Educational Resources

Nature Scavenger Hunts!

DESCRIPTION:

These scavenger hunts, or nature based activity prompts, provide a wide range of opportunity to delve into observing the natural world and engaging with the earth in many different ways including nature journaling, found object sculpture, water body investigation, nose-to-the ground forest floor investigations, phenology studies, color collecting, using all the senses, and more. The prompts encourage place-based explorations, appreciation of seasonal changes, and even stewardship practices in your backyard or out on the trails. They are presented here as PDF documents to be easily printed and attached to a clip board or pasted in a journal. There are also video links included that Landere created for a 2nd grade class but that can be viewed by anyone! Enjoy!

Click on photo or title to access documents.

Scientific Illustration with Miriam Talalay

The Open Air Arts Initiative (OAAI), a collaboration of Blue Hill Heritage Trust (BHHT), Cynthia Winings Gallery, and The SEED Barn collaborated with with artist Miriam Talalay is to produce a Scientific Illustration series of video classes. There are four video recordings to view and learn from! Her first video is filmed on the BHHT “Talalay Nature Sanctuary” trail in Surry, a property that Miriam’s Grandparents Paul and Pamela Talalay donated to the Trust in 2007. BHHT is grateful to the Talalay family for all they do to help protect and inspire love for the natural world on the Blue Hill Peninsula.

Open Air Arts Initiative: Furth Wildlife Sanctuary Creative Prompts on Google Maps

Example: Chipmunk midden! Regular feasting occurs around this mossy stump. Do you see the network of holes tucked between the roots along this section of the trail? What do you think this family of chipmunks chatter about during their shared meals?

This interactive map focuses on the way non-human species MOVE through the landscape. At the various stops, we explore ways to recognize then translate movement through creative acts. Bring along art supplies for visual art interpretation. Feel free to dance along the trail as you explore and SING OUT to mimic bird song along the way. Posted signs along the trail offer guidance for analog engagement. Click HERE to view map

Bluffhead Trail Interactive Map: “Reading the Forested Landscape”

The Wonders of Woodcock : A Lesson Plan by Jo Barrett

Each March, when the snow in the small, grassy openings in the woods has thawed, we can hear two strange sounds around dusk. They are the sounds of the male woodcock trying to prove to the female that he’d be a good choice as the father of her chicks. He struts around on the ground making a funny meep, meep sound then rockets into the air, flying in big circles while his wing feathers make a high pitched chip, chip, chip sound. He comes back to the ground and begins strutting and meeping again. It is wondrous to watch and to hear as a sign that spring if coming and our woods are about to burst with life again after a quiet winter.

Phenology Trail and Citizen Science Opportunity

Hundred Acre Woods is a part of the Downeast Phenology Trail, a research project with the Schoodic Institute. Participate in this fun Citizen Science project through the Nature’s Notebook App, which can be downloaded onto your smart phone or device. Click here for instructions: Nature’s Notebook Instructions.

A fun way to connect with the Land and with the changing seasons is to observe phenology: the study of seasonal plant and animal life cycles.

Buds, at this time of year offer a great starting point to watch a plant’s rhythms unfold. There are so many complex and beautiful differences among plant species. Long and sticky, stout and furry, scarlet red, small and bumpy. Go for a scavenger hunt for buds this season and along the way learn how to identify plants without their leaves or flowers, connect with plant life cycles, and revel in the mystery of every delicate beginning of life.

To listen to a wonderful Maine phenology podcast check out the Nature of Phenology with Hazel Stark and Joe Horn supported by WERU!

Nanny Berry Viburnum lentago
Balsam Poplar Populus balsamifera
American Beech Fagus grandifolia
Lilac Syringa vulgar
Northern Bayberry Myrica pensylvanica

	January 2023
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15	16 Winter Hike CANCELED Winter Hike CANCELED January 16, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm One of volunteers leading the January Winter Hike has an injury and is unable to attend. We wish her all the best in her healing process, and hope all will be better in time for the February Winter Hike. Thank you in advance for your understanding. Please feel free to hike the trails on your own. Remember that trail conditions may be vary with both weather and location, and as a result may be wet, icy, or muddy. Take precautions as needed. We are excited to announce BHHT’s 8th Annual Winter Hikes Series! Please join co-leaders, Merrie Eley and Barbara Kourajian for an opportunity to enjoy the winter outdoors. Merrie and Barbara will share naturalist knowledge along the trail and good tips for staying active on BHHT trails during the winter months. Snacks and hot beverages are provided. Wear warm layers, sturdy hiking shoes or boots and bring along hiking poles and ice cleats if needed. There will be 3 hikes this winter: Jan. 16, CANCELED Feb. 13, 10am-noon (snow date 2/14) Cooper Farm, Sedgwick March 13, 10am-noon (snow date 3/14) Kingdom Woods, Blue Hill *if there is a lot of ice on the trails, we may change locations but will notify anyone who is signed up to inform of conditions Please use this link to reserve/sign up https://forms.gle/pWBfgkF9KgJbJZx16 See more details •	17	18	19 Friends from the Field: Trees in Winter Friends from the Field: Trees in Winter January 19, 2023 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust and Island Heritage Trust for another Friends from the Field Webinar! Perhaps in summer, with the leaves out and branches hanging low enough for us to see them, we can tell an oak from a maple. But how else might we look at trees—not only to tell one from another, but to understand how they are structured, how they live, etc.? Please join Maine Master Naturalist Susan Cottle for this Zoom presentation to learn more about truly seeing trees, not only to identify different ones with or without their leaves, but to learn about bark, structure, buds, and more! A lifelong forest wanderer and a sometimes home wood harvester, Susan spends much of her time hiking and volunteering outdoors so she can be around trees. She regularly leads walks and offers talks for conservation-based organizations, and serves on the Maine Master Naturalists board. Use this link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_sOSQOzdKTGm2K63X6vxQHQ Email landere@bluehillheritagetrust.org if you have any questions! See more details •	20	21
22	23	24	25 Wild Sun Catchers: Sensitive Fern Wild Sun Catchers: Sensitive Fern January 25, 2023 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm Blue Hill Public Library, 5 Parker Point Rd, Blue Hill, ME 04614, USA Kids are invited to Wild Sun Catchers on the library lawn on Wednesday, January 25 at 3:30 pm. Join Landere Naisbitt from Blue Hill Heritage Trust and Claire Malina from the Blue Hill Library for a workshop on sensitive fern. Landere will teach about the ecology, anatomy and wildlife connections of sensitive fern. We will be joined by special guest Kirsten Rickert. Kirsten will lead participants in creating a mandala using sensitive fern fertile fronds, spruce cones and other natural materials. Participants are encouraged to dress in warm clothing that is suitable for the weather as this program will take place outside on the library lawn. To register, use the library's interactive calendar or by calling 374-5515. Wild Sun Catchers is a monthly program for kids and families that celebrates the wild plants of the Blue Hill Peninsula, and teaches a stewardship ethic for the land and its many inhabitants. We focus on a different plant and the relationships it has with other species each month. This program is free and is co-sponsored by the Blue Hill Library and Blue Hill Heritage Trust. For more information, email Claire at claire.malina@bhpl.net. See more details •	26	27	28
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