Ann and Marc Davis, and Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust, will host a bird walk on Saturday, June 24 at the Woods Without Gile in Springfield.

Registration is required and limited. The walk will be no more than two miles on maintained trails and over undulating terrain.

Laura Deming and Steven Lamonde, professional biologists with Moosewood Ecological, will lead the bird walk. The Davises have engaged Moosewood Ecological to survey the plants and animals at the Woods Without Gile, a 500-acre certified New Hampshire Tree Farm in Springfield and Wilmot.

Ausbon Sargent holds a conservation easement on the Woods Without Gile. The property was the 2022 New Hampshire Tree Farm of the Year and was nominated as the 2023 Regional Tree Farm of the Year.

Deming has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Vermont. As a senior biologist at New Hampshire Audubon for nearly three decades, she coordinated survey projects for wintering bald eagles, forest birds, marsh birds, and other animals. She is a doctoral candidate in environmental studies at Antioch University New England. 

Lamonde has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Johnson State College and a master’s degree in conservation biology from Antioch University New England. He is passionate about birds and community science. Never without binoculars or a camera close at hand, Lamonde enjoys taking any opportunity to document New England’s biodiversity.

“When we bought the property in 2002, we saw and heard very few birds because the habitat lacked diversity,” said Ann Davis, manager of the Woods Without Gile. “When we held a bird walk at the woodlot in 2022, we saw/heard 42 species. We believe this is the result of how we have managed the forest. We hired Moosewood Ecological to conduct surveys of the property to determine whether the diversity of animals and plants at the Woods Without Gile is the result of how we manage the land.”

Registration is available from Ausbon Sargent at 603 526-6555 or from Kristy Heath at kheath@nullausbonsargent.org.