Calendar

Activities, ranger tours, and most programs are included with your ferry ticket.

Winter Wonder: A Virtual Winter Exploration

Join us for a virtual festival featuring guided activities and lectures focused on education and conservation of Boston Harbor's wildlife!

Join us for a 2-day virtual festival featuring guided activities and presentations focused on education and the conservation of Boston Harbor’s wildlife!

Attend as few or as many programs as you’d like on either or both dates. Day 1 programs will run from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 1/30, with a lunch break from 1-2pm. Day 2 programs run from 10am to 2pm.

Register here. Instructions & links to participate coming soon.

FULL SCHEDULE –

DAY 1 – SATURDAY 1/30:

  • 10:00am-11:00am – How It Started, How It’s Going: From the Boston Harbor Clean Up to a Climate Ready Harbor – How did Boston Harbor go from one of the dirtiest to one of the cleanest? What changed as a result? How are planners preparing for the next chapter in Boston Harbor’s waterfront and parks? Alice Brown, Boston Harbor Now’s Chief of Policy and Planning, walks through the history and offers tips for real life exploration and ways to get involved in planning efforts.
  • 11:00am-12:00pm – Getting Outside in the Winter: An REI How-to Guide – Learn about the basics of winter clothing, proper layering, and essential gear to have for winter adventures in the great outdoors. Ever wondered which fabrics keep you the warmest and driest? REI Local Experiences Instructor Andrew McCaughey has you covered.
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm – Science Together: Researching the Boston Harbor Islands with Community and Citizen Science – Curious how you can help advance scientific research on the Boston Harbor Islands? From cell phone photography to identifying species, we’ll explore community and citizen science efforts to document nature and more on the Boston Harbor Islands. We will explore iNaturalist, a global biodiversity database, and share how and why you should get involved with this and other efforts to augment research on the Boston Harbor Islands. Led by Marc Albert, Director of Natural Resource Partnerships for the National Parks of Boston & Rebecca Shoer, Cabot Education and Community Engagement Program Manager for the Stone Living Lab.
  • 1:00pm – 2:00pm – LUNCH BREAK
  • 2:00pm-3:00pm – Tracks in the Snow: An Introduction to Animal Sign –Learn the basics of mammal identification and tracking from information they leave behind. We will be exploring different types of animal sign – including tracks, scat, and bones and the knowledge you can glean from these sources. Led by Lauren Nolfo-Clements, PhD (“Dr. No”), Professor and Chair of Biology at Suffolk University.
  • 3:00pm-4:00pm – Birds of Prey: Live! – Find out why hawks, owls, eagles, osprey, and falcons are considered “birds of prey”, and discover their amazing diversity while meeting three live birds of prey native to Massachusetts. Kathleen A. Regan, Teacher Naturalist at Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum, will share some tips on how, when, and where you can view our non-migratory resident species during winter. There are many more out there than you may think!

DAY 2 – SUNDAY 1/31:

  • 10:00am-11:00am – Seals in the Harbor! – Stephanie A. Wood, PhD, Lecturer & Researcher at UMass Boston, will teach participants about the natural history of the 2 species of seals found in Boston Harbor: harbor and gray seals. Learn about observations from monthly, boat-based surveys, seals’ use of the Boston Harbor Islands, and the initiation of a seal photo-ID project, a public science project.
  • 11:00am-12:00pm – Interpreting Nor’easters: Illustrating Coastal Change and Storm Response – Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown is a great place to explore how a popular beach facility responds to the cycle of storm tides and waves and how nor’easters and hurricanes drive coastal change. Led by Mark Adams, National Park Service GIS and Coastal Specialist at Cape Cod National Seashore.
  • 12:00pm-1:00pm – Boston Harbor Winter Waterbirds – This presentation will provide natural history information about some of the many waterbirds that annually inhabit Boston Harbor in the winter. The program will include identification information and notes on the natural history and behavior of a variety of species. Led by Wayne R Petersen, Director of the MA Important Bird Area (IBA) Program at Mass Audubon.
  • 1:00pm-2:00pm – Green Ambassador Sunday Funday: Island-Edition Games and Learn About Us! – Join in on two Boston Harbor Islands-themed games, crafted by the Green Ambassadors, and learn about our work to improve the islands and our communities.

Suggested donation of $15.

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