Tap a Sugar Maple Tree

Join IRWS sugaring staff for a 2 hour, small group, maple sugaring experience! You'll learn how to identify a sugar maple, tap it, and produce delicious maple syrup in the traditional New England way!

Join IRWS sugaring staff for a 2 hour, small group, maple sugaring experience! You'll learn how to identify a sugar maple, tap it, and produce delicious maple syrup in the traditional New England way!

Join the specialists of Wingmasters for a live birds of prey demonstration at the Hamilton Wenham Public Library. Birds of prey are also known as raptors, and they are hunting birds characterized by hooked beaks and powerful grabbing feet armed with sharp talons (the word raptor comes from a Latin word that means "to seize"). Raptors can also boast the best eyesight and the sharpest hearing in the animal kingdom. Raptors include hawks, falcons and owls, and this presentation, which incorporates 8 live birds of prey gives an overview of these different categories.

When winter returns to the lower Merrimack Valley, so do Bald Eagles and Snowy Owls and other exciting winter wildlife. Every year Mass Audubon hosts a grand event marking their return.

Everyone loves owls! Yet, how many of us have ever seen a live owl up close? With Eyes On Owls, Naturalist Marcia Wilson and photographer Mark Wilson will introduce you to six different live owls from New England and far beyond. Some owls, like the Great Horned, Barred and Eastern Screech Owls are fairly common in our area. Others, like Snowy Owls, Great Grays, and Boreal Owls, are rather rare.

Join Appleton Farms Educators for a special family focused evening with the owls. This interactive program will meet in the barn and kick off with an owl pellet dissection. After we discover what owls eat for dinner, we will head outside in search of Great-Horned, Eastern Screech, Barred, and Northern Saw-Whet Owls. After the walk, we will warm up with hot cocoa and read the story “Owl Moon” by Jane Yolen.

Teens are invited to the Parker River Wildlife Refuge to learn about owls! Join Parker River Staff to crochet a snowy owl. Using amigurumi, the Japanese practice of crocheting small stuffed yarn, we will crochet a small stuffed snowy owl that's great for desk decoration, keychain, or dangle. Beginners welcome!

Wingmasters with Jim Parks present Eyes on Owls. Owls are not evil spirits, wise little philosophers or Walt Disney creations. Nor do they wing about carrying messages, despite the way they're depicted in the Harry Potter books. In fact, owls are probably more misunderstood than any other kind of bird. These are hunting birds, yet their sharp beaks and talons are partly hidden under feathers. Owl have more and softer feathers than other birds, and this unique plumage gives them a plump, rounded look.

Come to Rebecca Nurse Homestead for an evening learning about 17th century Puritan beliefs in the supernatural including: Spirts, Specters, and Magical Thinking. These are the only evening tours that we do of the Homestead, they will be offered only on select weekend nights this October.

This spectacular show thrills audiences with impressive science experiments. The event includes foggy dry ice storms and mind boggling vanishing paper. Students are amazed by sizzling, shivering scissors and special bubbly showers!

Join the Salem Maritime National Historic Site for a 30-minute walking tour on the grounds of Salem Maritime National Historic Site. During the tour, learn about Salem’s rich maritime history, from its earliest days as a fishing village to the height of its global trade empire. Explore the historic wharves and buildings along Salem Harbor. Part of Trails & Sails.