June 2016

♦ Photo Contest
♦ Peregrine Falcons
♦ Where Are We Now?
♦ School CSA

Found a Baby Bird?

When you see a baby bird out of its nest, it’s hard to resist the urge to help. While it may seem helpless, more often than not the baby bird is just fine.

Find out what you should (and shouldn't) do >

Summer Kickoff Sale

Stock up on summer essentials from field guides to feeders. From now until June 26, Mass Audubon members save 20% off their entire Audubon Shop purchase online and at the Lincoln location.* 

Shop online >

Not yet a Mass Audubon member? Join today, enjoy half off a new membership, and then start shopping.

Join today >

* some exclusions apply

Make Way for Ducklings

What would you do if you discovered a duck incubating a nest full of eggs in your fenced-in backyard? One Newton family found themselves in this very situation.

Get the full story >

Celebrate 100 Years

Visit a sanctuary, share your photos, and explore a timeline of wildlife sanctuaries. And now you can bring home Sanctuaries 100th-themed hats, t-shirts, mugs, and posters!

Learn more >

A Four Star Charity

Mass Audubon received the highest rating—4 stars—from Charity Navigator! This is the 3rd consecutive year we've earned this top distinction.

Find out why this matters >

Enter the 2016 Photo Contest!

	2015 Grand Prize Winner Short-tailed weasel © Steve Flint

A red-tailed hawk scoping out its next meal? Yes. The one of your kid observing a monarch butterfly on milkweed? You betcha. The sun rising over a misty meadow. Of course!

If you have photographs taken in Massachusetts (or at Mass Audubon’s Wildwood camp in New Hampshire) that show off everything from wildlife to scenic landscapes to people enjoying the wonders of nature, we want to see them!

Catching Up With Peregrine Falcons

Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on earth, capable of flying up to 242 miles per hour. Yet, these once abundant breeders were nowhere to be found in the eastern U.S. by the 1960s.

Today, there are 30 nesting pairs of peregrines in Massachusetts, one pair at the Custom House in Boston. Last month, Mass Audubon's Norman Smith and Mass Wildlife's Tom French banded this year's chicks. By doing this, we can now learn even more about these fascinating birds.  

Where in Mass Audubon Are We Now?

The last photo featured in Explorations was taken at Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox. Of those with correct guesses, Martha F. was the winner of a pocket guide.

Ready to guess another Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary?

Sandy beaches, butterfly-filled meadows, woodland trails, and farm animals combine to make this wildlife sanctuary a unique experience. Walk the gentle, varied trails that lead to what some have called a “million dollar view,” or hit the water for a naturalist-led kayak or cruise adventure.

If You Give a School a CSA

At Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, the mornings are bustling with activity. Starting at 6 am, the crops team is hard at work, harvesting produce to share with our customers.

For years, this harvest has been distributed through farmer’s markets, a farmstand, a CSA, and deliveries to more than 30 Boston-area restaurants. But this spring marked an exciting new addition to our distribution list: school cafeterias!

Banner photo  © Levi Civjan