AUDUBON SOCIETY PROGRAMS

Audubon Society of Rhode Island. 949-5454, ext. 3041, www.asri.org. Advance registration for all programs.

•May 27. Bird Walk. With Mary Jo Murray and Phil Budlong. Leaves from Charlestown Mini-Super, Route 1A, Charlestown. 8 am. 783-9191 or e-mail blp8391@yahoo.com.

•May 29. Bird Walks, Marion Eppley Wildlife Sanctuary, West Kingston. 7:30 am. $5; members free.

•May 31. Fort Refuge Spring Saunter, Fort Refuge, 1443 Providence Pike, North Smithfield. Discover plants and explore for signs of wildlife. Trails easy with gentle, rolling, but uneven terrain. Bring binoculars. Wear sturdy shoes. 10 am-noon. $12, children $6; members $8, children $4. Ages 8+.

•May 31. Leaf Print Tote Bags Workshop, Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge, 12 Sanderson Rd., Smithfield. Short, easy walk in the refuge to identify the perfect leaves and then return to nature center to press-print bags. Each participant will complete one bag. 2-4 pm. $18, children $15; members $15, $12. Ages 8-adult.

•May 31. Salt Marsh Birds. Discover the salt marsh habitat with Kimball Wildlife Refuge naturalists who help search out and identify birds that make the salt marsh their home (egrets, terns, sandpipers, rails, sparrows). Spotting scopes available; bring binoculars, appropriate footwear. Meet at the Quonochontaug Breachway, end of West Beach Road, Charlestown. 9:30-11:30 am. $12, children $6; members $8, $4. Ages 10+.

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS

May 25, June 1. Tales and Trails, Audubon Society of Rhode Island Environmental Education Center, 1401 Hope St. (Route 114), Bristol. 245-7500; www.asri.org. Interactive nature story followed by an investigative exploration of the refuge trails. Discover insects, native plants, habitats, marine life and more. Designed for families with children 7 and younger. 12:30-1:30 pm. Free with admission. $6, 65+ $5, children 4-12 $4, children under 4 and ASRI members free.

EXHIBITS

Through Sept. 1. Flutterby: Butterflies in Bloom, Roger Williams Park Zoo, 1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence. 785-3510; www.rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org. New walk-through exhibit is set inside a 2,100 greenhouse landscaped with butterfly-friendly flowers and nectar plants and features about 500 butterflies (North American species), offering visitors a closes encounter. ***Opening weekend, May 24-25, features a variety of butterfly-themed activities and demonstrations. Daily 9:30 am-4:30 pm, through Sept. 1. $3, children 3-12 in $2 in addition to zoo admission ($12, seniors $8, children 3-12 $6).

Through Oct. 13. Green Animals Topiary Garden, 380 Cory’s Lane (off Route 114), Portsmouth. 847-1000. 80 pieces of topiary, including geometric figures, ornamental design, 21 animals, birds; fruit and vegetable gardens, plant shop, picnic tables. Victorian toy museum in main residence. Self-guided garden tours daily 10 am-5 pm. $11, children 6-17 $4.

GARDEN PROGRAMS

May 25. Roger Williams Park Botanical Center Program: Classic Combos for the Summer Window Box, Dalrymple Boathouse, 1000 Elmwood Ave., Providence. 785-9450. Advance registration. Participants receive a personal phone consultation to discover the perfect plants for their sun/shade exposure and exterior color scheme. Then bring in your window box (or arrange to buy one from the instructor for $29) and receive assistance planting the window box. 1-2:30 pm. $35, plus materials.

May 25-26. Open Gardens (8th annual), Gleaner Gardens, 299 Gleaner Chapel Rd., North Scituate. 789-7497; www.riwps.org. More than 300 rhododendrons and azaleas in bloom with more than 100 varieties. Stroll the garden and woodland paths; bring a picnic and camera. Witness the restoration-in-progress of these 50-year-old gardens. 10 am-4 pm. $2.

May 31. Tranquil Lake Nursery Program: Success in the Shade, Tranquil Lake Nursery, 45 River St., Rehoboth. (508) 252-4002; www.tranquil-lake.com. Warren Leach, landscape horticulturist/co-owner of Tranquil Lake Nursery, highlights shrubs and perennials that benefit from the shadowed protection of overhead canopy adding colorful flowers and foliage to the shady garden. 11 am. Free.

June 1. Rhode Island Dahlia Society Tuber Auctions, Cold Spring Community Center, Beach Street, North Kingstown. 294-3486, 294-4734; www.rhodeislanddahliasociety.org. 1 pm. Free admission. Handicap accessible.

LECTURES/WORKSHOPS

May 31. Lecture/Workshop: Container Drawing, Young Family Farm, 260 West Main Rd., Little Compton. 635-0110, 339-7460. 10 am. Free.

NATURE PROGRAMS

May 26. New Dawn Earth Center Program: Pond Exploration, 75 Wrentham Rd., Cumberland. 333-1341; www.newdawnearthcenter.org. Use a net and discover what lives in pond waters (tadpoles, frogs, whirligig beetles) and learn how all are interconnected. 10-11:30 am. $5, family maximum $18. Advance registration.

May 31. Aquidneck Land Trust Land Matters Walk and Talk Tour of Swan Farm, Portsmouth. 849-2799, ext. 18. Public invited to see one of the largest remaining stands of forested wetland on Aquidneck Island, along with the property’s fields and meadows. Meet at 9 am on Wapping Road where the old farm stand used to be (across the road from 953 Wapping Road). Dress appropriately.

May 31. Save the Bay Ultimate Lighthouse Tour. 272-3540; www.savebay.org. Explore the lighthouses of Narragansett Bay aboard the Alletta Morris. Sail down the West Passage to Newport and return home via East Passage viewing more than a dozen active and inactive lighthouses. Cruise departs from the Save the Bay Center, 100 Save the Bay Drive, Providence, 9 am; returns 4 pm. Lunch, binoculars provided. Bring hat, sunscreen and light outerwear. $100, members $85. Advance reservations. Cruise not deterred by light rain.

May 31. South Kingstown Parks and Recreation Program: Unseen Life of Asa Pond, Tri-Pond Park Nature Center, Asapond Road (off Curtis Corner Road), South Kingstown. 789-9301; www.southkinstownri.com/parksrec. Shallow water pond with large-mouth bass, sunfish, snapping and painted turtles, frogs and salamanders, great-blue herons, kingfishers and ospreys, water snakes, muskrats and eels, dragon and caddis fly larvae, diving beetles, water scorpions, whirligig beetles, mayflies, water boatman. Take water samples from different sections of the pond and view through scopes and microscopes. Wear old clothes and old sneakers or waterproof shoes/boots. 1-3 pm. $17, youth $14. Ages 7+. Advance registration.

VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

Save the Bay. 272-3540, ext. 130; www.savebay.org.

Volunteers needed:

•Collection Team. Volunteers to assist the Exploration Center Aquarist in collection of invertebrates such as sea stars, lobsters, crabs, urchin and vertebrates such as fish, mainly by seining.

•Eelgrass Volunteers. Help restore this critical marine habitat in Narragansett Bay. For the harvest: scuba divers remove eelgrass from the sediment using garden trowels and fill catch bags. Kayakers take bags of eelgrass from the divers and transport them to shore. Sorters work on shore separating sediment from the eelgrass, counting shoots and sorting eelgrass into bundles for transplant. For transplant: all volunteers must be willing to get in the water. Divers insert shoots into the sediment, using bamboo skewers as biodegradable staples to allow the shoots time to take root. In Water Diver Support hands eelgrass and bamboo skewers down to the divers and makes sure the entire process runs smoothly on surface. Kayakers transport equipment (weights, skewers, toggle buoys) to the divers and diver support.

•Summer Docents for Newport’s Exploration Center. STB docents are volunteer teachers who provide group learning experiences in the form of tours, demonstrations or instruction in special activity areas. Docents have the opportunity to teach and encourage visitors to protect, restore and explore Narragansett Bay.

ETC.

May 29. Signs of Hope Film Screening, New Dawn Earth Center, 75 Wrentham Rd., Cumberland. 333-1341; www.newdawnearthcenter.org. Renewal: Inspiring Stories from America’s Religious Environmental Movement, documentary screening followed by discussion. 7-8:15 pm. $6. Advance registration.