May 5, 2012

At Farmington, Ct.

The Farmington River Literary Arts Center has a terrific location in the historic old grist mill building at the foot of Mill Lane in Farmington.

Foamflower is a small wildflower that was in bloom this week in the woodlands along the Farmington River. Click to enlarge.

With the Farmington River flowing just a few feet away and the trees leafing out, it is a serene and scenic place in May. I’ll be giving a short presentation at the center tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. (Sunday, May 6), talking about some of my experiences writing about the Connecticut environment over the past four decades, weaving in some pertinent observations from the great naturalist Henry David Thoreau. It’s a short talk, half hour tops, with a question and answer period and  light refreshments after. There is no charge to attend. Information about the center at FRLAC.org.

The Farmington River is a great example of how worthwhile it is to invest in water quality improvements. The river this time of year is thick with people boating, fishing, birding, and walking the trails that follow the riverbank.  From the old grist mill building you’ll see geese, tree swallows, mallard ducks and many other species. Look carefully at the surface of the water for a little splash or a sudden dimpling of the water. Those are trout taking insects from the surface of the water.

It’s a very pleasant place to be on a beautiful May day.

April 26, 2012

New Haven, Ct.

A wood thrush is one of many songbird species that can be seen in East Rock Park, New Haven. Click to enlarge

East Rock Park in New Haven, 125 years old, is a full-blown, expansive park in the grand old tradition, more like a state park than a city park. Its distinguishing feature is the steep, all-but-treeless cliff that rises several hundred feet above the city, part of the Metacomet Ridge, the ribbon of rock that extends north through Connecticut and into Massachusetts.

This is a great time of year for a visit, especially if you have any interest in songbirds.

East Rock is practically a must-do stopover for many migrating birds, a kind of avian oasis with river, cliff and forest habitats, designated an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society. For many songbirds migrating north along the coast, it is the first food stop after crossing Long Island Sound. On a good day, it can seem as if there is a bird on every tree limb. In all, about 160 bird species have been recorded in the park.

Views of the city of New Haven, Ct., and Long Island Sound are excellent from the summit of East Rock. Click to enlarge.

The park, 425 acres, is laced with about 10 miles of trails, many of them along the Mill River at the base of the cliff; others ascend the ridge, including one to the summit. You an also drive a car to the summit, where there are terrific views of the city and Long Island Sound – and a picnic area. My outdoors column featuring East Rock Park appears tomorrow, April 27, in The Hartford Courant.

Two comparatively hard-t0-see bird species – the common raven and the peregrine falcon – are breeding on the cliff face. With a little luck, visitors might get to see one or both of these species.

April 9, 2012

At Simsbury, Ct.

The ancient Granby Oak suffered considerable damage in the October snowstorm. Click to enlarge.

Along with the tens of thousands of trees damaged last year by Hurricane Irene and the freak October snowstorm, dozens and perhaps hundreds of the state’s most notable and historic trees were seriously damaged.

Members of the Notable Trees Committee of the Connecticut Botanical Society are still learning of the status of many of the several thousand important trees that they have documented in Connecticut in recent decades.

What they know so far is that some special trees, including an enormous black oak in East Granby, escaped with little or no damage. But others, like the famous Granby Oak, a massive, ancient white oak that is celebrated on the town seal, suffered considerable damage. Some major limbs were lost entirely, others are cracked and may yet be lost.

The Pinchot Sycamore in Simsbury lost 35 percent of its canopy in the snowstorm last fall. Click to enlarge.

In Simsbury, the Pinchot sycamore, the largest known tree in Connecticut and named for the Simsbury native who became the first chief of the U. S. Forest Service, lost 35 percent of its canopy in the snowstorm. Crews were forced to cut off 20- to 40-foot sections of some limbs. Other limbs were lost entirely.

It was a natural event, of course, one that forests will adjust to in time, but the impact on these notable trees, some of them in open settings, was often dramatic. The largest known paper birch in the state, on the park-like grounds of the Institute of Living in Hartford, was so  damaged that what remained of the tree was cut to the ground.

My story on the storm damage to notable trees, with more detail, appears in  The Hartford Courant print editions today.