Arboretum Hawk Watch, Saturday, April 25

SCHOHARIE REGION (04/22/2009)(readMedia)-- Popular Science Educator George Steele will lead the annual SPRING MIGRATION HAWK WATCH with HAWK IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOP on April 25, Saturday, 10 AM - 4 PM at the Landis Arboretum. Donation, $5 per person.

Join in for a day on the look out for hawks in migration. The Arboretum offers great views over the Schoharie Valley, a natural corridor for hawks on the move. There will be a Hawk Identification Workshop at 2 PM to help you hone personal hawk-watching skills.

Participants can be part of the watch for as long as they want. A wonderful family activity on what is expected to be a spectacular Spring weekend.

Area resident, George Steele is a seasoned and award-winning environmental education consultant and a popular guide at Landis, the Capital Region's Arboretum. Since 1992 he was worked with a wide range of programs for children's summer camps, museums, nature centers, outdoor education centers, state agencies, libraries, and schools throughout the Northeast.

What is an Arboretum anyway?

Arboreta serve as living museums. Collections of labeled plants are used not only for enjoyment and casual display but for critical examination and scientific study.

Arboreta...

  • Grow and keep labeled collections of woody plants which grow in a given locality;
  • Introduce plants into cultivation from the wild by selecting superior forms of indigenous plants or by importing and selecting plants from other climatically similar regions around the world;
  • Maintain accurate records of plant collections through herbarium samples, plant records, and maps of plantings;
  • Perform scientific investigations such as plants breeding;
  • Maintain library collections of relevant literature; and
  • Disseminate information to the public through educational programs, workshops, and publications.

The Landis Arboretum includes a nationally recognized collection of oaks and is registered with the North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC). The Arboretum also is included in the New York State Route 20 Bluebird Trail, bringing even more birdwatchers to the site. The Arboretum's vast dark sky and wide horizons attract area astronomers to its meeting house and parking field for sky-watching events

The Arboretum is central to the New York State Wine and Spa Trails and in close proximity to historic Sharon Springs. And, it is a natural stop for those traveling to the high-volume tourist attractions between the Albany, Cooperstown, and Finger Lakes Regions.

The Landis Arboretum is located 1.5 miles off scenic Route 20 in historic Esperance, NY. There, with decades of history and the riveting beauty inherent in the Arboretum's world-class, global collections, generations of extraordinary plantings continue to impart their secrets to its visitors.

For more information about the Landis Arboretum and Adventures in Schoharie County:

http://www.catskillmtn.org/publications/articles/2008-05-spectacular-beauty-sustainable-fun.html