The  Sudbury River curves around this upland area, farmed for centuries in Wayland, MA.  Vast hayfields support bobolinks, grassland birds that require large open spaces.  The Sudbury floods regularly, providing a band of floodplain forest and marshland along the slow, broad river.  Botanize the fields, learning common grasses and wildflowers of cultural landscapes.  Explore the shrubby edges with both native wetland vegetation and exotic invasives and talk about appropriate management.  Walk out to a point of mature trees overlooking the marshes of the National Wildlife Refuge and discuss the ecology of floodplains and the plants that can grow there.  Walking is easy, about a mile. Bring Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, a hand lens (and binoculars!) for full enjoyment of this botanical morning.