The Andover Conservation Commission (ACC), in collaboration with several other state and local organizations, will launch a summer-long “Taking Action for Wildlife” program with two public events in June, and continuing with additional activities in July, August and September.
Photo Exhibit to Highlight the Wildlife of Andover
Got bears in your backyard? Critters in your cornfield? Birds in your bushes? Moose in your meadow?
Share wildlife images you’ve captured locally in a community-wide photo exhibit to be mounted in the Andover Public Library beginning around the summer solstice (June 20). All varieties of wildlife welcome – from bugs to bears and beyond. Just send your digital photo files (in high resolution, please) to LBChase@nullaol.com, and we’ll take care of the printing and mounting. Kids’ contributions are especially welcome.
The exhibit is a part of the Andover Conservation Commission’s summer-long “Taking Action for Wildlife” program, designed to boost local awareness of, and support for maintaining, local wildlife habitat.
The purpose of the program, according to Mary Anne Broshek, ACC chair, is to help local residents and landowners to better recognize, protect, and enhance critical habitats supporting local wildlife, particularly rare and endangered species.
The kickoff program, on Wednesday, June 19, beginning at 7 PM, will feature a presentation by Kittie Wilson, a volunteer for The Loon Preservation Committee, on “Little Loon Grows Up!,” featuring her photographs of loon families on Pleasant Lake in New London. Open to the public at no charge, the presentation will take place in the Highland Lake Grange Hall in East Andover at the corner of Franklin Highway (Route 11) and Chase Hill Road. Co-sponsor of the event is the Highland Lake Protective Association.
Later in June, a community-wide photo-sharing exhibit will be mounted in the Andover Library, consisting of images of local wildlife taken by local residents.
Guided Walk in July
Next month, the first in a series of guided walks in areas of Andover that are most supportive of wildlife will take place on Thursday, July 11, with a morning program in the Bradley Lake area led by Dave Anderson, education director and naturalist at the New Hampshire Forest Society. Look for details in the July Beacon.
Also, on Wednesday afternoon, July 31, an East Andover exploration of dragonflies and their habitat will be led by the husband-and-wife team of Carrie and Andy Deegan representing the New Hampshire Forest Society (Carrie) and the Ausbon Sargent Preservation Trust (Andy). Again, look for details in the July Beacon.
Continuing in August and September will be additional guided walks in Andover locations to be announced. And on Thursday evening, August 29, Andover wildlife photographer Rick “Mooseman” Libbey will offer a public presentation of his work at a place and time to be determined. Details will appear in the August Beacon. (See a cover photo and other examples of Libbey’s work in the Spring 2013 edition of Kearsarge Magazine.)
The ACC’s “Taking Action for Wildlife” project has been guided the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. You can learn more about the state program and view the Andover wildlife maps at Wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/wildlife_plan.htm.
For additional information, contact ACC chair Mary Anne Broshek at MABandSadie@nullgmail.com, or 648-2539.