Walk

Many animals live on the refuge, but are hard to find.  They are either active at night, wary of people, or both.  Though you may not see them, their tracks can be just as interesting to find.  Go out on the refuge with intern Dominic Noce as he teaches you how to find and identify tracks of different types of animals.  Meet the program leader in the refuge visitor center auditorium for a brief slide show, after which he’ll lead you on a tracking exploration on the refuge.  Please wear long pants and boots (for tick prevention) and otherwise dress for the weather.  NO preregistration for th

To spark a sense of wonder, Rachel Carson said, every child needs an adult "who can share it, rediscovering with him [or her] the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." To this end, knowing facts about nature matters less than feeling a sense of beauty, admiration, excitement, and love, which can prompt a wish for knowledge later on and create an enduring legacy of meaning. Exploring nature, Carson reminds us, means being receptive to the surrounding world - "learning to use your eyes, ears, nostrils, and finger tips, opening up the disused channels of sensory impression."

What kid doesn’t like playing in the water? Join the park interpreter for a Ponding adventure at the back pond to discover what is living in this aquatic  habitat.  Nets and buckets are provided.  Participants should wear long pants & appropriate shoes!  For ages 5 and up!

Celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday, June 3rd with a walk along some beautiful trails with ECTA and Ipswich River Watershed Association. Join ECTA Trail Steward Judi Milano and IRWA Executive Director Wayne Castonguay at 10am in the Bradley Palmer parking lot at 40 Asbury Street in Topsfield. 

The walk will gather at the mounting block and go up the trail toward Asbury Street, across the road, across the fence and down to the river and the bridge.  We turn left at the bridge and walk along the river for about a half mile to the Patton property where we go through the opening in their stone wall and walk back out to Asbury street along their fence.  The walk will return to the Bradley Palmer lot through the Bradley Palmer trails.