Friends of Willard Brook

Summer Schedule 2010

Saturday, July 10, 10:30-1:30. Blueberry Picking on Watatic. Climb Mount Watatic, enjoy a picnic lunch, and pick a bucketful of ripe blueberries

at the summit. Meet in Ashburnham at the Route 119 parking lot for Watatic located 1.6 miles west of Route 101. Bring a bag lunch, water and empty

containers for the berries. Wear sturdy hiking boots. Call Emily Norton with questions at 978-597-3553.

Saturday, July 17, 10:30-11:30. BZZZZ! Native Bees: Their Identification and Life Histories. Join our dragonfly expert, Michael Veit, as he

shares his latest love, bees! Observe the bees using close-focusing binoculars. We have several to share; bring your own if you have them. Meet at

the Damon Pond parking lot of Willard Brook State Forest in Ashby. Call Emily Norton at 978-597-3553 for more information.

Saturday, July 24, 9:00. Wildflowers and Natural History Walk. Join botanist Doug Reynolds for an afternoon of finding wildflowers and other green

plants. Doug will tell you more than their names; he’ll teach you about their natural history, their ecological roles and their connections to humans. The

trip will take us through the “back side” of Watatic where the ski slope used to operate. We’ll meet on Bennett Road in Ashby. Directions: Take 119W

through Ashby center. Just beyond the Ashburnham town line, take a right onto Pillsbury Road, and then a left onto Bennett Road. Look for the gated

trailhead approximately ¾ mile up Bennett Road. Call Emily Norton at 978-597-3553 with questions.

Saturday, August 14, 11:00. Aquatic Plants. Suzanna Black frankly admits to limited knowledge of aquatic plants but would like to learn more about

them. Come join her and other FOWB members in pursuit of this. Suzanna will bring field guides and enthusiasm. Come prepared to get wet feet and

have a good time. Meet at the Damon Pond parking lot at Willard Brook State Forest. Call Suzanna at 978-448-5301 with questions.

Saturday, August 21, 9:30. Bog Walk. Joellyn and Tom Nevins will lead us to a small quaking bog in Townsend made famous in Neil Jorgensen’s

book “A Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide to Southern New England”. Meet at the parking lot at the end of Elm Street (south of the Squannacook River,

off of route 13). Call Tom or Joellyn at 978-597-8151 for more information.

Saturday, September 11, 10:00-2:00 Trails Work on the Dead Swamp Trail. Please meet at the Fessenden Hill Rd. parking area at the trail head.

Bring work gloves, water, and a lunch/snack, and wear old clothes because we will be painting trail markers onto the trees. Please register by calling

Sussie Holzberlein 978-502-6137 because there may be other items that should be brought when you come, but we will know that better when the time

gets closer.