Almost 30 hardy souls met on February 26 for a winter tree walk sponsored by the Suffield Land Conservancy (SLC) and Trees for Suffield.
Guide John Kehoe leads a Winter Tree Walk at the John and Madeline McClean Outdoor Education Preserve.
The outing was held at the SLC’s John and Madeline McClean Outdoor Education Preserve, directly across from Suffield High School. John Kehoe, an arborist and adjunct instructor at UConn’s College of Agriculture, led the gathering around the one- mile trail.
Participants learned how to identify different trees in the winter and heard fascinating facts about native trees, their growth patterns, and their histories.
The preserve is home to over 40 varieties including several types of birches, oaks, maples and fruit trees. This provides diverse habitats for flora and fauna.
Suffield High School students Vincent Nguyen, Catherine Beach, and Cassie Hryniewicz attended the walk as a step in their tree identification project. They plan to post identification QR codes beside certain trees so that visitors to the preserve will be able to identify and learn about them.