Upcoming Events, Walks and Programs

Note that most of our Monthly Meetings are recorded. Links to recordings hosted by SudburyTV can be found on the Archive page.

Kids Program
Saturday, August 7, 1 PM - 3 PM

The World is Getting Smaller?

Everyone’s talking about it, but what is this whole “sustainability” thing? Is the planet really shrinking? How much of an impact am I having on our future? Should I be worried? Whose job is it, anyways, to keep the world running? Is there anything I can do about it? Even if green isn’t your favorite color, we hope you’ll come out to join us for some discussions and projects about the responsibility of sustainability. Program is geared towards middle school students, but all are welcome! Program will be held at 73 Weir Hill Road, Sudbury, MA 01776. For more information contact Joan_Campau@fws.gov or 978.443.4661 x18.

Tuesday, August 17, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Nighthawk Survey Briefing

For those who have never seen a nighthawk or would like to brush up on their nighthawk identification skills, ARNWR and Oxbow Friends, OAR, Stow Conservation Trust, SVT, and USF&WS are co-sponsoring a nighthawk briefing from 7:30 to 9 pm on Tuesday, August 17. This briefing will address how to identify nighthawks, where and when to look for them, and how to report your observations. Then on a second evening shortly thereafter, participants will have the opportunity to get some hands-on field experience by joining a small field team led by an experienced nighthawk observer to look for nighthawks at one or more observation sites in the SuAsCo valley. At ARNWR these sites may include the hill where the USAF radar tower is located, White Pond Road bridge, Puffer Pond/Taylor Way, and/or the Desert/Memorial Forest area.

The August 17 briefing will be held at the Sudbury Valley Trustees Wolbach Farms headquarters on Wolbach Road off Rte 27 in Sudbury.

See our Volunteering page for information on how you can volunteer to help the Nighthawk Survey at Assabet River NWR

Saturday, August 21, 8 AM - 10:00 AM

Nature Walk: A Sense of Place at Great Meadows NWR

Join naturalist Cherrie Corey in her continuing exploration of the Great Meadows landscape and explore the landscape along the Concord River floodplain and the refuge trails. In our morning walk, we'll be joined by Sam Jaffe for a look at wild plants and the caterpillars that eat them. We venture out in the morning in search of late summer species and to enjoy the sights and sounds of a long, warm season winding down. See Sam's website at massachusetts caterpillars.

For each walk, a $5/person voluntary donation is requested. Meet in the parking lot, Great Meadows NWR in Concord (Monsen Rd, off Rte. 62, driveway on left where road curves right). Questions? see see sense-of-place-concord.blogspot, email cherrie.corey@verizon.net or call 978-760-1933. Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Assabet River NWR, Musketaquid Arts and Environment Program, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Saturday, August 21, 10 AM - 11:30 AM

Kids Program
Nature's Lifecycles

Come explore the fascinating stages of the lives of different animals that make their homes at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury. This family program will provide visitors with an up close and hands on experience with animals such as frogs, turtles, dragonflies, and other insects. (Ages 5-8 with adult) Program will be held at 73 Weir Hill Road, Sudbury, MA 01776. For more information contact: Daniel_Cannata@fws.gov or 978.443.4661 x18.

Sunday, August 22, 1 PM - 4:00 PM

Open House at the Visitor Center at Assabet River NWR

Please join refuge staff and members of the Friends of Assabet River and Oxbow National Wildlife Refuges as we host an open house at our new visitor center! This will be an exciting opportunity to get an insider's look at this green facility and check out our newly installed educational exhibits. Refuge staff will be on-site to discuss the construction process of the facility, as well as sharing the vision of how this new public facility can be a premiere environmental education site in the local community. The Friends groups will be providing light refreshments and launch the opening of their new nature store! We will also be conducting guided tours to one of the nearby historical ammunition storage bunkers. This open house is the first of several unique opportunities to see the new visitor center - hope to see you there!

The new facility is located at 680 Hudson Road, Sudbury, MA 01776, and is best accessed from the Hudson Road entrance. A portion of Winterberry Way will be open to vehicles for this special event from Hudson Road to the visitor center. Please email Susan_J_Russo@fws.gov or call 978.443.4661 x34 if you need more information.

Saturday, August 28, 10 AM - 1 PM

Intro to Birds

Are you looking at becoming a novice birdwatcher, but don’t know the difference between a warbler and a woodcock? Let us help you! Stop by Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury and learn more about common backyard birds and some of the unique birds of the refuge. Bring a pair of binoculars and a field guide if you have one and come take a look at the birds that this area has to offer! Look out for more group birding opportunities as fall migration starts up too! Program will be held at 73 Weir Hill Road, Sudbury, MA 01776. For more information contact: Daniel_Cannata@fws.gov or 978.443.4661 x18.

Sunday, September 26, 12 Noon

Bus Tour of the Historical Sites of the Assabet River NWR
and Sneak Preview of the New Visitor Center

Join Maynard Town Historian Paul Boothroyd for our popular bus tour visiting the historical sites of the Assabet River NWR. The tour covers points of history dating back to Native Americans, Washington and the War of Independence, and World War II with many entertaining stories and anecdotes of local history.

What does “Assabet” mean in Native American Algonquin? Did you know the area was settled by the “third land grant”? During the war of Independence in 1776, ammunition wagon trains traveled through this area to deliver arms to George Washington to defend Trenton. You will see several of the 50 ammunition storage bunkers from World War II and even have a chance to see inside one! The tour will include areas not usually open to the public such as the western part of the refuge.

There will be a sneak preview at the end of the bus tour of the brand new Visitor Center due to be opened Sunday, October 17. Learn more about the eight refuges in the Eastern Massachusetts Refuge Complex managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Meet at the Visitor Center, Assabet River NWR, 680 Hudson Road. Tour starts promptly at 12 Noon.

Tickets at $8.00 per person in advance only. The tour is by reservation only and it is already sold out for this year.

Wednesday, September 29, 7:00 PM

Monthly Meeting with talk by Vladimir Douhovnikoff Plants Don't Always Come From Seeds: the Ecology of Clonal Growth in Plants

Did you think that plants grow only from seed or mostly from seed? This talk will challenge that assumption. Come find out about clonal growth as a normal strategy that most plants use. Clonal plants represent about 40% of the planet’s flora, our most important crops and many of the most invasive plants. Clonality can make plants near immortal by repeatedly copying themselves and sharing risk. Understanding these dynamics can provide opportunities when conserving a species or challenges when eradication is called for.

Vladimir Douhovnikoff is a faculty member in the Biology Department at Simmons College. He teaches undergraduates in Biology. His research focuses on clonal plant ecology and has explored the dynamics of clonality in coast redwood, sandbar willow, arctic willow, aspen, and phragmites.

The Friends' monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month at 7:00pm at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, 73 Weir Hill Road in Sudbury (Google Map). Each meeting starts with a brief discussion of the Refuge status, followed by our featured presentation.

Outdoors This Week

The Friends posts our events to Outdoors This Week, a weekly listing of outdoor activities located west of Boston sponsored by local environmental organizations. Click here to subscribe.