Community Calendar

What can we learn from a wildflower?

That’s the common interest of Lisa Durrell and James McCarthy, who will lead a spring wildflower walk along the Heath Trail within the Cathance River Nature Preserve in Topsham on Sunday, May 26, from 10 a.m. to noon. The Heath Loop Trail, which is just under a mile and is mostly flat, encircles the preserve’s unique 30-acre heath preserve. At this time of year it’s likely to offer opportunities to see lady slippers, the polygala, the rhodora on the heath and wild callas, among other wildflowers.

The event is free. Showers won’t cancel the walk but if there are torrents of rain, rain date will be the following day, Memorial Day, from 10 a.m. to noon.

Registration is limited to 14 participants. To register, contact crea@creamaine.org

Lisa Durrell is a teacher-naturalist and CREA board member who was a former field teacher for Massachusetts Audubon after a career teaching math and science in the public schools. A close observer of the wildflowers growing within the Cathance preserve, Durrell says she’s most interested in learning the “back story” of the wildflowers that leaf out and flower in spring — using her walks to deepen her understanding of the big picture of the woods, fields and heath, the river, ponds and vernal pools present within the preserve.

For the past nine years, Brunswick photographer James McCarthy has been exploring with his digital camera the preserve in all seasons, types of weather and times of day. “The camera is a great tool for exploring our world: A way of seeing, for sure, but also a means of discovering and exploring our feelings about the places, people and things that are important to us.” As he has done on other seasonal photography walks sponsored by the CREA, McCarthy will share tips on photographing wildflowers in relation to their particular niches along the Heath Loop Trail.

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