Enjoy the sounds of the spring migration with one of our local birding experts! This program is free to all. Please meet in the main parking lot. Dress for the weather and walking the trails.

WHAT: You are invited to participate in Save The Bay's Plastic Brand Survey! Collecting data on brands as a part of Break Free From Plastic's Global Brand Audit can help us hold corporations accountable for plastic pollution. We will collect shoreline litter and then practice sorting it by brand and type of plastic and entering the data on the TrashBlitz app. Participating in this pilot project will help Save The Bay design and launch a full brand survey of Narragansett Bay in the future!

For more info and to sign up, please visit: https://volunteer.savebay.org/need/detail/?need_id=913359

Any questions or difficulty registering? Contact July Lewis at jlewis@savebay.org. We want you on our team!

Join volunteers from the Middletown Tree Commission and Middletown Open Space Committee in rehabilitating a section of Albro Woods. This pilot project will explore different approaches to managing the impacts of beech leaf disease. Lend a hand in removing invasive species and planting new trees. Afterwards, everyone is invited to enjoy a potluck meal!

Registration is encouraged. Please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/879220581427?aff=oddtdtcreator

Jog a 5K while picking up trash with a local running group, Newport Run & Chug. Afterward, join us for a drink at the Fastnet Pub. Gloves, trash bags, and litter grabbers will be supplied. This event is in partnership with the Eastern R.I. Conservation District and Newport Run & Chug. Plogging is a combination of jogging while picking up litter!

For more info, visit: www.easternriconservation.org/news/plog-with-us-this-earth-month

Join Rhode Island Natural History Survey and Norman Bird Sanctuary staff to learn more about the upcoming BioBlitz at Norman Bird Sanctuary. Information about registration, event logistics, and BioBlitz teams will be shared, and refreshments and a light dinner will be provided.

Attendance at orientation is highly encouraged if you plan to attend BioBlitz at the Norman Bird Sanctuary on June 7th and 8th, 2024.

For more info and to register for this event, visit: https://rinhs.org/events/ri-bioblitz/ 

Speaker Bio: David W. Gregg has been the director of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey since 2004. An amateur naturalist since childhood, by training David is an archaeologist who’s excavated in Europe and Alaska. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from Brown University. Before the Survey, David directed the Spellman Museum of Stamps, in Weston, Mass., and was a curator at Brown’s Haffenreffer Museum.

Aquidneck Community Table (ACT) invites you to participate in a springtime garden clean-up, self-guided food forest tour, and youth scavenger hunt. Located on Aquidneck Land Trust property and leased by ACT, Island Community Farm (ICF) hosts 45 community garden plots, two micro farm parcels, a pollinator garden, and food forest. A parking guide will be present once you reach the property and gloves will be provided if you do not have your own. Enjoy an afternoon of light refreshments and your hands in the earth at the beautiful Island Community Farm!

Registration is requested for this event: https://aquidneckcommunitytable.org/volunteer-events/2024/4/25/food-forest-tour-and-clean-up. 

Come out and Enjoy Miantonomi Park with Bike Newport and community partners. Gloves and trash grabbers will be provided. Enjoy a free bird walk and scavenger hunt with Sachuest Point Wildlife Refuge staff. Bring your bike and take a spin on the pump track!

Choose between a guided garden tour, bird walk, or art and nature hike. This free event requires no registration and will meet outside the Welcome Center ten minutes before the walk. In the event of inclement weather, an announcement that day will be made on our website determining whether the walk will continue or not.  For more info, visit: https://normanbirdsanctuary.org/events/free-wednesday-nature-walk-apr-24/

R.I. Resource Recovery presents a free introduction to composting presentation at the Middletown library. Registration required. Visit: https://middletownpubliclibraryri.org/events/library-use-12/

The Middletown Conservation Commission invites you to a presentation by The Aquidneck Land Trust on our Aquidneck Island watersheds, which capture rainwater and channel it into reservoirs to supply our drinking water.  This event is free and open to the public.

Your backyard is the island’s backyard!

Save The Bay and the City of Newport invite you to help restore the dunes at Easton's Beach! We will restore the dune habitat by planting American beach grass (Ammophila brevigulata). Volunteer shifts run from 1:00-3:30pm and 3:30-6:00 pm.

For more information and to sign up, visit: https://volunteer.savebay.org/need/detail/?need_id=920054 

Celebrate Earth Day and join Aquidneck Land Trust at Miantonomi Memorial Park on Monday, April 22 from 9-11 a.m. for a cleanup! We are partnering with students from the Newport Public Schools to do invasive species removal as well as a litter cleanup throughout the park. Email sgrandy@ailt.org to participate in this special Earth Day event!

Mary Jameson will have an open studio on Suday, April 21 from 11-2 pm.   Mary uses seaweed and organic materials collected from the marine environment in her work.  Stop by her studio to see a seaweed pressing demonstration and learn more about how it contributes to the health of the ocean. 

The studio is located at the corner of Vernon Avenue and Freeborn Street in Newport, across from the public tennis courts.  Visit her website at https://www.saltwaterstudionewport.com.

Help keep Narragansett Bay clean with Save the Bay! Shoreline trash is ugly and dangerous to wildlife, and shoreline cleanups are a great way for volunteers to make a difference. 

Meet at the Weaver Cove boat ramp. There is no precise address for this site. Enter the park off of Burma Road and follow the road down to the parking lot. The boat ramp is on the far side of the lot. See map for exact location. Parking is limited, please carpool or take alternative transportation if possible!

Pre-registration is required. Sign up at https://volunteer.savebay.org/need/detail/?need_id=905426 . Any questions or difficulty registering? Contact us at volunteer@savebay.org!

Interested in attracting pollinating insects to your garden? Don’t miss the Land Trust's Pollinator Habitat Workshop at Spruce Acres Farm. We'll share ways that you can help provide a home for pollinating and other beneficial insects in your backyard. We will then discuss different features of pollinator habitat and pollinator-friendly ways to prep your garden for the spring. Afterward, we’ll get a chance to put this knowledge into practice by creating pollinator nesting sites at the Spruce Acres Pollinator Garden.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pollinator-habitat-workshop-tickets-876101732867?aff=oddtdtcreator

PLEASE NOTE: this is a “working” workshop. Registrants should come prepared to garden and should bring gloves (can also be provided by us), garden pruners, measuring tape, and appropriate gardening attire. All ages and levels of gardening experience are welcome!

Join us at the Middletown Public Library for an Earth Day Celebration! Activities include RI Resource Recovery’s informational booth, a lightbulb exchange, plant swap, eco friendly crafts for kids, free garden books, decorate a bee bath and more. Everyone is welcome!

Make and take home a ready-to-install rain barrel to collect and store stormwater for your garden! Eastern R.I. Conservation District will provide materials and step-by-step instructions. Containers generously donated by Coca-Cola. Installing a rain barrel to collect and store rainwater for your lawn and garden is a simple and powerful way to make a difference for Aquidneck Island and Narragansett Bay!

To register, visit: www.easternriconservation.org/events/middletown-rain-barrel-event-r3nbc

Plant power! Plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and make the oxygen we breathe. They also provide habitat for native wildlife, prevent erosion, and absorb excess stormwater. Pre-order plants from the Eastern R.I. Conservation District online by 12PM on April 18 and pick up on April 20 at Greenvale Vineyards.

To pre-order, visit: www.easternriconservation.org/events/earth-month-native-plant-seedling-sale

Join Friends of the Waterfront for a cleanup of King Park in downtown Newport. Gloves, trash bags, and coffee will be provided.

Cub Scout Pack 77 Middletown will hold their 3rd annual FreeCycle on the Pottsy Field side of the Middletown Library. A FreeCycle is a community yard sale where everything is free! Community members are asked to drop off unwanted items and then “shop” for new items at no charge! Drop-off will end at 11:00 a.m. Items must be in good, clean working/ wearable condition.

Accepted items include Clothing, Shoes, Luggage, Bags and Purses, Bed linens and towels, Books and Media ( DVDs, Records, etc), Small appliances and electronics, Exercise, camping and sporting goods, Games and toys, Home Décor and Small furniture. Items left at the end of the event will be donated.

Please reach out to Cub Scout Pack 77 Facebook Page for questions and more information.

Help the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District prepare seedlings for the seedling sale! Our seedling sale plant pick up day is on April 20. The day before, on April 19, we pack the pre-orders together to make it easier to give to customers when they come pick them up on Saturday. The volunteering consists of sorting the seedlings together into bundles of five, packing them in compostable bags with soil. Stay for as short as long as you want between 10AM-1PM! You might get a little dirty, wear gardening clothes. 

For more info, visit: www.easternriconservation.org/events/seedling-sale-prep-day

Plog with us after the Newport Rhode Race on April 13! There are three signup times to pick from; 10:00AM-12:00PM, 12:30PM-2:00PM, or 2:00-3:00. Participants will walk or jog a two-mile segment of the race route and pick up trash. You will be provided with bags, gloves, a map, shirt, and other goodies! The first 50 participants to sign up will receive a free long sleeve dri fit shirt, courtesy of Orsted. This is a volunteer event associated with Newport Rhode Races. This does not include running in the race event, only plogging after the event.

For more info and to sign up, visit: www.easternriconservation.org/news/plog-with-us-this-earth-month

Help Portsmouth High School’s Green Team achieve their goal of offsetting their school’s paper use by purchasing and planting a tree from their sapling sale. Support an initiative that plants hundreds of trees around Portsmouth. Info on the program and a donor link can be found at the Tree-Plenish website.

FREE - No registration required. Meet in the parking lot.

Count up as many bird species as you can, from soaring red-tailed hawks to tiny hovering hummingbirds. You'll learn how to identify common year-round residents and seasonal migrants.

All birding levels welcome. Binoculars are helpful but not required.

Celebrate Earth Week at the Norman Bird Sanctuary with a celebration of migratory birds. Learn about migration and why our bird boxes are such an important part of that cycle. Enjoy a presentation and guided hike out to the fields with our Ornithology Coordinator to learn the results of last year’s bird box program and get a sneak peek into this year’s plans!

Enjoy the beauty of Paradise Valley Park while learning about local Town Committees and enjoying a variety of free activities!

• Meet volunteers from the Middletown Historical Society, Tree Commission, Conservation Commission, and Open Space & Fields Committee to learn about their work and how you can help preserve Middletown’s historical and natural heritage.

• Bring your old sneakers to be recycled and help raise money for Middletown Cub Scouts!

• Get answers to your gardening and recycling questions from URI Master Gardeners and RI Resource Recovery.

• Activities include tours of the historic windmill and schoolhouse, tree walks, bird walks, tree planting, scavenger hunts, and crafts for kids.

• Raffle prizes include a Middletown resident’s beach pass and a family pass to the Norman Bird Sanctuary.

  Parking is limited so please walk, bike, or rideshare if you can. Free and open to all! https://www.middletownhistoricalsociety.org/