The Howard County Conservancy

10/12/2026

On Nov. 5, meet up for a relaxed evening of painting and drinks. No experience necessary! Create a painting of a natural landscape, your pet or Ranger, our barred owl. Instruction and all supplies, including alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, will be provided. The program starts at 6:30 p.m. and admission is $40. Register in advance here: https://buff.ly/5LmR0X0

10/08/2026

We love connecting our youngest students to the wonder of nature!

For this month's Member Spotlight, we're excited to feature the Howard County Conservancy's Nature Preschool!

This licensed nature preschool for children ages 3 to 5 sits within a Howard County park, surrounded by Patapsco Valley State Park. Learn more about how this program uses public land to make outdoor learning and exploration part of every child's day.

🔗 bit.ly/HowardCountyConservancyNaturePreK

10/05/2026

On September and October nights, nearly 300,000 birds are flying south over Howard County, Maryland. Birds begin to migrate about 30 minutes after sunset, sometimes up to 10,000 feet up in the air. But it helps if you point outside lights down, or better yet, turn them off, to avoid muddling the birds' migration. Cornell Lab's BirdCast uses radar to detect the birds, and using birders' spotting information, reports that the most common migrators at this time of year are Eastern peewees, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, white-eyed vireos, wood thrushes and so many warblers! Look at Cornell Lab's BirdCast Migration Dashboard for details: https://buff.ly/vwYfywO
📸: White-eyed vireo, Bonnie Ott; warbler in flight, John Metz; yellow-bellied sapsucker on tree, Guy DiRoma

10/02/2026

Last weekend was a washout, but this Saturday looks perfect for a free lunchtime jazz concert in our native plant garden. Bring a picnic, maybe some chairs or a blanket and settle in as High Caliber plays American jazz standards in the garden amphitheater. Their set list includes Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, the Gershwins, Oscar Hammerstein, Aretha Franklin and "Just the Two of Us," so don't miss it! The goldenrods and asters will bounce their heads along with you. Thanks to the support of the Columbia/Patuxent Rotary, this concert is free and open to all. But please register at our link in bio!But please register: https://buff.ly/hXHxlzj

09/30/2026

Get out the vote! Today is the last chance to cast your ballot for the fan favorite photo to be included in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources 2027 calendar. The Conservancy's Montjoy Barn is front and center in Stephen Talabac's barnstorming photo of the Northern lights. We'd love to be featured in the calendar, so give a thumbs-up to Stephen's photo on DNR's Facebook album by 5 p.m. tonight! Vote here: https://buff.ly/4hHfvNO

09/28/2026

It's fall, but the Conservancy's gardens are full of plants that don't stop even when summer does! Native plants are beautiful, but they're also the perfect food and habitat for native wildlife. These gardens bloom all the way until the frost, so catch the last flowers of the season before they're gone. The native plant gardens are open sunrise to sunset, every day of the year. Learn more about the varieties of plants in the John L. Clark Native Plant Garden: https://buff.ly/EPOJOhU

09/26/2026

The food was tempting, the w**e was chilled, the b**r was zesty, the garden was glowing and the weather mostly cooperated on Sept. 17 for W**e in the Garden, B**r in the Barn. More than 500 people gathered to support the Conservancy's environmental education programming and browse the silent auction offerings. Thank you to all who donated, whether it was giving time as a volunteer or a caterer preparing tasty bites, a liquor store giving a case of bubbly or a local business offering an auction item. Sponsors helped fund the evening, including: Garden Sponsor: AT&T Tree Sponsors: Center for Vein Restoration / Compass / COPT Defense Properties / Frinky Fund / Gula Tech Adventures / Howard Hughes Communities / Ken and Elizabeth Lundeen / McCormick Spice / Visionist, Inc. / Yolanda and Frank Bruno

📸: Ken Ackman, Janice Winter and Mark Winter

09/25/2026

Attention grocery shoppers! The Conservancy is now a recipient of the Roots Market bag donation program. For every coin a shopper receives when they bring their own bag, they can choose to drop a wooden Roots nickel in the collection box in the bagging area and the Conservancy receives ten cents. Those dimes add up quickly! The program at the Roots Markets in Clarksville and Olney lasts through the end of the year. It's a triple win: Save on plastic, help the planet and fund the Conservancy. Thanks for picking us, Roots!

09/22/2026

Our barn has gone statewide! The Conservancy is thrilled that Stephen Talabac's photograph of the aurora borealis and our Montjoy Barn is in the running for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources's annual image contest. Vote for your fan favorite (and we hope that fav photo has a barn in it!) Thanks, Stephen, for capturing the wonders that happen on our grounds.