Despite changing tides and a lack of participants, Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust and Buzzards Bay Coalition participants made the best of a winter day.

The two organizations hosted "Marsh Madness," an educational program for children and families to explore the marshes at Knowles Reserve on December 29, but no one showed up. Coalition volunteer Jeannine Louro surmised that many stayed home with rain in the forecast, but the precipitation held off until noon.

Instead, Louro, joined by fellow Coalition volunteers Mandy Bonilla and Jeff Swanlund, and DNRT’s Kate Losey, went on a hike.

Losey led the hike through the property once slated for a housing development before DNRT stepped in. She pointed out its unique flora, including blueberry bushes and cedars. She noted that invasive plants are a problem at the reserve. Deer-attracting honeysuckle is a common sight, and can increase the tick population.

Losey talked about evidence of the reserve's past. She pointed to foundations that still exist, saying they could have been dug for the planned housing development, or are the only remains of long-gone shacks and farmhouses.

While the marsh was experiencing high tide, Louro pointed to all of the things she had planned to show youngsters, including broken seashells she had found earlier along the marsh.

“Marshes are often underloved and thought of as gross or wet,” Louro said.

The Marsh Madness hike was one of several events the Buzzards Bay Coalition is running for school vacation week. Its next event will feature a forest hike through the Flora B. Peirce Nature Trail in New Bedford on December 30 at 10 a.m. For more information, visit savebuzzardsbay.org.