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December 2017
Community Meeting on Hunting in Conservation Areas
Please come to this important meeting to learn about the City of Northampton's proposal to expand hunting in conservation areas and to express your views about the proposal. When: Tuesday, December 19th, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Where: Leeds Elementary School Cafetorium Who: Hosted by the Leeds Civic Association and Ward 7 City Councilor Alisa…
Find out more »Community Meeting on Hunting in Conservation Areas
Please come to this important meeting to learn about the City of Northampton's proposal to expand hunting in conservation areas and to express your views about the proposal. When: Tuesday, December 19th, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Where: Leeds Elementary School Cafetorium Who: Hosted by the Leeds Civic Association and Ward 7 City Councilor Alisa…
Find out more »April 2018
Walk: Spring Is for Birds
Walk/talk with Mike Locher Spring is the ideal time to go out birding, as residents and returning migrants alike busy themselves with the urgent task of finding mates and building nests. Join Hampshire Bird Club’s Mike Locher as we walk through forest and wetland habitats and continue on to the more open spaces of the…
Find out more »Walk: Spring Is for Birds
Walk/talk with Mike Locher Spring is the ideal time to go out birding, as residents and returning migrants alike busy themselves with the urgent task of finding mates and building nests. Join Hampshire Bird Club’s Mike Locher as we walk through forest and wetland habitats and continue on to the more open spaces of the…
Find out more »May 2018
Support BBC on Valley Gives Day
All day on May 1st, please support Broad Brook Coalition for Valley Gives Day. This is your opportunity to make a big impact on the Pioneer Valley community to donate to BBC and other organizations. You can give all day online: https://www.valley-gives.org/organizations/broad-brook-coalition-inc
Find out more »Support BBC on Valley Gives Day
All day on May 1st, please support Broad Brook Coalition for Valley Gives Day. This is your opportunity to make a big impact on the Pioneer Valley community to donate to BBC and other organizations. You can give all day online: https://www.valley-gives.org/organizations/broad-brook-coalition-inc
Find out more »Walk: Amphibians of Fitzgerald Lake
Walk/talk with Brad Timm Learn about the fascinating species of amphibians at Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area in this morning hike. Join Brad Timm, who has conducted amphibian research in New England for 15+ years, as we walk the trails and learn about the natural history and conservation of the amphibians that dwell in the streams,…
Find out more »Walk: Amphibians of Fitzgerald Lake
Walk/talk with Brad Timm Learn about the fascinating species of amphibians at Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area in this morning hike. Join Brad Timm, who has conducted amphibian research in New England for 15+ years, as we walk the trails and learn about the natural history and conservation of the amphibians that dwell in the streams,…
Find out more »Volunteer: Shrubland Habitat and Native Plants
Between 2005 and 2007, we established three 'islands' of native shrubs in Cooke's Pasture to provide food and habitat for shrubland birds and small mammals. Each year we return to prune the shrubs, cut back competing undergrowth, and replace plants that have not survived the winter. For the past two years, however, we have been…
Find out more »Volunteer: Shrubland Habitat and Native Plants
Between 2005 and 2007, we established three 'islands' of native shrubs in Cooke's Pasture to provide food and habitat for shrubland birds and small mammals. Each year we return to prune the shrubs, cut back competing undergrowth, and replace plants that have not survived the winter. For the past two years, however, we have been…
Find out more »Walk: Forest for the Birds
Walk/talk with Jeff Ritterson Jeff is a field ornithologist at Mass Audubon, where his focus is on working landscapes and forest management, including the coordination of the Foresters for the Birds program. Originally from Delaware, Jeff attended graduate school at UMass Amherst, and remained in Massachusetts for the vibrant conservation community and magnificent forests. Jeff…
Find out more »Walk: Forest for the Birds
Walk/talk with Jeff Ritterson Jeff is a field ornithologist at Mass Audubon, where his focus is on working landscapes and forest management, including the coordination of the Foresters for the Birds program. Originally from Delaware, Jeff attended graduate school at UMass Amherst, and remained in Massachusetts for the vibrant conservation community and magnificent forests. Jeff…
Find out more »June 2018
Volunteer: Annual Cleanup at the North Farms Road Entrance
Each year we devote one day in the spring to cleaning up the North Farms Road entrance to the FLCA, including clearing winter debris from the path to the bridge and boardwalk, picking up trash in the parking lot, and removing by hand invasive plants such as garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed and multiflora rose in…
Find out more »Volunteer: Annual Cleanup at the North Farms Road Entrance
Each year we devote one day in the spring to cleaning up the North Farms Road entrance to the FLCA, including clearing winter debris from the path to the bridge and boardwalk, picking up trash in the parking lot, and removing by hand invasive plants such as garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed and multiflora rose in…
Find out more »Walk CANCELLED: Ticks and Their Environment
CANCELLED Walk/talk with Nolan Fernandez Join Nolan Fernandez, the outreach coordinator for the Laboratory of Medical Zoology at UMass Amherst, for an informative talk about ticks and the diseases they can transmit, including Lyme disease, babesiosis, and a number of newly emerging pathogens. He will describe ticks’ life cycles and preferred habitats as well as…
Find out more »Walk CANCELLED: Ticks and Their Environment
CANCELLED Walk/talk with Nolan Fernandez Join Nolan Fernandez, the outreach coordinator for the Laboratory of Medical Zoology at UMass Amherst, for an informative talk about ticks and the diseases they can transmit, including Lyme disease, babesiosis, and a number of newly emerging pathogens. He will describe ticks’ life cycles and preferred habitats as well as…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Invasives on Boggy Meadow Road
Last year, we surveyed and located many patches of invasive plants along Boggy Meadow Road, which connects the former Moose Lodge parking lot at the end of Cooke Avenue with the Fitzgerald Lake dam. On a warm, Sunday morning in July, we worked our way along the road, removing a large mass of invasives by…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Invasives on Boggy Meadow Road
Last year, we surveyed and located many patches of invasive plants along Boggy Meadow Road, which connects the former Moose Lodge parking lot at the end of Cooke Avenue with the Fitzgerald Lake dam. On a warm, Sunday morning in July, we worked our way along the road, removing a large mass of invasives by…
Find out more »July 2018
Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »Walk: Wildflowers
Walk/talk with John Burns After the spring ephemerals and before the late bloomers of fall, there are the glorious flowers of summer. John Burns, of Burns Environmental in Cummington, will lead participants along Boggy Meadow Rd., past the beaver pond, and out to the dam in search of midseason wildflowers. Bring a hand lens and…
Find out more »Walk: Wildflowers
Walk/talk with John Burns After the spring ephemerals and before the late bloomers of fall, there are the glorious flowers of summer. John Burns, of Burns Environmental in Cummington, will lead participants along Boggy Meadow Rd., past the beaver pond, and out to the dam in search of midseason wildflowers. Bring a hand lens and…
Find out more »August 2018
Walk: Insect Tracks and Signs
Walk/talk with Charley Eiseman Insects are extremely specialized in their habits, and because of this it is often possible to learn which ones are around us just by noticing the characteristic patterns and objects they create as they go about their lives. Participants will search for signs such as egg cases, cocoons, webs, burrows, droppings,…
Find out more »Walk: Insect Tracks and Signs
Walk/talk with Charley Eiseman Insects are extremely specialized in their habits, and because of this it is often possible to learn which ones are around us just by noticing the characteristic patterns and objects they create as they go about their lives. Participants will search for signs such as egg cases, cocoons, webs, burrows, droppings,…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »Volunteer: Removal of Water Chestnut from Fitzgerald Lake
Last year saw the implementation of a new approach for controlling water chestnut in Fitzgerald Lake known as "Pull Early, Pull Often". As we began with a haul of over 400 lbs of this aquatic invasive in June and wound up with less than 10 lbs in September, we were cautiously optimistic about the effectiveness…
Find out more »- North Farms Rd. entrance is off Bridge Rd., N. off Mountain St. or N. Maple St. in Florence.
- Cooke Avenue entrance is off Hatfield St., which runs behind the WalMart/Big Y shopping center, to the end of Cooke Avenue (former Moose Lodge). Park only on the right side.
- Coles Meadow Road entrance is on the eastern end of FLCA, about 0.7 miles from North King Street (Routes 5/10). Park carefully on the street.