Would you like to feel more comfortable in the night forest? There is much to enjoy! Patti has spent countless hours in the woods after dark and looks forward to sharing these pleasures with you. Learn some navigation tricks and find out what to bring to feel safe and comfortable. We will take a hike, tell tales of nocturnal creatures around a campfire, and finish up with some star-gazing from the summit of Heifer Hill.

Fans of large, damp rodents, or those who think they’d like to be, are invited to spend an evening on the shores of a beaver pond. Dew is as busy as, well, a beaver, sprucing the place up. Along the way, stop to see beaver works in a variety of stages of succession and look for evidence of the many beneficiaries of the beavers’ wetland creation. Patti has been studying beavers in this watershed for a baker’s dozen years so can promise you a rich experience.

The walk to the pond is about a mile each way and involves some bushwhacking and wet areas. Pack a picnic and enjoy the arrival of dusk as you watch the activity of the beaver pond. Stroll back in the twilight.

Beginning in August, the songs of birds give way to the songs of insects. Meet Patti at Heifer Hill at dusk to listen to some of the many singers. We will work our way to the summit of Heifer Hill listening to and looking for katydids, tree crickets, ground crickets, and more. Using insect nets and magnifying boxes, we will get a close-up look at these musical insects.

We’ll tell the temperature from the rich chirps of a snowy tree cricket and admire the antennae of a sword-bearing conehead. Which one is the “Nixon bug?” Learn to recognize the songs of some of the most recognizable species and you will hear them in your own backyards. If you choose the right date, you might also watch the moon rise from the summit of Heifer Hill.

Naturalist Patti Smith will join you for an amble in your woods (or another favorite place). Arrange a trip during the snow season to find tracks and other wildlife signs. Which birds are there and what are they up to? What trees and plants grow there and why? Patti has spent a lot of time in a lot of different woods in our regions and would love to find out what’s unique about yours. We can tag plant species you’d like to remember. You will receive a digital map showing the walking route and what was found where.

Visit porcupine den sites and feeding areas to learn about these charming creatures and how they manage in the season of ice and snow. You might even get to meet one of Patti’s study porcupines!