Get Out! Nature Walk: Winter Tree ID
We will observe different kinds of evergreen and deciduous trees and learn how to distinguish among trees in these categories.
We will observe different kinds of evergreen and deciduous trees and learn how to distinguish among trees in these categories.
Cure the winter doldrums with a little invigorating trail work! Join us to continue roughing in the new trail network at Watson Woods, this time on the east side of Mill Brook. We'll bring pruning saws and pole saws, but bring your own if you can or want to.
Help us make comfortable resting and viewing spots for our properties! Join us for a special bench building and bench installation session. We'll assemble wooden benches and then install them at multiple locations on CCLT conserved properties around Cumberland. We’ll have parts and pieces all ready to go, along with tools needed for assembly.
We will learn about the fascinating and mysterious world of moss and lichen. The area along Mill Brook will provide an ideal habitat for our explorations.
Join us and Greater Portland area land trusts for a screening of the World Trails Film Festival featuring 90 minutes of short trail-related films set around the globe.
Join us on a night in late March or early April for this exciting annual event to witness, and if necessary, help frogs and salamanders get across Range Road from Rines Forest as they awaken from winter and migrate to CCLT's Frog Pond and Salamander Swamp to mate and lay eggs.
When you notice the unmistakable chorus of spring peepers signaling that days and nights are finally warming, it’s a sign that vernal pools are coming alive. These temporary bodies of water are home to wood frogs, spotted salamanders, fairy shrimp, and other amphibians. We will get a close-up look at egg masses and other evidence of amphibians in three temporary and isolated wetlands.
Are you curious about the natural world? Would you like to enhance your time outside and grow your ways of seeing what’s there? Join us for an introduction to nature journaling, a flexible practice available to anyone. Together we will consider the benefits of observing the natural world around us, get tips on how to start a nature journal, and share ideas that can help guide our entries.
Join us at Broad Cove Reserve to learn about spring ephemerals, captivating and delicate wildflowers like Pink Lady’s Slipper, Trillium, and Trout Lily, that we only have a fleeting moment to enjoy in bloom each spring.
This annual family-friendly event celebrates the ancient phenomenon of horseshoe crabs coming ashore to lay eggs. Participants will have opportunities to handle horseshoe crabs and learn about these unique creatures from marine educators and horseshoe crab experts.
Join us at Thayer Brook Preserve as we explore the mysterious lives of beavers, their role in the ecosystem, the history of our relationship with them, and the ways they shape the landscape around us. We’ll walk over the frozen beaver marsh where, conditions permitting, we may get up close to a large beaver lodge and look for signs of wildlife activity along the way.
Join us in mid-winter to look for signs of wildlife, including tracks and scat in Farwell Forest. We'll walk through this lovely stretch of woods with an experienced guide looking for evidence of fisher, porcupine, fox, coyote, ermine, red squirrel, mouse, and deer.
Cure the winter doldrums with a little invigorating trail work! Join us to continue roughing in the new trail network at Watson Woods, this time on the other side of Mill Brook. Pruning saws, a pole saw, and a set of loppers or two will be the tools of the day. We’ll provide some, and bring your own if you can.
Are you curious about the natural world? Would you like to enhance your time outside and grow your ways of seeing what’s there? Join us for an introduction to nature journaling, a flexible practice available to anyone. Together we will consider the benefits of observing the natural world around us, get tips on how to start a nature journal, and share ideas that can help guide our entries.
Please join us for another trail building session at Watson Woods. We'll meet at the end of the road and hike in to continue our trail blazing and trimming. Tools du jour are pole saws, pruning saws, and loppers. Bring your own or borrow from CCLT's tool collection.
Come join us for a gentle walk in the woods as we mark the winter solstice. We'll look and listen for signs of winter preparations already underway in trees, birds, and other animals. What do we notice? What's happening that's harder to see? The walk will include a brief solstice ceremony.
Join us, the Chebeague Recreation Center, the Chebeague Community Church, and the Chebeague Library in the center cross of Littlefield Woods for this joyous annual event in a beautiful natural setting! We’ll decorate a solstice tree at 2:00, sing carols at 2:30, and then head to the Rec for hot cocoa and tree lighting at 3:15.
Join us at Sanford’s Pond to get the skate shack and pond ready for the upcoming skating season. We'll have some tools with us, but feel free to bring a rake or a weed-wacker if you like. Drop by if/when you can! Questions? Contact Jonathan Dawson at steward@ccltmaine.org.
The beautiful hemlocks on the Elmwood Trails give us a chance to apply the lessons of Tom Wessels' book "Reading the Forested Landscape." Why are there so many multiple-trunked trees? What are those humps on the ground? What can we posit about that stone wall? This forest also gives us the chance to see Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, the insect that has arrived in Maine and is threatening this species. Rain or shine. Please wear blaze orange; we’ll have extra to lend if you need some.
We'll hike into CCLT's newly acquired Watson Woods, where we'll continue roughing in a new trail from where the parking area will eventually be to the waterfall and beyond. Loppers and pruning saws will be the tools of the day. CCLT will bring tools, but please bring your own favorite(s) if you can.
We'll hike into CCLT's newly acquired Watson Woods, where we'll continue roughing in a new trail from where the parking area will eventually be to the waterfall and beyond. Loppers and pruning saws will be the tools of the day. CCLT will bring tools, but please bring your own favorite(s) if you can. And please remember to wear blaze orange!
Even if there are few fungi in evidence on this walk due to the drought, we will find plenty to see and talk about, including the signs of autumn and preparations of nature for this transition. Please join us!
We'll hike into CCLT's newly acquired Watson Woods, where we'll scout out, trim, and blaze (with surveyor's tape) a preliminary trail route down from the field to the brook. This is a great opportunity to get a glimpse at this stunning property while getting the ball rolling on trail creation.
We'll meet at the Rock Ridge parking lot on Rock Ridge Run (off Harris Road) and hike to our work site where we'll assemble and install seven 12' bog bridges, and clear and blaze a new trail route. Come enjoy the fall weather while doing some satisfying work with fellow community members!
Join us for an evening of community camaraderie in support of the trails that connect us! We’ll have pizzas and salads, drinks by donation, a sweet mountain bike raffle, guided trail tours, kids’ crafts from a mobile art bus, lawn games, and more.
Explore the nascent trails at our newest property!
We'll be cutting and dabbing invasive plants around the parking area and building a new bog bridge on the trail. We will provide tools, but please bring your own loppers and/or cordless drill if you can.
We'll be cutting and dabbing invasive plants around the parking area and building a new bog bridge on the trail. We will provide tools, but please bring your own loppers and/or cordless drill if you can.
PLEASE NOTE: RAIN DATE IS SUNDAY, SEPT. 7, SAME TIME. Join CCLT, Falmouth Land Trust, and the Falmouth Cumberland Community Chamber of Commerce for a screening of the Maine Outdoor Film Festival at Tidewater Farm. Bring your own chair or blanket, and enjoy some outdoor and conservation-themed short films under the stars!
Join us in the expansive fields of this beautiful preserve that is home to milkweed and other native wildflowers that will be in full bloom at summer’s end.
Join us at LongWoods Preserve for a slow-paced and kid-friendly walk to observe nature’s treasures in collaboration with Prince Memorial Library. Wildflowers, ferns, mushrooms, and other natural wonders await.
Join us and your neighbors for our annual meeting and celebration of conservation successes on the island! Chris Lewey, an ecologist and ornithologist, will speak about his recent book The Science of Watching, the Art of Seeing, and the Power of Nature Absorption. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
Are you fascinated by owls, but never have the opportunity to see them up close? Here's your chance! Marcia and Mark Wilson, a naturalist and photographer who care for owls with permanent disabilities and use them as educational ambassadors, will be bringing six different owl species to the island. Their Eyes on Owls program will also include a hooting lesson, an entertaining slideshow, and fun facts about our local owls’ unique adaptations. This a perfect family activity with plenty of time for photos and questions.
Four years ago, the Great Chebeague Golf Club started working toward a certification as a cooperative sanctuary golf course, making it part of the Audubon International movement that promotes ecologically sound land management and the conservation of natural resources on golf courses. Learn about the various ways the club is striving to meet its goals during a tour with Linda Grant, who is helping to shepherd the club’s environmental plan.
Join us at Knight's Pond Preserve for a slow-paced and kid-friendly walk to observe nature’s treasures in collaboration with Prince Memorial Library. How many frogs can we spot today?
We’ll tackle invasive bittersweet that's strangling some large trees on the edge of this new-to-CCLT property and then go on a short hike to the waterfall area.
Join us and Maine Audubon’s Laura Zitske at Indian Point on Chebeague Island to learn about the shorebirds and the shoreland restoration project on this preserve. We may even have a chance to see the endangered Piping Plovers who have been nesting in this area for the third year in a row!
Island resident and birder Krista Hayward has been observing and photographing the cute, captivating, and charismatic endangered Piping Plovers that have been nesting on Chebeague Island the past three years. Get a close-up view of plover life through her remarkable photos on display at the Inn this summer. Meet the artist and learn more about Chebeague’s Piping Plovers and efforts to protect them at this opening reception.
We’ll walk through the pine-oak forest to the shore of this stunning 23-acre preserve on Casco Bay. We’ll investigate the tidal mudflats and sandy beaches along the coastline while keeping an eye out for common eiders, black guillemots, ospreys, and bald eagles.
We'll get started on and maybe even finish the bog bridging over a long wet section. Tools and gloves will be provided. We may need an extra cordless drill or two. We usually work for 2 to 3 hours; please feel free to come when and for as long (or short!) as you can.