October Community Events

Autumn Leaves Program

When: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday October 18, 2025

Where: Amboy 4-H Environmental Education Center, 748 State Route 183, Williamstown, New York 13493

Description: Catch a falling leaf and put it in your pocket; save it for a snowy day. If only there was a way to preserve the brilliance of color found on trees this time of year. As autumn progresses, the colors of our forests shift like the insides of a kaleidoscope. The beeches turn hazelnut brown, the ashes become sunshine yellow, and the red maples display their vermillion splendor. What causes this spectacular show?

The Amboy 4-H Environmental Education Center seeks to answer that question during our new program Autumn Leaves. This event is open to participants of any age, no matter which county you reside in. Come learn about the function of leaves and why they change color. Then join us on a leaf hunt in search of as many different leaf species as we can find. We’ll also discuss how trees practice reciprocity, giving their leaves as gifts back to the world around them.

Fee: $4 per person and up to $12 per family

Register at https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/AutumnLeaves_235

Link: https://thatscooperativeextension.org/events/2025/10/18/autumn-leaves-program

Food Forest Planting in Elmwood Park

When: 10 am to 12 pm, Saturday, October 18, 2025

Where: Elmwood Park, 600 Craddock St, Syracuse, NY

Description: Help restore Elmwood Park’s natural stream corridor by planting edible berries, trees, shrubs, and perennials.

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/food-forest-planting-in-elmwood-park-tickets-1778434127349

Link: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=809659781430899&set=a.295861312810751

Guided Nature Walk: Entangled Lives

When: 10 am to 12 pm, Saturday, October 18 or 25, 2025

Where: Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, 3395 US-20 Seneca Falls, NY 13148

Description: To be alive is to be in relationship-entangled with the things that make our lives possible-sun, moon, air, water, plants, animals, insects, bacteria, fungi, etc. As we come to understand the nature of these relationships, we can grow in appreciation of our dependence on both the living and nonliving components of our environment.

Come join an interpretive walk at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge to explore the nature of these relationships. alone the way, we will observe the life we encounter while also examining some of the fascinating connections between all living things.

Binoculars and sunscreen are advised. All ages are welcome! No pets, please.

Meet your guide, Pete Saracino, NY State Master Naturalist Volunteer, at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center Sunroom.

Link: https://friendsofmontezuma.org/series/guided-nature-walk-entangled-lives/

Pollinator Party at Rice Creek

When: 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, October 18, 2025

Where: Rice Creek Field Station, 193 Thompson Road, Oswego, NY 13126

Description: Rice Creek Field Station and their friends’ group, Rice Creek Associates, are hosting a pollinator-themed festival, and everyone is invited! This festival celebrates the first year of SUNY Oswego’s designation as a Bee Campus USA, with fun, creative, and educational activities related to pollinators, native plants, and ways each of us can “bee” a better neighbor to the myriad of bumblebees, bees, butterflies, birds, beetles, and other insects that support food chains, including our own.

Activities with Start Times

• Guided Plant-Pollinator Nature Walk – 11 a.m.
• Live acoustic music courtesy of Rose and the Amateurs — noon to 2 p.m.
• Guided Pollinator Mindfulness Walk – 1 p.m.

Ongoing Activities

• Sample pollinator-produced food and drinks, in partnership with Green Planet Grocery
• Create a wooden pro-pollinator yard sign
• Get crafty by making pollinator magnets, origami bookmarks, and upcycled bee hotels
• Explore with a pollinator photo scavenger hunt or self-guided nature walks
• Browse and purchase locally-grown native plants that support pollinators, from Butterfly Effect nursery
• Peruse and purchase local crafts and goods at our pop-up market, featuring local and sustainably grown cut flowers (Henrietta’s Homestead), honey and beeswax products (local beekeepers), and sustainable goods made by SUNY Oswego students
• Learn about pollinators, habitat gardening, food forests, and beekeeping at organization tables hosted by Habitat Gardening in CNY (a Wild Ones Chapter), ASLF, and local beekeepers
• Celebrate SUNY Oswego’s milestones and programs supporting plants and pollinators with tables (including interactive activities!) from Bee Campus USA, the SeedShare seed library, and the 30-year Rice Creek butterfly survey
• Dive into pollinator diversity and evolution with a Dinosaurs and Pollinators table and displays of insect diversity from Rice Creek’s collections
• Pick up a new pollinator or habitat gardening book with the river’s end bookstore

Since parking is limited at Rice Creek, SUNY Oswego students and their families and friends are encouraged to use the free van shuttles provided to attend the event, which will run continuously from 11 am to 3 pm, leaving from the Marano Campus Center bus stop to Rice Creek and back. Guests will be dropped off right in front of the field station building. The final return shuttle from Rice Creek will be at 2:45 pm.

For non-SUNY Oswego attendees, parking is available near the Rice Creek building and along one side of the driveway.

Link: https://calendar.oswego.edu/event/pollinator-party

Onondaga Lake Conservation Corps Walk In Nature

When: 10 a.m. Sunday, October 19, 2025

Where: NYSDEC Onondaga Lake Visitors Center, 280 Restoration Way, Syracuse, NY 13209

Description: Join the Onondaga Lake Conservation Corps for a Walk In Nature program! Everyone is welcome to attend this 2 hour, 1 mile walk along the Onondaga Lake West Shore Trail to explore newly restored habitats that attract birds, mammals and other wildlife. Participants will learn from National Audubon Society and Onondaga Audubon staff and volunteers about wildlife and the importance of wetlands in supporting the Onondaga Lake watershed. The walk will be on a flat, gravel trail. Binoculars and field guides will be provided. Space is limited and registration is required.

Fee: $10/adult, $7.50/child.

Register at https://act.audubon.org/a/walk-in-nature-sunday-october-19-2025-10-am

Tree Buds Weekly Tree Phenology Walks

When: 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, October 20 or 27, 2025

Where: Cayuga Nature Center, 1420 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA

Description: Be our tree “buds” and join our weekly citizen science walk to observe and collect data on seasonal changes in trees.

Rain or shine, we will monitor when buds break, leaves emerge, flowers bloom, fruits ripen, and when leaves change color and fall. We send the data to the USA National Phenology Network, which makes it available to researchers who are trying to understand the mechanisms behind seasonal changes and how they are influenced by a changing climate.

You’ll learn how to make these types of observations, and how to do this at home or in your neighborhood.

This event is free and everyone is welcome to attend. We’ll meet in front of the Cayuga Nature Center lodge at the beginning of the program.

Link: https://www.cayuganaturecenter.org/ See “Open Full Calendar” under “What’s New?”.

On the Canals Morning Bird Walk 10.25

When: 10 a.m. Saturday, October 25, 2025

Where: Onondaga Lake Visitors Center, 280 Restoration Way, Syracuse, NY 13209

Description: Montezuma Audubon Center educators will lead leisurely 1-mile hikes on the accessible Empire State Trail in Syracuse, Port Byron, Clyde and Rochester to explore the many birds and other wildlife that live in these under-represented communities. The excursions will rotate through each of these communities and participants will experience migratory waterfowl, songbirds and birds of prey as they rest and feed in preparation for the winter months. Binoculars, bird guides and bird songs (via Audubon App) will be provided. The excursions will take place on flat, paved/stone dust trails and people of all abilities and backgrounds are welcome. These are free, family-friendly adventures funded by the New York State Canal Corporation.

This program will begin at the West Shore Trail. Please meet at the NYSDEC’s Onondaga Lake Visitors Center Parking lot.

Register at https://act.audubon.org/a/on_the_canals_westshoretrail_am

On the Canals Afternoon Bird Walk 10.25

When: 1 p.m. Saturday, October 25, 2025

Where: Onondaga Lake Visitors Center, 280 Restoration Way, Syracuse, NY 13209

Description: Montezuma Audubon Center educators will lead leisurely 1-mile hikes on the accessible Empire State Trail in Syracuse, Port Byron, Clyde and Rochester to explore the many birds and other wildlife that live in these under-represented communities. The excursions will rotate through each of these communities and participants will experience migratory waterfowl, songbirds and birds of prey as they rest and feed in preparation for the winter months. Binoculars, bird guides and bird songs (via Audubon App) will be provided. The excursions will take place on flat, paved/stone dust trails and people of all abilities and backgrounds are welcome. These are free, family-friendly adventures funded by the New York State Canal Corporation.

This program will begin at the West Shore Trail. Please meet at the NYSDEC’s Onondaga Lake Visitors Center Parking lot.

Register at https://act.audubon.org/a/on_the_canals_westshoretrail_pm

All About Waterfowl: Guided Bird Walk

When: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, October 25, 2025

Where: Great Swamp Conservancy, 8375 N Main St, Canastota, NY 13032

Description: Join Matthew Young, President and Founder of the Finch Research Network and co-author of The Stokes Guide to Finches of the United States and Canada, in a guided walk centered around waterfowl that visit both the GSC and the Erie Canal.

The GSC is located within the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor and features many of the same bird species that can be seen on the Erie Canal due to the abundance of wetlands.

Bring your own binoculars or borrow some from the GSC!

Wear rain/muck boots!

Free for the public! Registration is preferred but not necessary!

Register at https://www.greatswampconservancy.org/events-1/2025/10/25/all-about-waterfowl-guided-bird-walk

Link: https://www.greatswampconservancy.org/events-1/2025/10/25/all-about-waterfowl-guided-bird-walk

Native Plant Gardening: 4 Master Gardeners, 4 Approaches

When: 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Where: Hybrid: in-person at CCE-Tompkins Education Center, 615 Willow Avenue, Ithaca, NY 14850-3555 or over Zoom

Description: Hear presentations from four Master Gardener Volunteers (MGVs) about how each went about growing native plants in their gardens, their successes, and lessons learned. The talks will range from a small yard to a countryside wild area with different types and sizes of spaces in between.

This class is hybrid, you may attend in-person or over zoom. The program will be recorded and sent to all who register afterwards.

Emily Groff is a MGV living in Downtown Ithaca with particular interests in small-space gardening, native plants, and English and Japanese gardening styles. Diane lives and works in Commonlands, besides her own vegetable garden, she has put in pollinator gardens with natives for her community and worked to remove invasive plants and plant natives in the surrounding woodlands. Mary Royer is a MGV of 10 years whose interest in evolution has expanded to a passion for native plants and understanding of their role in our ecology. Carol is a long-time MGV with eclectic gardening interests including native plants stems which from a concern over the insect crisis and their intimate and vital relationship to all other living things.

Fee: This program is valued at $20, however, please pay what you are able. Paying more than $20 will help others attend the class.

Register at https://ccetompkins.wufoo.com/forms/za9ql120ey7be8/

Link: https://ccetompkins.org/events/2025/10/28/native-plant-gardening-4-master-gardeners-4-approaches