by Penny Geis

photo by John Body, MRGI

Last year, I joined the Mill River Greenway Initiative on several of their river walks guided by people who know the history and the ecology of the river. On one walk I saw where the river used to run through downtown Northampton. This spring, an MRGI canoe trip took us through the floodplain forest and marsh just before our Mill River joins the Connecticut River at Acadia. An Audubon ecologist guided us to an owl nest, where his young daughter spotted a baby Great Horned Owl on a branch just above the water in front of us. For ten or fifteen minutes, we stilled our canoes and our hearts as we watched that baby owl just “this” far in front of us.

MRGI offers guided walks and paddles. I loved the walks – and highly recommend them. But don’t delay; you have to sign up early, because they fill up fast. Go to their website at MillRiverGreenway.org for information about this year’s walks, for information about the history and ecology of the Mill River, and to volunteer to help with projects in art, history, pulling invasive species, children’s activities, and more.