Biodiversity Celebration, Joppa Flats Education Center, Newburyport, Saturday, June 5th 2010

June 5, 2010

When: Saturday, June 5th 2010, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center, One Plum Island Turnpike, Newburyport, MA

It’s Time to Celebrate Biodiversity at Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats on June 5th!

Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center, Newburyport, will be busy with lots of outdoor activity on Saturday, June 5th, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. celebrating Biodiversity Day.

The Biodiversity Free-for-All features lots of animals, plants, and insects to showcase the diversity of wildlife in the lower Merrimack Valley region.

Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center has teamed up with the Parker River Clean Water Association to provide helpful information, hands-on learning, and several family-friendly activities, including exploring a backyard grid, handling beach creatures at the tide pool touch trays, and investigating the “magnification museum.”

As a special feature, there will be a gathering of all who painted nature tiles for the Joppa Flats Tile Project to celebrate and unveil the finished product at 1:00 pm.

The free activities for adults and families will be held all day, rain or shine.

“The Newburyport area has so many diverse habitats, from butterfly gardens to salt pannes. Our biodiversity celebration is all about taking an in-depth look at nature and its relationships and adaptations while developing our awareness of all the different species around us,” says Lisa Hutchings, Teacher-Naturalist for Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center.

“Biodiversity celebrations have become an important tradition across Massachusetts,” states Hutchings. “Residents of Newburyport and its surrounding towns can come to the Biodiversity Celebration Free-For-All to learn something new about the natural world, see live animals up close, or discover ways to live a ‘greener’ life. It’s an opportunity for all ages to discover, or rediscover, the incredible range of wildlife that can be found here – birds, plants, coastal invertebrates, insects, and more – and why it’s important that we all protect as much of the natural world as we can.”

Lisa Hutchings seeks out caterpillars in the Joppa Flats butterfly garden with two young helpers.

About Mass Audubon:

The Massachusetts Audubon Society is the largest conservation organization in New England, concentrating its efforts on protecting the nature of Massachusetts for people and wildlife.

Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center, located at One Plum Island Turnpike in Newburyport, is a natural history education and visitor center that is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday and Monday holidays, 8:30 to 4. Call 978-462-9998 for additional information about programs and events, or visit Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center website.