Nature walks in Orono to begin May 12

ORONO – Each year the Orono Bog Boardwalk sponsors a nature walk series at the boardwalk for the enjoyment and education of the public. Group size is limited because of the capacity of the boardwalk. Advance registration is required.

To sign up for a walk, e-mail Fields Pond Audubon Center, htwining@maineaudubon.org, or call 989-2591. Walks start at the boardwalk trailhead. For more information, visit www.OronoBogBoardwalk.org.

The schedule is:

. Short-distance migrant birds of Orono Bog such as warblers and hermit thrush, 6:30-8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 12. Leaders Jerry Longcore and Jim Bird. Free.

. Ecology of Orono Bog, 9 a.m. Saturday, May 26, led by Ron Davis, retired University of Maine biology professor. Free. What is a bog, and how does it differ from other kinds of wetlands? Why are the trees so small and old in the patches of virgin spruce forest near the center of the bog?

. Drawing nature at the Orono Bog, 9-11 a.m. Saturday, June 2. Leader Travis Baker, UM adjunct professor; co-leader Holly Twining, program naturalist, Fields Pond. This is an Audubon class for ages 10 and up; $8 Audubon members, $10 others. Bring art supplies and a creative spirit.

. Fish of the Orono Bog, 7-8 p.m. Thursday June 7; and 8 a.m. Saturday, June 9. Leader Judy Markowsky, director of Fields Pond. Audubon class; $12 Audubon members, $15 others.

. Poetry Slam at the Orono Bog, 9-11 a.m. Saturday, June 23. Leader Holly Twining, program naturalist, Fields Pond Audubon class ages 10 and up; $8 Audubon members, $10 others. Twining will lead fast-paced fun with poetry and nature and some of the impromptu poems home with her to make a small booklet of poems for participants.

. Hydrology in bogs and fens – where does the water go? 9-10:30 am. Saturday, July 14. Leader professor Andy Reeve, UM Department of Earth Sciences. Free.

. Mosses, peat mosses and other tiny plants of bogs, 9-11 a.m. Saturday, July 21. Leader Dennis Anderson, UM Biological Sciences Department. Free. Bring a hand lens.

. Peat bogs for kids, 9-10:30 a.m. Saturday July 28. Leader, bog summer education intern. Free. This walk is for 5- to 10-year-olds. See, touch, smell and talk about interesting things – from skunk cabbage to pitcher plants to cotton grass. Use a turkey baster to suck the water out of a pitcher plant to see what lives inside. Poke a long rode down into the peat to find out what is at the bottom. Only one parent must accompany his or her children.

. How some plants survive where most plants would perish, 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 11. Leader professor Christa Schwintzer, UM Department of Biological Sciences. Free. Wetlands like Orono Bog are impossible places for most plant species of the Bangor area to grow. Only a relatively few, specially adapted plant species can thrive in these environments with water-saturated soil lacking in oxygen or in extremely infertile peat soil.

. Peat bogs for kids: carnivorous plants and bogeymen – why are they in the bog? 9-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, Leader, bog intern. Free. This walk is for 5-to 10-year-olds. Only one parent must accompany his or her children.

. Mushroom ecology of Orono Bog, 7-11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12. Fields Pond Audubon Center class. Leader Alma Homola. $12. Limit 10 people. Prepayment required at time of registration, 989-2591. The mushroom quest is oriented toward beginners. Begins in the Bangor City Forest. Collecting from the boardwalk or stepping off the boardwalk is not allowed.

. Deep peat, 9 a.m. Saturday Oct. 6. Leader Ron Davis, retired UM biology professor. Free. Using a special device, Davis will probe down into the peat and bring up small samples from a series of depths. The samples will indicate what the wetland was like 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 years ago. Bring hand lenses or magnifying glasses to examine the contents of these ancient deposits.

. Night skies over the bog, featuring the Orionid meteor show, 8:30-11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20. Leader, professor David Batuski, UM Department of Physics and Astronomy. Free. Meet at the parking lot at the Tripp Drive entrance to the Bangor City Forest.