Gentle Birding with John Green

Date/Time
Date(s) - Apr 17th, 2024
8:00 am - 9:30 am

John holds up a leaf as a group of adult onlookers watches. — John Green. Photo courtesy of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment.

The Antiracist Collective of Avid Birders and Hilltown Land Trust are partnering together to co-host a gentle bird walk. Join us with experienced birder John Green, who will lead an hour and a half beginner-friendly lakeside birding walk through the DAR State Forest in Goshen. Bird enthusiast, John, will share his insight on bird ID, calls, and migration patterns. We will spend a peaceful morning learning about the wonders of birding along one of Goshen’s highland lakes, a key local wetland feature for healthy biodiversity and bird habitats.

Bring binoculars if you have them! We’ll have extras if you’d like to borrow.

John Green pointing in the woods while teaching. — John Green. Photo courtesy of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment.

About John Green

John is a naturalist, nature photographer, and experienced birder in Pioneer Valley. For over five decades, John has led environmental education programs at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment and worked for the US Forest Service outside of Philly and then later in one of the field units at UMass Amherst conducting bird surveys. To learn more, read the Hitchcock Center’s interview with John for Black Birders Week here.

About the Antiracist Collective of Avid Birders

The Anti-racist Collective of Avid Birders (Feminist Bird Club, Western MA) is an inclusive, progressive, intergenerational birding group based in so-called Western Massachusetts. We center and celebrate the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and other birders of color; birders of all genders and sexual orientations; and birders with disabilities. Our work is dedicated to making the outdoors—and birding in particular— accessible and safe for people who find themselves under-represented or unacknowledged in traditional birding communities.

Access Info

This is a gentle, flat hike, on a graded ADA-accessible stabilized-stonedust trail. We’ll be sticking together and moving at a slow-moderate pace. There are several benches placed along the trail, including a picnic table. The ADA-accessible trail starts to the right of the canoe launch with compacted gravel. The trail stretches 0.4 mile through the woods along the south shore of Upper Highland Lake. The trail has a gazebo, regularly spaced benches, and an accessible fishing pier with views of the lake and provides a stationary birding spot.

Turning back to the to the boat launch, traveling 0.8 miles in-and-out, there will be an option of extending the walk from the end of the ADA trail along the paved campground road, with a slight gradient, to an accessible wildlife blind overlooking a swamp. With the optional extension to the swamp, the walk will total 1.25 miles. Weather permitting, we hope that our entire birding route will be wheelchair-accessible, and we’re happy to modify our path during the walk to accommodate any mobility challenges. We’d love a heads up if you anticipate any accessibility limitations during our outing – please let us know at the time of registration or as early as possible by email or phone call: juliette@hilltownlandtrust.org (413) 628-4485 ext. 8

Bathroom: Indoor bathrooms will not be available at this program. A roll-in port-a-potty is usually available at the beach parking lot but is not guaranteed.
Covid: To protect our community we will be requiring masks at this event. John will not be wearing a mask for everyone to hear him and his beautiful bird calls clearly.
Distance Traveled: 1-1.25 miles
Fragrances: To be respectful of those with allergies and environmental sensitivities, we ask that you please refrain from wearing strong fragrances.
Parking: At the boat launch, there are two designated Disabled Parking spots able to fit vans and adjacent parking on a paved lot.
Public transportation: Public transit is not available to the DAR. Contact us if you are interested in coordinating a carpool.
Seating: Benches along the path.
Surfaces: Graded trail head, compacted gravel walkway, and ADA designed accessible stabilized stonedust path.

Cost

The suggested donation for this program is $0-25. Your donation of any amount makes you a member of Hilltown Land Trust for the year, and supports future programs like this one.