Whitfield Museum hosts free event celebrating nature stewards

Owls and turtles and bees, oh my! See all these live animals and more during the third annual Nature Stewards Field Day hosted by the Henry Whitfield State Museum from 12-4 pm on Sunday, August 17, 2025. This free event encourages everyone to discover ways to be better nature stewards from people doing the work.

Meet some of Turtle Haven’s rescued and rehabilitating turtles. Learn how to help displaced and orphaned wildlife with Little Rascals Rescue at Raccoon Crossing. Well-Comb Home will display an observation beehive, and their local honey and beeswax products will be available for purchase. The Menunkatuck Audubon Society will share information about their local conservation work and have plants from their UrbanScapes Native Plant Nursery for sale.

Special presentations will take place throughout the afternoon. At 1 pm, meet an American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, and a Barred Owl in a birds-of-prey presentation by Rose Crisci of Blue Moon Raptors. Angelina Carnevale from Turtle Haven will introduce some of her turtle ambassadors and talk about how to help wild turtles and pet turtles thrive at 2 pm. Tour the museum’s native pollinator garden at 3 pm with Heather Bradley and learn tips and tricks to do it yourself.

A craft area will feature supplies and instructions to make nature shadow drawings. All ages are invited to pick up supplies and explore the museum’s beautiful grounds to find their artistic subject, whether it’s a branch of a majestic red oak tree, a swamp rose-mallow bloom in the pollinator garden, or anything else that inspires them.

Admission to the program, the Whitfield House, and the exhibit galleries is free and the event will be held rain or shine. For more information, call 203-453-2457, visit the museum website, or e-mail whitfieldmuseum@ct.gov.