Nashua Conservation Commission

05/27/2026

Spring is a great time to add native plants to your yard or garden. Native species grow better locally, are more resilient, help manage water, reduce heat, and support pollinators and wildlife. Explore native flowers, trees, and shrubs for NH: https://plantnative.org/rpl-nen.htm

05/25/2026

Join people all over New Hampshire and help document birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, flowers, trees, mosses, mushrooms, during this weeklong event held June 21st through June 27th at NH Audubon properties.

NH Audubon is holding a free webinar June 2 from 6-7:30pm.

During this upbeat and informational webinar, you will:

Learn about the NH Audubon Nature Challenge and why we need your help.
Learn how to register for iNaturalist and eBird if you do not already have an account (both are free to use!) and how to submit valid observations.
Find out which wildlife sanctuaries are included and some tips on visiting.

Find more information here:

Get ready for the 2nd annual Audubon Nature Challenge! Join people all over New Hampshire documenting birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, flowers, trees, mosses, mushrooms, and everything else during this […]

05/25/2026

The NH Audubon Nature Challenge, a bioblitz type event taking place the last full week of June, includes over 20 NH Audubon sanctuary properties and needs your data. We welcome all in the Granite State to flex your skills as a scientist and help us inventory all animals, plants, and fungi in a targeted data collection effort from Sunday, June 21 – Saturday, June 27.

Your help is needed no matter where you are in New Hampshire; there is at least one included sanctuary in every region of the state and three locations that meet ADA accessibility guidelines. Using the free iNaturalist and eBird platforms, which can be downloaded right onto your phone, this weeklong event aims to document the birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, flowers, trees, mosses, mushrooms and more that either stop at our sanctuaries or call them home!

Check out our Events Calendar to sign up for an introductory webinar, outings the week of the Nature Challenge, and to receive results! nhaudubon.org/events

05/24/2026

Your yard can be habitat.

A "messy" yard and a "clean" yard look different to a human. To wildlife, the difference is food and no food. Shelter and no shelter. Alive and empty.

A manicured lawn with trimmed hedges, mulched beds, removed leaf litter, and sprayed borders provides almost no habitat for the species that control pests, pollinate plants, and feed birds.

The "messy" features most homeowners remove are the ones most species depend on. 🌿

LEAF LITTER (removed in fall cleanup) — Shelters firefly larvae, moth pupae, overwintering beetles, salamanders, toads. Feeds the decomposer community that produces soil. Removal = the entire soil food web loses its substrate.

DEAD BRANCHES (pruned for aesthetics) — Woodpeckers drum on them. Cavity nesters nest in them. Insects colonize the wood. One dead branch supports more life than a living one.

BARE SOIL PATCHES (covered with mulch) — Seventy percent of native bees nest in bare ground. Mulch eliminates access.

TALL GRASS AT EDGES (mowed to the fence) — Ground-nesting bees, firefly pupae, toad shelters, box turtle foraging habitat. Mowing removes all of it.

SEED HEADS LEFT STANDING (deadheaded for looks) — Goldfinches, sparrows, and juncos eat the seeds through fall and winter.

🐾 The hybrid approach:

- Neat in front. Wild in back. Mulch on paths. Leaves under shrubs.
- The "messy" section can be small — a ten-by-ten-foot patch produces disproportionate habitat
- Every feature removed reduces the species count. Every feature left supports multiple species.

The yard that looks "finished" to a neighbor is often empty to the ecosystem. The yard that looks "neglected" is the one where everything is working.

05/09/2026

Turtles are on the move! 🐢🐢
Be on the lookout for our turtles when traversing our roadways, particularly in May- June when turtles are actively moving
When safe to do so, help our turtles by moving them across the road in the direction to which they were headed.

05/06/2026

A great opportunity to help turtles!

🐢 Turtle season is here — and your sightings can make a difference!

As turtles emerge to bask, nest, and wander, it’s the perfect time to get outside — and help protect New Hampshire’s turtle populations while you’re at it.

Join NH Fish and Game turtle biologist Josh Megysey and Harris Center ecologist Nate Marchessault for this live Zoom talk to learn how your turtle photos can contribute to real conservation work. From snapping a quick picture to submitting data, you’ll discover how easy it is to turn a chance encounter into something meaningful.

We’ll cover how to report sightings through RAARP and iNaturalist.org, how that data is used by biologists, and how to share information responsibly to keep turtles safe from harm.

📅 Tuesday, May 12, 2026
🕠 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. via Zoom
🎥 Can’t attend live? Register anyway to receive the recording!

👉 Register here to get the Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/turtle-sightings

💚 Let’s make this a great season for turtles — and for the people who care about them.

This program is offered through the Monadnock Region Turtle Conservation Initiative, a partnership between the Harris Center, the Cheshire County Conservation District, the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions, NH Fish and Game, NH Department of Environmental Services, USDA NRCS, and Moosewood Ecological.

04/28/2026

The annual City Nature Challenge concluded yesterday, and Nashua has contributed 699 observations so far! Observations were made anywhere in Nashua and uploaded with iNaturalist to document biodiversity in Nashua.
The Nashua Conservation Commission hosted guided walks at 4 of our properties during the challenge. Thanks to all who participated in these walks or who documented wildlife or plants on their own during the challenge! Special thanks to photographer Kari Heistad who shared some of the photos she took at Terrell Homestead Conservation Area.
If you have photos that you took in Nashua of wildlife or wild plants you can update them to iNaturalist through May 10th and they will be counted. The photos must have been taken between April 24 and April 27th in Nashua.

04/23/2026

The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an international event, encouraging people around the world to find and document plants and wildlife in their own cities. This annual four-day global bioblitz starts tomorrow April 24 and runs through the 27th. Participants take pictures of wild plants and animals and upload them using the iNaturalist App.

You can contribute to this effort by recording observations of wild plants and animals found anywhere in Nashua between April 24-27. This could be in your yard, a sidewalk, a park, or in our conservation properties.

To help you get started the Conservation Commission is hosting guided walks at the City’s conservation areas each day during the CNC. Participants will contribute to community-based science by recording observations of wild living things with the iNaturalist app.

Guided walks are from 9AM-11AM at the following locations

April 24 Buckmeadow Conservation Area (9AM-11AM)
Park along one side of Cherrywood Drive near its intersection with Buckmeadow Road
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xdhht5HCfjiMHkig7

April 25 Lovewell Pond Conservation Area (9AM-11AM)
Parking area is on the south side of Main Dunstable Road near Gregg Road
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DvAySEM3wLFXRP418

April 26 Terrell Homestead Conservation Area (9AM-11AM)
Park at the Nashua River Rail Trail Parking lot on Gilson Road (near intersection with Country Side Drive (94 Gilson Road as GPS address should get you close)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/is6WuGXF2FwxdvJi7

April 27 Northwest Conservation Area (9AM-11AM)
Park behind the Nashua Church of Christ at 97 Farley Road Nashua NH
https://maps.app.goo.gl/yisreBUKaP1JGowi6
These properties offer diverse habitats such as meadows, wetlands, ponds, and woodlands.

What to bring
Smart phone with the iNaturalist app installed. Camera (if not using your phone as the camera) and binoculars if you are interested in birds. Dress for the weather and wear sturdy, closed-toed shoes. It's spring so some trails may be wet of muddy. Take precautions to protect yourself from insects and sunburn.

Learn more about iNaturalist here:
https://www.inaturalist.org

04/18/2026

Big thanks to the volunteers who spent a rainy Tuesday evening helping Amphibians cross a busy road in Nashua. Among the frog species helped were Wood Frog, Spring Peeper, American Toad, Gray Treefrog, Green Frog, Pickerel Frog, and American Bullfrog. We also helped a Spotted Salamander and Blue Spotted/Jefferson Salamander Complex cross.

Sadly, we also observed numerous amphibians that were killed by passing cars. More help would be greatly appreciated!

Right now, it looks like Sunday evening could be another crossing opportunity. If you’re interested and able to help out, please send a message with your email address and we’ll give you more details.

Thanks to Jesse McCarthy, Megan Cook, Ella Debakker, Devin Anderson, and Carol Sarno for helping on Tuesday!

Photos by Jesse McCarthy, Megan Cook, and Carol Sarno

12/01/2025

The Nashua Conservation Commission would like to thank Cub Scouts from Troop 19 in Nashua who earned their Conservation Service badges volunteering for the Commission. The scouts worked on a meadow management project at Terrell Homestead Conservation Area.

The meadow at Terrell, which is surrounded by wetland and forest, provides valuable habitat for birds, mammals, and reptiles. Periodic cutting of woody vegetation is required to maintain this valuable habitat and prevent the meadow from returning to forest. Scouts used loppers and clippers to remove woody vegetation.

Thanks to the scouts, their leaders, and their parents for helping out on this chilly morning!