden our reach to include communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change.
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