Find out more about trees in activities this month held at the Jamestown Audubon Center & Sanctuary and at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens.
See some of the oldest trees in Chautauqua County
As part of its Bucket List series, the Jamestown Audubon Center & Sanctuary is providing the opportunity to see some of the oldest trees in Chautauqua County during an ancient trees field trip. Audubon’s 2014 calendar pictures a year’s worth of amazing natural history opportunities you would want to experience before you “kick the bucket.”
Participants will meet for lunch at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 15 at Mariner’s Pier Express Restaurant, corner of Third and Spring Streets, Jamestown. (Parking is free on Saturdays in downtown Jamestown.) Then proprietor Chris Merchant, who has a passion for ancient trees and old growth forests, will introduce the group to some towering trees.
The Audubon van will provide transportation for a program that will include a hike of one and a half to two hours at SUNY Fredonia’s College Lodge and another brief walk of about a half hour at Lily Dale. Return is planned for 4 p.m.
Cost for the day, including lunch, is $43 for the public or $34 for Friends of the Nature Center.
Reservations with payment are required by Monday, March 10. Call (716) 569-2345 or click through the Program Listing link to reserve online.
Participants are reminded to dress for the weather.
Take a Saturday morning tree tour
The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens will hold a series of Saturday morning tree tours from 9 to 10:30 a.m. starting March 22 outside the Botanical Gardens in the South Park Arboretum.
The other dates are April 12, April 26, May 10, May 31 and June 7.
Get to know some of the many tree species in the South Park Arboretum with Kristy Blakely, director of education at the Botanical Gardens.
You won’t be walking far, but wear comfortable shoes or boots that you do not mind getting muddy.
The cost is $5 per person, per tour.
Walks begin at various locations along the Ring Road, eventually completing the loop. Meet and park along the South Park Ring Road — Look for the Tree Tour sign. You can enter the South Park Ring Road at the Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Avenue, Buffalo.
Unfortunately, no, I won’t be going to the Jamestown event. I’ll be busy preparing for Plantasia. It sounds like fun, though.
Are you going to the Jamestown event?