Please join us for a great program called, Making Sense of Nature, at Rancocas Nature Center! The program is on Sunday, February 22 at 10:30 am. It will be about an hour. It will start inside and then we’ll hit the trails. The cost will be anywhere between $5 and $10 (depending on how many sign up). Please let me know if you’re interested so that we can let the nice people at RNC know! Email Donna at wildfeathersgroup@gmail.com

Winter is coming! I try each year to embrace the cold a bit more and just throw on my jacket and hat and get outside! Join us as we “Gather with Granola” to celebrate the winter solstice on Sunday, December 21 at 11am in Crows Woods! We’ll take a short hike to a spot with evergreens, then snack on our granola (nothing fancy unless you want to, it can even just be a granola bar!). Dig out your warmest gear, bring along a blanket, and meet us in the woods to celebrate winter!

Join us Friday, November 14 at 4:30 pm at Saddler’s Woods to take a short hike to listen for owls. Great horned owls live in Saddler’s Woods and can be seen and heard often in autumn. Since many leaves have fallen, we’ll also have a chance of spotting them as well. If you haven’t heard owls hooting in the wild, it’s a true treat! Bundle up, bring a flashlight and/or binoculars, and join us on Friday! We’ll meet at the trail head on Mac Arthur Blvd in Haddon Twp.

It’s pumpkin picking time! Soak in some of the beauty of the fall season and join us on a pumpkin picking hayride! We’ll meet on Saturday, October 18 at 10 am at Creamy Acres Farm in Mullica Hill, NJ. Bring the whole family, take in some fresh air, and support our local farms! Hope to see you there! Here is the Creamy Acres website for more information:

http://www.creamyacres.com/

Little apple pickers at Mood’s last year!

Apple picking! Join us for an apple picking hayride at Mood’s Farm in Mullica Hill on Saturday, September 20 at 11am. We can meet inside the market at 11am and buy our hayride tickets for the 11:30 hayride (there is stuff there to play on while we wait). The hayride includes apple cider and an apple cider donut! Please bring along a basket or container for your apples.

Then help us celebrate autumn (first official day of fall is Sept 23) by joining us for our September Stream Stomp in Saddler’s Woods on Wednesday, September 24 at 5pm. Children can play and explore in Saddler’s Run, a shallow stream in Saddler’s Woods. Please bring along boots for your child to play in the stream (and maybe a change of clothes if you have a wild stomper!). We will meet at the trail head at 5pm, then hike to the stream.

Hope to see you there! And happy almost fall!

Farm season is still chugging along with some of my favorites still to come (apples and pumpkins)! Right now, Mood’s Farm has white seedless grapes, raspberries, blackberries, and peaches still available for picking. We are heading there this Wed, August 13 at 10 am to pick some grapes and stop for an apple crush. Please bring along some clippers (for grapes) and containers. Hope you can meet us there! Here is their website for more info and directions:

http://www.moodsfarmmarket.com/

And mark your calendars for Wed, August 27 at 9:30 am for some hiking in Scotland Run Park in Clayton. There is a beautiful lake and some nice hiking trails. Scotland Run Park, over 1,000 acres, is the largest county park in Gloucester County. There is also a playground for some play time after our hike if you wish. Here is a website with some more info on this location:

http://www.gloucestercountynj.gov/depts/p/parks/parkgolf/scotland/

Hope to see you at one or both of these outings!!

Milkweed in the meadow near Rancocas Nature Center

Join us for a hike in Rancocas State Park on Wednesday, July 30 at 10 am. We will meet in the gravel parking lot of Rancocas Nature Center. Rancocas State Park is a beautiful and diverse woods with meadows, mixed forest, conifer plantations, and a tidal creek. Bring along a snack, water, hats, and some bug spray. There are ticks so I highly recommend checking yourself and your child thoroughly when you get home. There are bathrooms in the nature center along with some other great stuff and live animals. For directions and more information, here is their website:

http://www.rancocasnaturecenter.org/

Hope to see you there!

Come along for a hike in Saddler’s Woods on Wednesday, June 25 at 10 am! The weather may have held us back before, but we’re not giving up on our hike in this pretty little, urban woodland. We will meet at the trail head on MacArthur Blvd near the large Saddler’s Woods sign (pictured below). Saddler’s Woods is a small old growth forest with a small stream. We will cross the stream on our hike so please come prepared. And if you’re up for it, bring along some boots to play in the stream!

Saddler’s Woods is cared for by a great group of volunteers (Saddler’s Woods Conservation Association) who are always looking for more help, members, and donations. Visit their website for more information: http://www.saddlerswoods.org/

Strawberries aren’t quite ready for picking so please join us this Saturday, May 24 at 10 am for a hike in Crows Woods Nature Preserve in Haddonfield. There are nice trails, a bridge crossing some water with lots of frogs, and a fun rope swing! Bring along a snack and water and meet us at the trail head! It’s getting to be that time where we should also start thinking about bug spray, sunscreen, and hats too. Hope to see you there! 

Come along for a hike in Saddler’s Woods on Friday, May 16 at 4pm! We will meet at the trail head on MacArthur Blvd near the large Saddler’s Woods sign. Saddler’s Woods is a small old growth forest with a small stream. It is a lovely little piece of woods that is cared for by a group of very dedicated volunteers. We will cross the stream on our hike so please come prepared. And if you’re up for it, bring along some boots to play in the stream! Pictured below is a box turtle I saw near the stream in Saddler’s Woods several years ago.