Visitors are welcome to visit our preserves while they adhere to health and safety guidelines listed here.
Our office is currently closed to the public until further notice due to COVID-19, but our staff can still be reached remotely:
- Doreen MacGillis, Executive Director: dmacgillis@yorklandtrust.org, 207-363-0616
- Patty O’Connor, Development Assistant: poconnor@yorklandtrust.org, 207-363-7400 ext. 4
- Laura Poppick, Outreach and Programs Coordinator: lpoppick@yorklandtrust.org, 207-358-9330
Easy Outdoor Nature Activities During Time of Social Distancing
Here’s a list of outdoor activities you can try on your own or with your family while also social distancing. Enjoy!
Become a Citizen Scientist
Download iNaturalist, a citizen science app, to help document the plants and wildlife living in our region! This free app will help you identify what you’ve found — no ID experience is required. Learn something new and contribute to local ecosystem data along the way!
Explore Tree Rings
Find a stump and spend some time counting the rings. Each ring represents a year of the tree’s life. You’ll notice some rings are wider than others — perhaps representing years with more rain or periods with less shade in the forest. You may notice the rings lean one way or another — a sign of wind patterns that may have bent the trunk over the course of years. There’s plenty about a forest you can decode just by looking at tree rings!
Animal Signs Scavenger Hunt
Use the images below for ideas of the types of animal signs you might find out on the trails or around your home. These signs include (a) wildlife food stashes (acorns) (b) chew marks (from a beaver!) (c) woodpecker holes (d) underground burrows and (e) scat (perhaps from a fox?).
Backyard Birding
Now’s a great time to grab a bird guidebook or download an app to help you learn which birds are singing out your window. Learn some bird basics from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Nature Journaling: Signs of the Seasons
As life slows down during the COVID-19 pandemic, take a few minutes out of each day to record the signs of the changing seasons. Perhaps you’ll notice a leaf budding, an acorn sprouting, or a flower blooming. Date your observations — you may be surprised by how quickly the seasons unfold!
Tree ID: Download Maine Forest Service’s FREE Tree Guidebook
As you walk through our preserves or sit in your yard, try your hand at IDing the trees around you! The Maine Forest Service has a free, user-friendly Forest Trees of Maine guidebook available to download here.
Click on the picture to the left to watch YLT Outreach and Programs Coordinator, Laura Poppick, explain how to ID an Eastern white pine tree.