A casual, slow, naturalist-led evening paddle along the northern reaches of the Wrightsville Reservoir. Once on the water, we'll head slowly north across the quiet, shallow reaches of the reservoir where it meets the North Branch of the Winooski River. If time and water level allows, we will paddle up the meandering river towards a beautiful waterfall, and returning before sunset. Along the way, we will enjoy watching beavers, fish, botany, birdlife, and whatever other flora and fauna we come across.

Drew Mountain is the Granite Hills of Groton State Park, which are an igneous pluton intruded into the Devonian Waits-River sediments. The granite is hard and acid, the Waits softer and limy. The plants are an unusual combination, reflecting both influences. We will focus on the woody plants as a key to understanding the habitat, and add some interesting grasses, sedges, and herbs as details. A Northern Forest Atlas course hosted by NBNC's Biodiversity University.

Learning to identify trees can be a powerful way to connect to your local landscape. They are big, charismatic, and always around us, and knowing who they are provides a baseline of ecological understanding for the rest of our surroundings. Join Jonathan Shapiro of Fox Paw School for a dive into tree ID, focusing on a pattern-based approach that we are hardwired to understand. We'll talk about tree silhouettes, branching patterns, leaf shapes, bark, and more, and you'll leave with the observational skills to learn not only trees, but the rest of your landscape as well. By meeting in three different seasons, we'll have the opportunity to see how trees' lives change throughout the cycle of the year, and how they fit into the broader ecological context of our North Woods home.