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The Mink Brook Nature Preserve is getting lots of foot traffic, and it's not just from humans and their dogs! A local wildlife tracker snapped this photo last week in the wet mud, near where Trout Brook meets Mink Brook. This popular thoroughfare is being used by river otter (the collection of prints at the top of the photo) and raccoon (the two very human-looking prints at the bottom of the photo), as well as deer and beaver (prints not pictured). River corridors provide essential highways for many animals, and we are proud to maintain this section of Mink Brook for animal and human use alike. Let us know if you spot any other prints when you're out on the trails!

Don't forget, our annual Mothers Day spring wildflower walk is TOMORROW - Sunday, May 10, from 1-3 PM.

Join us at the Mink Brook Nature Preserve as we go in search of these ephemeral beauties. We'll depart from the Brook Road trailhead (11 Brook Road) -- we can't wait to see you then!

More information at hanoverconservancy.org/events/

Kite Day is POSTPONED to tomorrow, Sunday May 3, from 2-4pm! We hope to catch you up on Balch Hill's summit tomorrow, on a hopefully drier and windier day.

Our events calendar is in full swing for Spring!

Join us this weekend as we properly kick off the season with Kite Day at Balch Hill! Bring your friends, families, and kites (don't worry, we'll have plenty of kites and friends to share) for an afternoon offun on the Balch meadow.

Next weekend we'll return to Mink Brook Nature Preserve for a Mothers Day wildflower walk, with more great events scattered throughout the next few weeks. Check out hanoverconservancy.org/events for our full listing of what's coming up next.

Our events calendar is in full swing for Spring!

Join us this weekend as we properly kick off the season with Kite Day at Balch Hill! Bring your friends, families, and kites (don't worry, we'll have plenty of kites and friends to share) for an afternoon offun on the Balch meadow.

Next weekend we'll return to Mink Brook Nature Preserve for a Mothers Day wildflower walk, with more great events scattered throughout the next few weeks. Check out hanoverconservancy.org/events for our full listing of what's coming up next.

Our events calendar is in full swing for Spring!

Join us this weekend as we properly kick off the season with Kite Day at Balch Hill! Bring your friends, families, and kites (don't worry, we'll have plenty of kites and friends to share) for an afternoon offun on the Balch meadow.

Next weekend we'll return to Mink Brook Nature Preserve for a Mothers Day wildflower walk, with more great events scattered throughout the next few weeks. Check out hanoverconservancy.org/events for our full listing of what's coming up next.

Our events calendar is in full swing for Spring!

Join us this weekend as we properly kick off the season with Kite Day at Balch Hill! Bring your friends, families, and kites (don't worry, we'll have plenty of kites and friends to share) for an afternoon offun on the Balch meadow.

Next weekend we'll return to Mink Brook Nature Preserve for a Mothers Day wildflower walk, with more great events scattered throughout the next few weeks. Check out hanoverconservancy.org/events for our full listing of what's coming up next.

Our events calendar is in full swing for Spring!

Join us this weekend as we properly kick off the season with Kite Day at Balch Hill! Bring your friends, families, and kites (don't worry, we'll have plenty of kites and friends to share) for an afternoon offun on the Balch meadow.

Next weekend we'll return to Mink Brook Nature Preserve for a Mothers Day wildflower walk, with more great events scattered throughout the next few weeks. Check out hanoverconservancy.org/events for our full listing of what's coming up next.

Our annual Kite Day at Balch Hill is this Saturday, May 2 from 2-4pm, sponsored by Red Kite Candy! Celebrate the return of warm spring breezes and the greening-up of grasses by lounging with your neighbors or trying your hand at flying a kite on the Balch Hill summit. Bring your own kite or borrow one of ours! Parking available at Grasse Road and Hemlock Road trailheads.

More info and maps: https://www.hanoverconservancy.org/event/kite-day-at-balch-hill-4/

Join us tomorrow for our City Nature Challenge event at Mink Brook Nature Preserve, Saturday April 25th!

🐦7am-9am: Bird Walk led by Gail McPeek and Tom Sherry
🌸10am-noon: Botany Walk led by Alice Schori and Lynnwood Andrews
🔍noon-2pm: Family-friendly nature scavenger hunt

Throughout the event, we will be providing assistance for how to record observations on iNaturalist. All walks will depart from the Brook Road trailhead of Mink Brook Nature Preserve.

For more information about this event: https://www.hanoverconservancy.org/event/city-nature-challenge-at-mink-brook/
To join the City Nature Challenge on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2026-nh-s-upper-valley

The City Nature Challenge is days away! From cities and towns to forests and backyards, we’re joining communities worldwide to document the incredible biodiversity around us using the free iNaturalist app. The worldwide bio-blitz will run from April 24-27 with the goal of recording as many observations to iNaturalist as we can. You don't need to be a scientist and you don't even need to know the name of the plant, animal, or insect you observe. Once you add a picture and location to the app, experts from around the world will help identify what you saw.

As part of the City Nature Challenge, the Hanover Conservancy will lead guided nature walks this Saturday, April 25, in partnership with Hanover Parks and Recreation and the Connecticut River Conservancy. Join Gail McPeek and Tom Sherry for a bird walk from 7-9am, and stick around for a botany walk led by Alice Schori and Lynnwood Andrews from 10am-noon. Throughout the event, we will be providing assistance for how to record observations on iNaturalist. All walks will depart from the Brook Road trailhead of Mink Brook Nature Preserve.

To join the City Nature Challenge on iNaturalist:https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2026-nh-s-upper-valley
For more information about the Mink Brook event: https://www.hanoverconservancy.org/event/city-nature-challenge-at-mink-brook/

It's time for our annual Spring Wildflower Scavenger Hunt! You can find paper copies of the scavenger hunt at the Mink Brook, Balch Hill, and Greensboro Ridge kiosks. Explore these properties over the coming weeks to find each of these spring ephemerals in bloom and record where you found them. Send a copy of your results to savannah@hanoverconservancy.org for a packet of wildflower seeds! I'll give you a hint: these spring beauties pictured here were spotted at Greensboro Ridge Natural Area last week! More info and maps on our website: https://www.hanoverconservancy.org/events/spring-wildflower-scavenger-hunt/

We're excited to introduce you to the newest addition to our team, Savannah Bailey!

Savannah joins us as our Stewardship Coordinator, where she'll help manage our growing portfolio of conserved land, work with partner landowners to better care for their own properties, and engage the community through our active calendar of public programs, trips, and outings.

Feel free to say hello and introduce yourself to Savannah when you see her out on the trail this spring!

You can learn more about Savannah on our website: https://www.hanoverconservancy.org/home/news/

We've got the snow, and we'll (hopefully!) have the moonlight for our annual evening snowshoe! Come out and enjoy all the fresh powder with us, as we break trails while roaming the Upper Slade Brook watershed, followed by a bonfire and light refreshments.

Loaner snowshoes available, and first-timers welcome! Meet at 11 Old Lyme Road at 5PM. See you there!

Our winter events calendar is heating up, with several great events scheduled in the coming weeks!

Next week: Our annual moonlit snowshoe returns to the Upper Slade Brook watershed on Saturday, 2/21.

Later this month: Join us for the first installment of Reading Nature -- our conservation book club co-hosted with the Howe Library. February's selection: Amy Tan's The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

Coming up in March: group snowshoes, winter wildlife tracking, a bilingual family event and more!

Visit hanoverconservancy.org/events for full event details, locations, and registration links. We'll see you out there!

Our winter events calendar is heating up, with several great events scheduled in the coming weeks!

Next week: Our annual moonlit snowshoe returns to the Upper Slade Brook watershed on Saturday, 2/21.

Later this month: Join us for the first installment of Reading Nature -- our conservation book club co-hosted with the Howe Library. February's selection: Amy Tan's The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

Coming up in March: group snowshoes, winter wildlife tracking, a bilingual family event and more!

Visit hanoverconservancy.org/events for full event details, locations, and registration links. We'll see you out there!

Our winter events calendar is heating up, with several great events scheduled in the coming weeks!

Next week: Our annual moonlit snowshoe returns to the Upper Slade Brook watershed on Saturday, 2/21.

Later this month: Join us for the first installment of Reading Nature -- our conservation book club co-hosted with the Howe Library. February's selection: Amy Tan's The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

Coming up in March: group snowshoes, winter wildlife tracking, a bilingual family event and more!

Visit hanoverconservancy.org/events for full event details, locations, and registration links. We'll see you out there!

Our winter events calendar is heating up, with several great events scheduled in the coming weeks!

Next week: Our annual moonlit snowshoe returns to the Upper Slade Brook watershed on Saturday, 2/21.

Later this month: Join us for the first installment of Reading Nature -- our conservation book club co-hosted with the Howe Library. February's selection: Amy Tan's The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

Coming up in March: group snowshoes, winter wildlife tracking, a bilingual family event and more!

Visit hanoverconservancy.org/events for full event details, locations, and registration links. We'll see you out there!

Our winter events calendar is heating up, with several great events scheduled in the coming weeks!

Next week: Our annual moonlit snowshoe returns to the Upper Slade Brook watershed on Saturday, 2/21.

Later this month: Join us for the first installment of Reading Nature -- our conservation book club co-hosted with the Howe Library. February's selection: Amy Tan's The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

Coming up in March: group snowshoes, winter wildlife tracking, a bilingual family event and more!

Visit hanoverconservancy.org/events for full event details, locations, and registration links. We'll see you out there!

Brrr! With a forecasted temperature of zero degrees at our start time, we've decided to postpone this weekend's Winter Wildlife Tracking program. Stay tuned for a rescheduled date later in the season. Stay warm out there this weekend!