In the Field

My New Blog

2012-01-20T20:49:00.002-05:00

I've just started a new blog called "Along the New England Trail." Why would I do that? Because this "In the Field" blog started out as a very local blog of random stuff I saw while out in Shelton's open space, working for the City as the Conservation Agent. Over the past few years, however, many of my posts were more about what I saw while letterboxing all over the state. So the blog has lost it's focus.

This year I've decided to start focusing my letterboxing trips on the New England Trail rather than random locations around Connecticut. Boxing this trail will take years, no doubt. Rather than have "In the Field" turn into a series of posts about the New England Trail, I thought I'd just start a new blog for these trips.

The New England Trail (NET)

2012-01-01T21:09:00.001-05:00

I was planning to start hiking the new "New England Trail" next spring, but it was 50 degrees on January 1, and that simply cannot go unhiked. So here I am in Guilford, at the so-called Bluff Head parking area on Route 77. In Connecticut, the New England Trail is mostly made up of the blue-blazed Mattabesett and Metacomet Trails, but a new trail under construction in Guilford is supposed to extend the trail down to the Sound. It doesn't yet, but it's about half way there, so I thought I'd go check it out the part that's done. It's called the Menunkatuck Trail, and to find the northern terminus you have to take the Mattabesett for 1.3 miles.

The Mattabesett rises quickly above the highway, and before long road noise is banished for the remainder of the hike. The first 1.3 mile took a lot longer than I expected and at one point I was convinced I had missed the turnoff for the Menunkatuck. In retrospect, the trail goes due east across a series of rocky features trending north-south, so it's just slow going. Especially for me, since I rebroke an ankle in October hiking the Tunxis and am a little touchy about walking on slick wet leaves over wet mossy rocks. Slow was the word.

Green. Winter greenery is always welcome, but it was really vivid on this hike. All the warm weather we've had this winter has done wonders for our evergreen plants. Even the vernal pool was green. A tiny salamander larvae floated up out of the algae at one point.

So, I haven't been posting much this year due to a couple injuries that left me unable to carry my heavy camera and then unable to even hike for a spell. Excuse the photos today, they were taken with my Droid.

More green!

Here's some trail art. Big chunk of white quartz set on a green mossy rock. There was a fair amount of trail art on the Mattabesett.

And finally I'm at the Menunkatuck! I love that name. Menunkatuck. It took me about an hour to walk 1.3 miles. But the Menunkatuck proves to be a much easier path, mostly following old woods roads. I suppose this is because it's heading south and isn't going against the geology of the area.

Very shortly there's a kiosk for Broomstick Ledges, which I'm completely unfamiliar with. There's a sign for both the Town of Guilford and the Guilford Land Trust, leaving me wondering which one of them owns the property.

Good thing there is no hunting allowed on Sunday, because I'm not wearing blaze orange! Although I'm not crazy about hiking past hunters, I am happy that deer are kept in check so all the animals can live there, not just the most adorable ones. Forests completely stripped by deer are tragic.

Heading back to my car on the Mattabesett, the trail is again more rugged, and perhaps more scenic, winding up and around linear pools and rocky ledges, with a glimpse of distance hills through the trees.

Ten Mistakes I've Made Planting Letterboxes

2011-10-09T17:02:00.005-04:00

If you don't understand the title to this post, then clearly you have not joined the cult/hobby known as "letterboxing" and none of this is going to make sense. For my fellow indoctrinates, I have the following mistakes I've made hiding my boxes, mostly because I was just copying what I had found locally. It was a few years before I discovered some regional variations in hiding techniques and learned from them.

1. Including ink in the box. Apparently, nobody does this except for most of the boxers in my locale. Ink is really expensive, it gets moldy (above photo) or dried out, it bulks up the box contents so you need a bigger box, and if the box leaks the entire contents can become covered in colored water. Letterboxers often don't even use the ink -- they use their own. So why bother?

2. Using old fashioned Rubbermaid-style containers, even high quality expensive ones ("Housatonic Forest"). They are not designed to have any weight on them and the seal breaks if a rock is placed on them or they are distorted in any way. I only use the heavy rigid Lock & Lock style boxes now, with four locking tabs. A popular source for a more cost effective version of Lock & Lock for letterboxing is Ocean State Job Lot, who sells a nice 13.5 oz "Freshness Keeper" for just $1.25 each.

3. Using duct tape to conceal a box ("Shelton Canal"). It takes a long time to do, and tape comes off in a sticky way. It's also pretty visible in the winter. Now I use a very thin layer of flat black spray paint formulated for plastic. You're hiding a box in shadows, so a dark box disappears best. I've also seen people use dark brown. One nice thing about spray paint is you can do a lot of boxes up in just a couple of minutes. One option is to leave the purchase sticker on while painting and remove it to form a window. That's something to keep in mind if you're planting in an area where the Secret Service might become suspicious of your box and think it's a bomb. Better yet, don't plant there.

4. Planting too close to the trail (Riverview Park). I now assume that every box will become exposed. Someone won't rehide well, an animal might dig it up, or a heavy rain might wash away the cover. A box next to the trail will be seen eventually, and likely tampered with. I now try to hide far enough off trail so that if the box is uncovered, the box still won't be seen.

5. Planting in a drainage area ("Housatonic Forest"). Water washed those boxes right out of their hiding hole! Water can also wash a box down into a crevice where it can't be reached.

6. Planting in a really neat location that is nearly impossible to write clues for ("Lucy the Fox", for sure). I'm learning to plant near something really distinctive. Doesn't always work, but that's the goal.

7. Using cheap plastic bags, especially sandwich bags. They rip, they leak. Best ones are heavy duty freezer bags with double seals. Pint size is best, but very hard to find. I usually carry the freezer bags with me while boxing and replace old flimsy bags that I find.

8. Planting in an animal den. Found the box 50 feet away unopened ("Pine Lake").

9. Including a pen or pencil in the box. You know what? Boxers are supposed to carry that stuff with them when they go looking for boxes. All a letterbox needs is a stamp, a logbook, and a plastic bag to keep the two dry.

10. Planting in a patch of poison ivy during the winter. Oops. ("A Very Long Beach").

I've made plenty more mistakes! But I'll just stick with ten here.

Phoenix Trees

2011-09-26T22:03:00.001-04:00

Several days after Tropical Storm Irene, a series of uprooted trees lay over the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path. A volunteer cut away the branches in preparation for cutting up the trunk to firewood size lengths when a very unexpected thing happened: The trees suddenly swung back upright. These trees had been completely on the ground!

That explains the mysterious tree along Birchbank Trail that had been sawed off at the top well above head height. I always wondered why someone would get up on a ladder and cut the top of a tree off like that in the middle of the forest. It never occurred to me that a tree could upright itself so dramatically. In both cases the trees were on the edge of a swamp.

Basil Brook, Shelton

2011-06-26T13:28:00.013-04:00

This is the story of a little brook, so small it didn't even have a name until a few weeks ago. It babbled through some back woods, forming swampy ponds when it rained, and drying up when it didn't. Eventually the City bought most of the woods and started building the Shelton Lake Recreation Path through the woods, often right alongside the brook. But no one knew what to call the little stream. The picture above shows the Far Mill River with the little brook coming in on the left. I had to bushwhack from Sycamore Drive to get to this spot, which is located north of Buddington Road.

There is a magnificent stand of Stinging Nettles where the two streams meet, located exactly where I wanted to stand to get a photo. The hairs on the stem are the little stingers. Yes, I did get stung.

Here's some Royal Fern .... much safer to walk past. I found Royal Fern in several places along the entire length of this brook and a huge stand of it in the headwaters.

Let's follow the little brook upstream. The only place you can see the brook from a road is right here, at the intersection of Wesley and Sycamore Drives (see map).

If you walk up Wesley Drive a few hundred yards and go right on the newly constructed Rec Path, you may hear the brook babbling. Very shortly, you'll see it, too.

A few weeks ago, the Board of Aldermen voted to name the brook "Basil Brook" in honor of Basil Dikovsky, who owns the land to the right of the Rec Path in the photo above. Mr. Dikovsky donated some of his land here a few years ago so that the handicapped-accessible Path wouldn't have to climb up that steep slope to the left.

The Rec Path climbs gradually to this scenic overlook of the Basil Brook Valley. Although the Rec Path is located on City property, the brook and valley -- everything in the photo above -- are owned by Mr. Dikovsky.

If it's been raining, you can hear the sound of a waterfall off in the distance before the path crosses Wesley Drive again. A side trail leads to the waterfall, although recent construction of the Path obliterated the trail entrance. I'm sure the side trail will be restored at some point.

After the upper Wesley Drive crossing, the Rec Path first passes an associated vernal pool (the tadpoles were jumping) then comes alongside Basil Brook for a spell. This section of the Path is still under construction.

The haybales placed alongside the Rec Path for sediment and erosion control are sprouting quite the bumper crop of mushrooms.

And there it is, our little "Crab Apple Bridge," so named because the nearest street is Crab Apple Circle. It crosses the brook, so maybe we'll start calling it the Basil Brook Bridge.

The brook is flowing pretty strong for this time of year. Most of this water is draining out of a big wooded swamp immediately upstream from the bridge, just around the bend in the photo above.

Here's the source of Basil Brook, a big swamp. Last summer it dried up completely.

Very soon a new section of Rec Path will be constructed from the Crab Apple Bridge, along the banks of the swamp, and out to the powerlines. Survey flagging is all there is for now.

Not quite finished. Coming out onto the powerlines, the old Rec Path route (and White Trail) crosses this little streamlet that feeds into the swamp. So maybe this should really be called the beginning of Basil Brook. Such humble beginnings!

Polyphemus Moth

2011-06-17T09:03:00.003-04:00

This huge female Polyphemus Moth was hanging out in front of the house.

Check out those fake eyes!

Dust Devil, Shelton

2011-06-06T09:26:00.001-04:00

This video was taken from my Droid at the new Community Garden location. Machinery had been working over the soil to remove rocks, so it was really dry and dusty.

Epic Beach Hike, Cape Cod

2011-05-30T22:51:00.002-04:00

Here's the starting point, the Race Point Ranger Station, way out on the far tip of Cape Cod. The destination: Race Point Lighthouse, only two miles away. Ha ha ha ha....

OK, so let's head down to this National Seashore beach. Which appears to be covered in....RV's??? Yup. Lines of 4WD and RVs, mostly fishing.

By the looks of it, people were catching fish. Biscuit was terrified of a carcass left behind. Later I saw a big fat retriever chomping on a carcass as if he does that all the time.

After a bit I entered a zone where vehicles are prohibited and had a long stretch of beach all to myself. This photo is looking back at the fishermen.

Ahhhh.....That's more like it!

In one spot, there were half a dozen big Moonsnails left behind by the tide, still alive. They're about three inches across and normally burrow into the sand, where they eat clams. Why they were stuck up on shore, I don't know.

After walking and walking and walking...past another line of vehicles, another empty beach, and then a third line of fishermen, and forever rounding the corner of the Cape, the Race Point Lighthouse finally peaked over the back of the dunes. I almost didn't see it back there, and nearly walked right past it.

The only way to get to the lighthouse is by 4WD or your own 2 legs. Maybe by boat.

Some interesting vegetation in the back dunes here. A patchwork of color. The bright green is poison ivy.

The pink and white are Beach Plum blossoms.

And the soft gray-green is moss or lichens growing on the Beach Plum.

OK, then, now it's time to walk back. Through the soft sand. Two more miles. Each mile was the equivalent or 2 or 3 miles of normal walking. By the way, did I mention there are no restroom facilities or any bushes along the entire route? I lugged a bunch of water on the hike but was afraid to drink any of it.

Two fishing boats.

The walk was quite a workout and my legs were sore for about five days!

Somebody Loves Dogs

2011-05-30T10:02:00.001-04:00

Here's a box of dog treats nailed to a tree. Wow! This was out on the Cape, at a place called John Kendrick Woods in Orleans. Almost makes up for the fact that dogs are banned from all the trails in Cape Cod National Seashore. So, to whoever it is that put the biscuits there...Thank you!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Bearberry Hill, Cape Cod

2011-05-28T19:59:00.002-04:00

Take a walk with me up Bearberry Hill near Truro on Cape Cod. True to its name, the hill is in fact just covered with Bearberry, an attractive low shrub that I planted at Eklund Garden a couple years ago. It's not doing all that great at Eklund, but it sure likes the sand dunes on the Cape.

There's a lookout platform at the top of the hill and a spectacular view in all directions. We decided to follow one of the little paths through the hot sand out to the ocean...

...but when we got to the highest dune, we discovered a sheer sand cliff of maybe 100 feet. Too steep to go down, but the waves were soooo inviting.

Looking back from the top of the dunes towards the pines below, we could see vast clouds of pine pollen blowing in the wind. Ugh.

There was lots of interesting vegetation along the dunes. Here was some tiny Beach Heather in bloom. There was also lots of Bayberry, the shrub they once used to make candles, and lots of poison ivy.

A second viewing platform overlooked one of the many kettle ponds on the Cape that were once used to grow cranberries.

This isn't cranberry, though. Cranberries grow in the places that are too wet to walk for the most part, and this was growing along the sandy trail. This is Bearberry.

And here's some Dusty Miller. Yup, the same stuff that grows in gardens. It escaped and now grows wild on the dunes.

Walking on the dunes was hot, even though it was supposedly only about 70 degrees. It felt more like 85. We headed for another beach access point much further down the trail, and this time found a beautiful quiet beach.

Yeah!!

If you look close, you can see a seal in the photo above.

The sand cliffs were interesting, composed of various layers that were eroding from the wind, sand pouring over the edges like sugar from jar.

This pod of gravel and one bigger rock looks like it got washed up in a really big storm. A Nor'Easter, I bet.

We then headed into the forest and the bog house, where this Box Turtle was found hiding in the pine needles. He wisely refused to stick his head out.

The old boghouse and bog were just about the end of the line for us. Instead of retracing our steps on the hot dunes, we followed a fire road past the house right out to nearby North Pamet Road. Fortunately little short cut, as we had no more water left to drink. Those dunes are hot when the sun is out! After the hike, we got to pick over 100 dog ticks off of the dog.

Mohawk Trail, Cornwall

2011-05-13T19:46:00.003-04:00

The Mohawk Trail is another of our fine blue-blazed trails maintained by CFPA. Here's a waterfall at the Music Mountain Road crossing.

The woods were just bursting with native wildflowers today. I noticed that most of the Wild Geranium in bloom had one of these insects in them. This illustrates the complex relationships between our native plants and insects. The plants aren't just sitting there looking pretty, they provide food and shelter to our native animals.

Lots of Columbine! I happen to adore the native red and yellow colors. When you see Columbine in other colors it's probably the European Columbine.

These are delicate Merrybells, a native that we also planted at Eklund Garden in Shelton.
There is clearly some deer hunting going on around here. Look how thick the woods are. It sure doesn't look like that in Fairfield County, where much of the forest has been stripped by deer. It was in this area I saw a Black-Throated Blue Warbler, a bird that needs deep forests to thrive.

Lots of Virgina Strawberry along the trail and roadways, an ancestor of the domesticated strawberry. There are records of strawberry fields maintained by Native Americans, often in old cornfields. Not clear whether they planted the strawberries or the berries just grew in on their own.

This hut along the trail made for a great resting point. Hiking on a weekday, I didn't see a single person on the trail all day.

Marsh Marigolds.

Fringed Polygala, aka Gay Wings.

Starflower

Solomon's Seal.

On another part of the Mohawk, the trail followed a high rocky ledge filled with blueberry blossoms.

And came out onto this nice view. :)

Japanese Knotweed is Quite Dead

2011-05-09T15:51:00.009-04:00

Success! The Japanese Knotweed I injected with Round-Up last year appears to be quite dead this spring. Here's the post from last fall so you can see the "before" pictures and the J.K. Injector Tool that was used.

The Knotweed Patch was about 50 x 50 feet and 12 feet high. Now there's just a big dead spot.

Of course, it is not enough to kill an invasive species, if that is just replaced by another invasive species. Here we have Mugwort poised to take over, unless the Autumn Olive can do it first.
Although the larger-stemmed Japanese Knotweed plants have been killed, the smaller stemmed plants on the periphery could not be injected because the large injector needle splits the stem and the Round-Up just drains out. Follow-up is critical for these smaller plants, or they will take over in no time.

The Stump

2011-05-09T09:21:00.004-04:00

Meet our friend, the rotting stump, which we were too lazy/cheap to remove from our yard. There's a story in that stump. You can see where the three main trunks were, one of which has rotted out faster than the other two. And because there were multiple trunks, that means this tree regrew from from a cut stump rather than sprouted from a seed.

This large poultry staple must be where a fence was attached to the tree when it was about ten years old. The tree grew completely over the nail.

The punky tree roots and stump are now home to a number of enormous grubs which I believe are some type of Longhorn Beetle larvae. These larvae have no legs and can only eat rotting wood.

There is a grub in Australia called the Witchetty Grub that looks very similar, and people eat them. Bon Appetit.

Webb Mountain Park Wildflowers

2011-05-01T20:58:00.002-04:00

Webb Mountain Park in Monroe has a popular network of hiking trails as well as some rough campsites. This overlook might be the most popular attraction.

This time of year there are lots of wildflowers along the trails in bloom if you look closely. Here's my favorite, Red Trillium.

Here's some Rue Anemone.

Early Saxifrage

Common Blue Violet. The blooms and young leave are edible.

Dwarf Ginseng

Wood Anemone

Waxy Meadow Rue

Machimoodus - Land of Noises

2011-04-08T21:30:00.011-04:00

Machimoodus State Park overlooks Salmon River Cove and the Connecticut River in Moodus, Connecticut. Mount Tom, which dominates the park, is famous for its mysterious noises, called "the Moodus Noises," which were at times attributed to Hobomock (a Native American spirit or giant), witches, carbuncles, God's wrath at the back-sliding Puritans, and exploding vapors. "Machimoodus" actually means something like "Land of Noises."

We now know the noises are caused by micro-earthquakes, and this is the most seismically active area in the entire state. The most recent was on March 23 this year. A loud bang prompted 911 calls, and emergency crews searched the neighborhoods for sign of some calamity, but geologists simply recorded a small earthquake. A nearby deep cave is thought to amplify the sound of rock snapping.

Machimoodus lived up to its name. Although I heard no rumblings or booms, I stepped out of my car to the sound of a coyote howling nearby. Later, an old car passed down the trail (not sure how it got there) then stopped right around the corner from me, and through the trees I heard a man making a horrific noise such that I thought he must be getting stabbed repeatedly with a knife. I headed into the safety of the forest lest I be attacked as a witness. The noises continued and I finally suspected the man was simply heaving really loud and probably had too much to drink. This was confirmed when peace returned to the park and I continued down the trail.

The mountain had special significance to Native Americans as the place where they could get in touch with Hobomock. According to a local resident that I ran into, an eccentric millionaire took title to the land and built a network of private carriage roads, which are now hiking trails. The road in the photo above heads up the banks of the Salmon River through a mossy hemlock ravine.

After the winter from hell, the forest is finally coming back to life. Here's some early spring Coltsfoot in bloom.

The Mourning Cloak butterfly overwinters and is one of the first butterflies of spring. His edges are frayed, but hey, he survived the winter.

My favorite moment of the day was finding this tiny Round-Lobed Hepatica growing at a scenic overlook.

After visiting the overlooks, it was a nice change of pace to walk along the shoreline of the Salmon River.

It's nice to know that the Salmon River does in fact have salmon.

At some point I noticed some big black tourmaline crystals in a boulder alongside the trail. You can tell they are tourmaline by the rounded triangle shapes. Another hiker later told me there was an old tourmaline mine up there. I had an idea of where that might be, having seen what might be smashed white rock through the trees near the overlooks, and so I went looking.

Yup, that's it, the place of tourmaline. It was everywhere. The common black variety is called Schorl. Up in Maine they find pink and watermelon tourmaline, which are used in jewelry.

But what is black tourmaline used for? In the Victorian era they made "mourning jewelry" out of it. Tourmaline is odd. Some crystals, when pressure is applied, produce an electric current, which is why it was used in detonation devices during WWII. Also, when heated, tourmaline crystals are electrified and can pick up light objects. I don't know why this particular spot was quarried, though.

Found this teeny-tiny critter under the tourmaline, probably a Red-Backed Salamander.

In 1791, an earthquake centered here was felt as far as Boston and New York and caused chimneys to topple, boulders to move, fissures to open up, and fish to jump from the water. There were dozens of aftershocks over the next few months.

It will happen again.

It isn't a groan, nor a crash, nor a roar,
But is quite as blood-curdling to hear,
and has stirred up more theories crammed with learned lore
Than you'd care to wade through in a year.
-Reginald Sperry, 1884

Mud Season Footwear

2011-03-13T15:50:00.001-04:00

I am loving these waterproof Goretex light hikers! Much more comfortable than serious hiking boots.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Mouse Tunnel

2011-02-06T17:37:00.002-05:00

The melting snow exposed this mouse tunnel today. (I use the word "mouse" loosely). Wonderful weather for snowshoeing! Mice like all the snow -- it gives them lots of cover from the hawks and owls and fox.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Snow, snow, snow

2011-01-28T14:49:00.003-05:00

We've had about 4.5 feet of snow in the past month. No reason to stay inside, however. The roads are plowed.

I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this in Connecticut!

The snow banks on the corners (in this case, a traffic island) are so tall you can't see over them when driving.

Here's the Shelton Lakes Rec Path where it crosses Wesley Drive. Nope, I didn't go on it. Need some really big snowshoes for that depth, and mine are on the small side.

Lots of roofs have been collapsing and leaking, so people are doing their best to clear off the snow.

Roosevelt Forest, Stratford

2011-01-16T11:48:00.007-05:00

The Blue Trail off of Pumpkin Ground Road was well-worn by snowshoes this morning. Boots with spikes might work pretty well, but I had my light snowshoes on.

This old bridge has recently been replaced by the one I'm standing on. Good thing, I guess. The swampy area just across the bridge has turned into a deer yard, with tracks all over. In deep snow, deer will congregate in sheltered areas with food and cover.

Lots of animal sign out there. Here are some droppings next to a tunnel.

The deer pawed away the snow and oak leaves looking for acorns...

...and were successfull. Here are some bits of acorn shell up on the snow.

I turned on the red trail, which was not as packed as the blue trail. In fact, it was mostly deer tracks. Definitely needs the snowshoes there.

That's a whole lot of mouse tracks!

I turned off the Red Trail onto this deer trail in an effort to find a geocache.

Oh hey, there it is!

Snow at Shelton Lakes

2011-01-15T16:24:00.005-05:00

A pair of light snowshoes made easy work of the Rec Path, especially since someone had been in there with a snowmobile (illegal, but it happens). I parked at the Dog Park on Nells Rock Rd & Shelton Ave because that's the only lot that had been plowed.

I followed the newly constructed Rec Path behind Hope Lake.

It was beautiful, and I got hot using those snowshoes, even with the snow packed down. That's a good workout!

Here's the Indian Cave at the junction with the White Trail. The cave doesn't look like much head-on, but if you go inside the overhang, it's pretty spacious.

This rock appears to have teeth.

The nice thing about parking at the Dog Park is that Biscuit was overjoyed to finally get off the leash and run around in the fenced area with other dogs (both before and after our hike). It's a two-for-one spot if you have a dog!

Fighting the Winter Blues

2011-01-12T08:42:00.015-05:00

It's come to my attention that an alarming number of my Connecticut friends are really miserable in the winter. Having grown up in Minnesota, where winters were much longer and more severe (I once took my dog for a walk when the wind chill was -72° just to see what it would feel like), I'm going to offer a few tips on how to make the most of winter.

1. Get a warmer coat. Seriously. Very few people in Connecticut have a proper winter coat. Teens are out waiting in the snow for the bus in hoodies -- hoodies!-- and adults are out in skimpy trendy pseudo-winter coats (like the ones pictured here), proving they are no smarter than their kids.

These are fine if you live in Alabama. Look at the temperature ratings for a coat before you buy it. I have a long down coat from Lands End rated for -35° to -15° that I just love. I am never cold in that coat. In fact, I get too hot while exercising, but it's great for standing around at the dog park or running errands. While you're at it, get some proper gloves and boots. If you're properly dressed, the winter air on your cheeks will feel crisp and invigorating, not cold.

2. Go do something outside every day. Otherwise you will get "cabin fever" and become depressed. I walk a couple miles a day all year long. It's actually more comfortable walking in the winter than in the summer, assuming you have a proper coat, because you don't get all sweaty and overheated. Take up winter sports like skiing or snowshoeing. This is what people in the North do. Otherwise they would shoot themselves.

3. Don't allow yourself to think about spring or summer or anyplace warm until March. That's right, you heard me. You will just make yourself miserable focusing on what you want instead of making the best of what you have. Go into a winter frame of mind - embrace the season! Focus on the good aspects of winter - hey, no bugs or poison ivy, and no need to take two showers every day only to be covered with sweat after 20 minutes. No pollen or mold. You don't have to mow or weed the garden. And the snow transforms the landscape in a rather magical way. Enjoy it while you can!

Laurel Lime Ridge Park, Seymour

2010-12-25T18:24:00.004-05:00

Laurel Lime Ridge is one of those unrefined parks where the "trails" are more like ATV paths or old roads, the markings look rather ad-hoc, and there are apparently no maps.

In spite of that, or maybe because of that, it's a neat park, and if you can find your way to the look out, you are rewarded with a view up the Housatonic River. The overlook here is directly opposite the river from Birchbank Mountain in Shelton.

Ice crystal formations in the paths were difficult to walk on in places. But pretty.

Along the top of the ridge there are a series of interesting rock formations, overhangs, and quarries. In the picture above you can see a thick gleaming-white seam of calcareous rock, which is unusual around these parts. This is rock with lots of calcite, as in calcium carbonate or lime. A ridge of lime. And a few mountain laurels. Which is presumably why they call it Laurel Lime Ridge.
Not sure what they mined it for. But this is the same rock formation that was mined for tungsten, silver, and other metals that pops up in Trumbull, Monroe, and Shelton (see geology map - the formation is in orange). So it was probably some type of metal. The stone ruins in the photo above were near a small quarry and were probably related to the operations there.

The park is about 210 acres, and as far as I can tell it is owned by the Seymour Land Trust. If you're interested in exploring, we parked at the end of the cul-de-sac for Tibbets Road. And I was happy to have my gps with us (found a geocache while we were at it). The trails are all very wide and eroded, and it looks like there may be a lot of ATV traffic in there at times, but we were alone during our visit.

Birchbank Mountain Trek

2010-11-26T08:31:00.005-05:00

We decided to try the new "outer loop" hike at Birchbank, which is a combination of Birchbank Trail (white), the new blue-yellow connector, and the Paugussett Trail (blue). Two of our party (including the dog!) stepped right over this little Woodland Vole that was in the middle of the trail. It was still alive, but barely. It didn't look injured, but they have a life span of only three months, so maybe it was just old.

There are so many little mouse-like animals in Connecticut, it's hard to know what you're looking at. This one is clearly a rodent because of the two front incisors. Shrews look like mice but are unrelated and have teeth more like a dog. So we get to choose from mice, moles, and voles. The short tail, little eyes, and lack of powerful digging arms (like a mole) make this one a vole.

Near the chimney are the remains of a buck that was killed by a hunter. Another hiker reported vultures feeding on it. The buck must have run far enough away after he was hit so the hunter couldn't find him. Hunting is illegal at Birchbank, but legal on abutting private properties. So this one has become food for the coyote, bobcat, fisher, ravens, vultures, and other forest animals.

Here's the new stretch of blue-yellow trail heading up to the overlook of the Housatonic River. The new part is 0.2 mile and not steep at all.

Previously, the only way to get up to the overlook was via a steep section of trail that has been blazed blue-yellow since the early 1990s, but was once the main Paugussett Trail. The trail was reportedly rerouted in anticipation of housing construction on Golden Hill which was going to block the route. At the last minute the route was saved, but the trail had already been rerouted. So a spur to the overlook was reblazed blue-yellow, and the trail north of that abandoned.

You never know what you're going to find along the trail. I've been on the white trail a zillion times, but just noticed this tacked to a tree for the first time.

Shelton Dog Park

2010-11-21T14:54:00.003-05:00

"Build it and they will come." Sure enough, the Shelton Dog Park isn't even technically open yet, but lots of people are using it. Today there were seven cars and eight dogs when I pulled in.

Here you can see how there are two sides, one for small dogs and the other for large dogs (who looked like wanted to chase down the little ones today). You can also see how dog parks aren't just for dogs. They're for the dog owners, who you can see chatting in the background. Most popular ice-breaker: "What kind of dog is that?"

These two dogs ran around so frenetically they made us all laugh. They'll sleep good tonight!

The Shelton Dog Park is located at the corner of Nells Rock Road and Shelton Avenue.

Marbled Salamander at Birchbank

2010-11-20T15:05:00.005-05:00

Found this Marbled Salamander today at Birchbank in Shelton while blowing leaves off of a new section of trail directly below the cascades of Upper White Hills Brook. The spot was very low and wet, and the soil is very sandy, perfect conditions for this kind of salamander. The salamander was about 4" long, which is about as big as they normally get. They breed in vernal pools, and I suspect the nearby "aquifer recharge ponds" on Aquarion land are where they are breeding.

I just love how this Housatonic River floodplain forest is home to plants and animals I tend not to see in other areas. I have said before that this open space is our most sensitive. In the same area where I found the salamander, we have tons of red trillium, Dutchman's breeches and Blue Cohosh blooming in the spring. And it was right in the path where ATVs used to ride. Fortunately, we are seeing the ATV traffic declining significantly now since a concerted effort was made to discourage riders from entering the park.

YVOLD GSV XZHXZWVH, FKKVI DSRGV SROOH YILLP HKORGH RM GDL. GSV HLFGS ULIP NZB YV WIB. UILN GSV HLFGS ULIP, TL MLIGS GL MVCG DSRGV YOZAV, GSVM HRCGVVM HGVKH NLIV ZMW OLLP OVUG YVSRMW Z GIZK WLLI RM ILXPH.

Shelton Dog Park

2010-10-30T12:46:00.006-04:00

The Shelton Dog Park is almost open! The fencing is complete except for the gates. The Park is located at the corner of Nells Rock Road and Shelton Ave. (Rt 108) behind the little white house there, which you can see in the photo above.

There are two sections, one for small dogs and one for large dogs. The part for large dogs is really large, as you can see in the photo above.

Girl Scout Troop 363 painted this trash container last year for the dog park and it was nice to finally set it out.

Here's a nice old oak in the middle of the park.

There is a mountain of road millings that needs to be screened and spread for parking. There will be parking not only for the dog park, but also for the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path that will be extended this fall.

The Mas Property Behind Perry Hill School, Shelton

2010-10-27T07:25:00.006-04:00

A large chunk of "Transitory Open Space" lies behind Perry Hill School in Shelton, featuring several ponds and an Indian cave. The pond in the photo above is called Walnut Avenue Pond on the open space map. I saw a wood duck, snapping turtle, frogs, and fish in my brief visit there.

Here's a substantial Indian Cave located near the pond. The 57-acre property is listed as "Transitory" open space because it was purchased back in the mid-1990s for the eventual extension of Constitution Blvd North and other possible uses, including economic development.

Walnut Avenue Extension runs north-south through the property, although vehicles are blocked off with Jersey barriers.

This pond is located at the end of the drivable portion of Walnut Avenue Extension and is called "D'Onofrio Pond" on the open space map. It's located on private property, but can be seen from the open space.

Near the D'Onofrio Pond is some unexpected artwork, somehow color coordinated with the changing leaves.

There's really no easy access to the property, which is shown in orange on the map above. The adventurous might find their way onto the property via Perry Hill School (when school is closed) by walking behind the rear fields to the right and turning onto an ATV path there. The path takes a left across a small stream, and then you are on the Mas property. Walnut Ave Extension is another possibility. Nothing is marked, so a gps or a good sense of direction are necessary. Note on the map above that the white "roads" going through the orange open space have not been built.

Salmon River Trail, Colchester

2010-10-22T20:30:00.002-04:00

The CT Blue-Blazed Salmon River Trail is located in Day Pond State Park, right across the street from Salmon River State Forest. I was looking forward to seeing the Comstock Covered Bridge, located at the trailhead, but turns out it's been dismantled for restoration. I wasn't sure how to get myself across the river with no bridge, but I got back in my car and managed to find a spot to park at the end of Bridge Street next to the bridge on the opposite side of the river.

The Salmon River was gorgeous.

The trail climbed pretty quickly, but the footing was good and it wasn't too steep. After a bit there's this nice lookout.

After walking along a ridge top for maybe two miles, and following the loop junction to the right, the trail came out at Day Pond, which was deserted. This is why I love hiking on Fridays, especially in Fall. I did finally see one person walking a dog at the pond and a man fishing, but that was it.

I was admiring the pond and its trickling little waterfall, when I was distracted by a large bird circling over the water nearby. Through the trees it looked like maybe an Osprey...

...and it suddenly plunged into the water to grab a fish.

Gotta love the October colors, especially that purplish red you get from the oaks.

Here's an attractive little centerpiece growing out of a rotting stump.

It's a seven mile hike if you park at the Comstock Bridge and do the entire "lollipop" loop, which I did. The trail was well-blazed, the footing pretty good, and there were ups and downs, but nothing really steep. A very enjoyable hike.

Funny trail sign. But effective.

A spur trail leads to a "campsite" overlooking a stunning series of cascades and falls.

Returning along the Salmon River after a great day looking for treasure.

Mile-A-Minute Vine in Newtown

2010-10-09T17:48:00.007-04:00

Here's some Mile-A-Minute (MAM) Vine, "Kudzu of the North", festering in Newtown, Connecticut, where it appears to be spreading. That's because of the berries. The vine can grow up to 6" a DAY. Bad. Very bad. Extremely bad. Climbing-up-the-trees-and-killing-them bad.

These bags are filled with MAM but there's lots more growing around them (with growth at 6" a day, what do you expect?). They need a small army of volunteers to pull this stuff before it spreads to the rest of the city, but instead they've had only a couple of people pulling it at the most, and they're losing the battle. Seriously?? The vine is spreading from the original location like spot fires in front of a wildfire. Too bad, since a small effort now would prevent HUGE efforts and damage later on. Just wait until homeowners have to start protecting their trees from being killed by the vine. And they'll wonder how it ever was allowed to spread like that.

Here's a video of the spot. Sorry about the quality, I messed up on the camera settings.

The leave are extremely triangular, and some of the leaves, including the final leaves before the berries, are joined to form a sort of cup that's fused around the stem (see the very first picture in this post).

All the stems have annoying barbs, similar to Tear-Thumb plants, which it is mostly likely to be confused with.

Everyone, please keep your eye out for this plant, and report it here. And if you live in Newtown, please contact the town Conservation Official Ann Astarita (see here), and offer to help pull the weed, because they can't do it alone, not at 6" a day, but they can't seem to find any volunteers. Otherwise, before you know it, we'll all be pulling it out of our yards to keep them from looking like THIS.

Knotweed Update

2010-10-03T18:58:00.008-04:00

It's been ten days since I injected most of this patch of Japanese Knotweed with Round-Up concentrate. The photo above was taken September 23, and the photo below was taken today...

It's autumn, of course, so all the leaves are yellowing, but the Knotweed has lost most of it's leaves, with the remaining leaves very yellow. Of course, the real question is, will it come back next year? Supposedly, using the injection system this time of year and low on the stalk, it will not come back.

The above picture was taken September 23, and the picture below was taken today (the remaining green blob in the center is actually an Autumn Olive shrub).

My Carrots and Their Ancestors

2010-09-29T20:18:00.000-04:00

Growing in amongst our carrots this year was lots of Queen Anne's Lace. The leaves are very similar, so we left them, never quite sure which was which. When it was time to dig up the carrots, here's what we got. The ones on the left are the weed, which coincidentally happens to be the ancestor of the cultivated carrot (Queen's Anne's Lace is also called "Wild Carrot"). No wonder they look so similar!

Breaking open a root, the Queen Anne's Lace looked quite different from a normal carrot. It's not considered to be edible. The modern carrot is said to have a mutation whereby some really tough, woody tissue in the root (xylem) is missing, making them edible. I'll take their word for it.

When I picture Queen Anne's Lace, I picture flowers, not roots. The photo above is Queen Anne's Lace near Short Beach in Stratford. This flower grows up and down our highways. And when I picture carrots, flowers don't come to mind. I've never seen a carrot flower. Have you? So here's a link to an agricultural field of carrots in bloom. Look anything like the above photo?

Japanese Knotweed - Death by Lethal Injection

2010-09-23T08:35:00.006-04:00

Japanese Knotweed is infamous for invading, conquering, and taking over large swaths of ground, replacing the native vegetation with impenetrable stalks of "cane" that can easily grow twelve feet tall. Here's a patch measuring about 50 ft x 50 ft (and spreading), located near the trailhead for Nells Rock Trail, off Nells Rock Road in Shelton. According to Wikipedia, its roots can spread out up to 23 feet and go down up to 10 feet.

Once established, it is nearly impossible to eradicate. People have tried herbicide spray, digging it up, and covering it with sheets of plastic, with poor results. Instead, it is necessary to inject concentrated herbicide into the hollow stems, and they've even invented a tool for this: the JK Injection Tool, said to be 98% effective. This is the best time of year for that (the poison is drawn down into the roots), and so I spent a couple hours one morning attacking the patch at Nells Rock. I used a Sharpie to mark which canes had been injected. Only the canes that are injected will die. So each stem must be injected.

The Knotweed towered a good six feet over my head.

Here's a clue as to where the Knotweed came from. The plant was growing out of piles of gravel yard scrapings that had been dumped here long ago. The Knotweed had come along for the ride.

It's most efficient to attack small clumps before they become established, so I targeted this new patch along Hope Lake and the Rec Path. There were a total of only eight stems to inject. Hopefully those Knotweed plants are gone for good. We'll find out next year.

Here's another small patch growing along Hope Lake and Nells Rock Road. This patch is more of a problem since there are lots of small stems. The injector tool doesn't work on small stems -- it just splits them open. So I'll need another plan of attack for this clump.

Future projects: The Bluff Walk at Riverview Park is currently routed onto pavement at the basketball courts because there is a huge stand of Knotweed in the way (above). If I can kill off that Knotweed, we can get the trail off of the pavement. That's a big project, however, possibly for 2011. There is also Knotweed overrunning native wildflower areas at Birchbank Mountain, and some relatively new patches along the Blue Trail near Constitution Blvd North.

Ansonia River Walk

2010-09-21T19:15:00.010-04:00

Here's the location of the future Ansonia River Walk, which will continue north from where the popular Derby Greenway ends at BJs on Division Street. This photo was taken north of Division Street and south of Target. There was a ceremonial groundbreaking held recently.

Massive flood walls and berms were constructed along the Naugy after the catastrophic flood of 1955, and these walls have cut residents off from seeing their river for the past 50 years or so. Here's a video of the 1955 floodwater going down Main Street in Ansonia. All that rip-rap is not the most attractive river shore, but it does help keep the river in its banks, and the water is still nice to look at from up above. May as well make the best of it, which is what they're doing with the River Walk.

After a summer of drought, the river is practically dry, revealing some great clean-up opportunities for civic-minded groups. The Naugatuck River has come a long, long way since the days when it was nothing more than an industrial sewer that ran a different color each day. The water quality is far better than it used to be, but there's still some unsightly junk here and there.

There's lots of Dogbane growing along the berm. Note the long, stringy seed pods. Native American's used Dogbane fibers to make hemp cordage -- here's a demonstration video, proof that you can find absolutely anything on the Internet. If you want to harvest Dogbane to give that a try, please make sure you're not taking the plant from conservation lands, where the plant is intended to remain as part of the food chain. You might find it in a vacant field or along a highway.

The "Tick" in "Tick Trefoil"

2010-09-12T17:39:00.009-04:00

How did it come to this??? She just had a bath and brush the night before!

That's the culprit right there, earlier in the year. Showy Tick Trefoil. That picture was taken in Easton, but I also saw it growing in Shelton along the powerline section of Turkey Trot Trail. The burrs in the picture above were in Naugatuck. So it's basically everywhere and that seed dispersal strategy must be working pretty well. The plant is called "Trefoil" because it has three leaves, and "tick" because the seed pods stick to everything and go for a ride like little ticks. The "Showy" part in the name is due to the fact that most trefoil species are much smaller and have tiny flowers. I had to throw out my socks this day, as they were so covered with the burrs!

Naugatuck State Forest: The Quiet Side

2010-09-12T12:13:00.005-04:00

We went in search of a DEP official letterbox at Naugatuck State Forest. This is the section west of Route 8 where there are no marked hiking trails. Last fall I abandoned my search for the box when I found myself surrounded by gun fire coming from all directions as well as a couple of game wardens as dusk approached. It's apparently an insanely popular place to hunt. So if it's hunting season, go on Sunday. Seriously.

I like state forests. They're managed and therefore healthier for wildlife than most state parks, land trust properties, and even some exclusive "Wildlife Habitats" maintained by groups like Audubon (the ones where I can't go with my dog). A hands-off approach in a suburban forest, which some well-meaning people equate with being natural and therefore better, typically leads to low biodiversity and all sorts of problems for our plants and wildlife. I wish people would get that.

There is, of course, deer hunting, and while I don't much care for hiking while armed men are hiding in the trees, I do like seeing the results: food and shelter for wildlife. State forests are also logged, which creates these open brushy areas (above) filled with lots and lots food and shelter.

These numbered trees for a forest study are another sign of a managed forest. Lots of saplings were shading out the forest floor, but Sarsaparilla thrived.

Bristly Aster was growing along the gravel road. I associate this plant with the ridges of Sleeping Giant State Park, where it grows rather magically in bare rock.

Here's some Indian Cucumber Root, wilted from the drought, and changing color already.

After finding the letterbox, we walked further down the gravel road and came upon a pond held back by this berm covered in goldenrod.

The pond was mostly lily pads. Didn't see any sign of fish, but there were lots and lots of frogs.

The Goldenrod was spectacular. I don't often say that.

This Yellow Bear caterpillar was eating Milkweed.

The Many-flowered Asters were just opening up. These are pretty common. They're also called Heath Asters because their leaves look like needles, as do many heath plants. But there is another aster also called Heath Aster, so that can be confusing. Note how each little stem coming off of the main stem is just covered in a line of flower buds. That's very distinctive for the asters.

Joe-Pye Weed and Boneset added their color to the Asters and Goldenrods on the berm.

This tree growing right in the water is a Black Gum or Tupelo tree. I prefer to call it a Tupelo, and that dredges up a Van Morrison song in my mind every time I see it (the older folks will know what I'm talking about). It doesn't look terribly healthy with its leaves already turning red.

We enjoyed our quiet little walk. No other hikers or bikers, although we did note some ATV tracks (not legal). There aren't any trail maps that I know of.

Arcadia Forest, Rhode Island

2010-09-10T20:57:00.009-04:00

There are miles and miles of old roads and trails running through the massive 14,000 acres of Arcadia Wildlife Management Area in Exeter, Rhode Island. That's a BIG park: about ten times bigger than Sleeping Giant State Park, and about ninety times larger than Indian Well State Park here in Shelton.

The relatively flat sandy areas are covered with pines, scrubby oaks, and blueberries, reminding me of the sandy forests of northern Wisconsin (above). The glacial outwash sands in both Rhode Island and Wisconsin are responsible for the similar appearance and vegetation.

The sand dries up quickly, so plants must be adapted to drought, especially up on Bald Hill (Really? That was a hill?). Not many species can tolerate the dry conditions, so there is not much diversity, and most of the woods are rather open, often covered with a low layer of heaths such as Huckleberry, or pine seedlings.

Arcadia is crossed with miles and miles of sandy roads and unmarked trails, along with a few trails that are actually blazed for hiking. Arcadia Trail (above) is one of the few that has been blazed. The trail maps at the park are nearly useless, since there is a labyrinth of unmarked trails and it can be difficult to know where you are on the map. This is one place a gps receiver comes in really handy. So I naturally lost mine towards the beginning. It's still out there somewhere. The best map I've found online is here. You need to download it and crop to the area you want to explore.

The park was not at all crowded. Over the coarse of seven hours of hiking on a Friday, I passed one hiker walking her dogs, one mountain biker, and two groups on horseback. That's it. The forest is a management area, so there is hunting and possibly logging, and dogs need to be leashed during bird nesting season. I'm sure the healthy forest is due in no small part to the fact that the forest is managed. Over the many miles I hiked, I saw only native species. How refreshing! I can't remember the last time that happened.

Browning Mill Pond in the center of the park is an attraction. The ponds again remind me of northern Wisconsin, a pothole region, although these ponds are actually reservoirs.

This Indian Cucumber Root was growing near the pond.

East of Arcadia Road is a handicapped-accessible boardwalk that just goes on and on. The forest changes to a more typical Connecticut-type forest as the subsurface reverts to bedrock instead of sand.

The boardwalk leads to some picnic alcoves along another pond.

Heading off-trail for a bit, I came upon yet another grid-like series of rock piles on a ridge. Some people think these ridge-top piles were placed by Native Americans for spiritual ceremonies. Others think they were put there by farmers, either White or Native. Since I only find the piles on ridge tops where I would not expect the best farmland to be, I tend towards the first explanation.

Community Garden Scenes

2010-09-03T19:33:00.007-04:00

No rain from Hurricane Earl, so I grab some shots before picking my tomatoes and squash. Update: Preregistration forms are available here (or pick one up at City Hall).

Late Season Monarch Caterpillars

2010-08-31T21:28:00.003-04:00

Here's a Monarch Caterpillar found recently in a hayfield off of Long Hill Road in Shelton. The Butterfly Weed is blooming late because it was cut along with the hay awhile back, and the entire plant had to regrow. Cut hayfields are the only place I ever see late season Monarch Caterpillars, so I assume this is because the Milkweed and Butterfly Weed are young and tender.

This begs the question: What did Monarch Caterpillars do before people began haying? The butterflies have multiple generations each season, migrating north in spring and south in the fall. In the spring they are looking for newly sprouting Milkweed (Butterfly Weed is in the Milkweed family). In the fall, Milkweed is generally tough and lower in nutrition, so cut hayfields provide a great source of young plants. Perhaps in the old days it was burned-over areas.

The caterpillars you see now should be the final generation for the season. After they change into a butterfly, they will fly south to Mexico for the winter. This little caterpillar has quite a journey ahead of him!

Sikorsky Bridge Bike Path, Stratford

2010-08-14T22:23:00.004-04:00

Now for something really different: This bike path goes right along the Merritt Parkway on the Sikorsky Bridge over the Housatonic River. It's neither peaceful nor quiet, and you're quite exposed to the elements, including sun and wind. But the views are totally unique.

Park at Ryder's Landing in Stratford, at the corner of Route 110 and Ryder's Lane, immediately south of the Merritt Parkway Exit 53. If you see a big fake lighthouse, you're in the right spot. Crossing over Ryder's Lane (a quiet road), you'll immediately see the asphalt bike path, and very shortly a new interpretive sign installed by HVA with a grant from Sikorsky's.

The path curves under the Sikorsky Bridge, and the racket of the cars above contrasts with the peaceful river below.

After passing under the bridge, the path curves around, and a left takes you up on top of the bridge with a view of the river.

The Sikorsky factory where they make aircraft like the Black Hawk helicopter is right down below. Not too much activity down on the tarmac today, but at other times you can see them testing out the big helicopters.

The river is beautiful. I saw an Osprey flying above the bridge today, and about a year ago I saw a Bald Eagle perched in a tree right over the bike path at the river's edge.

The path continues gradually uphill to Wheelers Farm Road in Milford, where it simply ends after a total length of maybe a mile or mile and a half. If you're biking, you get to coast all the way back. The path was put in when the bridge was redone a couple years ago, but most people are just finding out about it now.

Exposed Cascades Bed, Sleeping Giant

2010-08-13T07:22:00.010-04:00

It's dry. Very dry. The brook that normally cascades down the north side of Sleeping Giant to Tuttle Road along the Red Circle Trail was bone dry in many places, marked only by a line of moss. Above is the Gorge.

This was a waterfall last April. Seeing the exposed bed of the stream was interesting, though.

Here was a hole formed by water that you normally would never know is there. Water goes in the top and out the bottom.

Here's another hole formed by water, looking down the river bed.

The bedrock type change as you go up the hill. First there is the very soft red-brown shale. You don't see much of it because it's so soft and erodable.

Further up, there is lots of conglomerate, which looks like concrete. It's just another sedimentary rock, but with assorted sized grains including some gravel. It's a reflection of the fast erosion that took place when Connecticut almost became the Atlantic Ocean during the Triassic. We had all sorts of crazy things going on: Earthquakes, volcanoes, dinosaurs... the east side of the state was getting pulled away from the west side, opening up huge fissures where vast amounts of lava spilled into the CT Valley. And then it all just stopped and the Atlantic opened up further east.

Further up the brook, you hit that Triassic magma, all broken up, and very, very hard.

Picking up a rock in the stream bed, I found several little salamanders taking refuge, as well as a flattened out Green Frog.

There were a few pools remaining. A tiny juvenile salamander is just visible. I believe it's a Yellow Spotted Salamander.

Trail Markings

2010-08-09T20:23:00.006-04:00

I'm a nitpick about trail markings. I'll admit it. I paint the City blazes in Shelton, so I'm a critic. I want to be able to easily follow the trail, but I don't want the forest defaced with ugly markings.

The worst case is, of course, when they don't use any markings at all when there are multiple trails. Good luck with that.

Next comes the trail that are at least marked, but with spray paint. I often find this at small local land trusts which don't have enough volunteer help, don't realize there is a right way to do it, and let a well-intentioned Scout loose with a can of paint. The picture above, though, is at a state park. Go figure.

Next are the metal or plastic markers that are nailed on. They usually look nicer than spray paint. Some are small and not too obtrusive, although larger ones, in my opinion, just don't look very attractive in the forest compared to proper blazes. They protrude from the trees. They don't blend in enough. They don't "belong." Yes, they are much easier to apply and save time in the short run. In the long run, though, they are also very easy to tamper with. People can pull them off and put them back on in the wrong spot. Arrows present an additional problem, as illustrated above. The blue and white trails are diverging in a "Y", but I found the arrows both pointing towards the ground and would have missed my blue turnoff if I wasn't paying very close attention.

Any idiot can turn the arrows, and so I did. This is the direction they should have been pointing.

In contrast, this triple diverging trail point at Sleeping Giant State Park cannot easily be tampered with. Red diamond and the blue trails go right; lavender trail goes left. No confusion except amongst people who haven't learned the basics on how to read trail blazes (If you are one of those: The upper blaze indicates the direction of the turn. There. Now you can follow any blazed trail system).

The Connecticut Forest and Parks Association sets a wonderful example. Their blazes are easy to see, but don't hit you over the head, and seem to belong in the forest. They have a set standard so that blazes are consistent throughout Connecticut even though they are painted by many different volunteers. Blazes are to be 2x6", a certain shade of blue that shows up well at dusk or in fog (photo above), a certain brand of paint, BRUSHED on. This is very time consuming, but the results are worth it.

The above blaze is an example of how CFPA used to mark side trails. They now have the secondary color at the end of the blaze so they don't have to wait for the first color to dry. When the blazes grow too wide from tree growth, they are resized with a dark brown spray paint. Basically, with 825 miles to blaze, they've got it all figured out.

The blue blaze is readily visible if you're looking for it. Otherwise you might not even notice it.

Sleeping Giant has so many trails, they've had to be creative. They have red, blue, violet, orange, green, yellow and probably some other colors I've forgot, as well as different shapes for five red trails (square, triangle, circle, diamond, and hex). There's a black square with a white horseshoe for a bridle trail, and this black square with an "X" (or swords or whatever they are). And not a single sign, but you don't need signs if you have a map.

Signs are stolen pretty quickly, and can also clutter up a park with "sign pollution." Tarywile Park in Danbury has waymarkers throughout the park. The number "2" above corresponds with a "2" on the map. These are great if you have several points where the red and yellow trail come together, for example, and you're not sure which intersection you're at. Of course that does assume you came prepared and brought a map.

In Shelton, that inspired us to create and install some of our own waymarkers.

Here's another form of waymarker at Trout Brook Valley. These are very helpful in identifying one's location, although this particular waymarker is not as rustic and "quiet" as I prefer.

Everybody's Hungry - Shelton Community Garden

2010-08-09T18:13:00.003-04:00

After a very late start due to neighborhood opposition, the Shelton Community Garden is really growing. Gardeners have a nice deer fence that excludes most predators.

But watch out for the Tomato Hornworm, for which I hold a grudge. I had a bunch of these caterpillars eat my entire garden one year in a single afternoon.

But wait, looks like this caterpillar is going to make a meal for a host of hungry Braconid Wasp larvae. These tiny wasps lay their eggs on various insects, and the larvae hatch out and eat the host. (One of our very youngest gardeners spotted this caterpillar and identified the parasite).

The garden isn't very big (just 30 plots), but if you get disoriented and need directions, just ask this lady. Seems like she's always there.

The deer fence is barely visible in the foreground of this picture and is working great so far. No deer, rabbits, or woodchucks yet. Bugs, crows, and fungus seem to be the biggest pests. All in all, it's been a great success.

Trout Brook Valley, Easton

2010-08-08T15:31:00.000-04:00

Trout Brook Valley in Easton has miles of trails and a little something for everyone. My favorite spot was this open hilltop orchard. It's just not something you usually run into on a hiking trail.

According to the brochure, if you go through the gate there are blueberries in there that people are free to pick in season. It was too hot in the sun, so I didn't explore the orchard area. I assume the fence is to keep deer out.

That's an image of old New England right there. The trail runs right alongside the deer fence. Although I think the farmers used to just shoot the deer and eat them rather than put up fences to keep them out.

Dog owners are allowed to take their dogs off-leash. Hurray! It was so nice not to keep getting tangled up in the leash.

Biscuit was overjoyed, and did a good job staying nearby. She does have a thing for high places, though. Part goat, I suspect.

And then I found a broken arrowhead in the middle of the trail. The third one in a week.

The park is depressingly overgrazed by deer, although the average person probably won't realize it. Most patches of green are alien plants that deer won't eat. But here was a big patch of Naked-Flowered Tick Trefoil, a native plant in the pea family. The leaves look a little like Poison Ivy.

The flowers are tiny. I suspect deer don't care for this plant, otherwise, why would there be so much of it growing here?

A completely different kind of Tick Trefoil was in bloom in a moister area - Showy Tick Trefoil.

They do a nice job of balancing many different uses in the park. Most of the trails are open to mountain bikes, but a few sensitive trails are not. Part of the park is open for hunting, and part is not.

The park does suffer from "sign pollution." Partly that is unavoidable due to so many different types of park users, but it's also partly because big bold arrow signs are used instead of traditional trail blazes, and there are just too many waymarkers, trail maps, and various other things tacked onto trees and put on posts. This sign says, "No Fishing." I think there used to be a stream there.

Milkweed at Osbornedale

2010-08-03T19:18:00.006-04:00

Osbornedale State Park in Derby maintains a large field filled with mostly native plants, including lots of Common Milkweed. I had my eye out for Monarch Caterpillars, but found none (and no evidence of caterpillars eating leaves, either). I'm not sure why that is, perhaps the timing.

I did recognize this small bug, the same species that I had recently seen all over the tops of my potatoes. I had identified it at the time as the Small Eastern Milkweed Bug, and here it was, where it was supposed to be, in Milkweed. Why they were in my potatoes is beyond me. All the literature absolutely asured me that these beetles will not harm a garden and only go in Milkweed.

Let's see if we can spot a color pattern here on the Milkweed. Throw Monarch Butterflies in...they're red and black. This one is the Red Milkweed Beetle. I love it when the names coincide nicely with what I found them on.

Here's the Tussock Sedge Moth caterpillar, also known to eat Milkweed.

And the Large Milkweed Bug. Orange/Red and Black seem to be the universal colors for all these bugs, and those colors are a warning to predators. The milkweed contains a toxic substance that these insects are able to eat and store in their bodies, rendering them poisonous. So don't eat them.

Asiatic Garden Beetles

2010-07-09T09:31:00.003-04:00

Here are some of the Asiatic Garden Beetles I found buried in the soil and roots when I dug up my half-eaten basil. They're about the same size as the Japanese Beetle. Everyone at Shelton's Community Garden seemed to be losing their basil to some mysterious insect, but the bug was nowhere to be seen. Until recently at dusk, that is, when I discovered the brown beetles emerging onto my basil. That's because the Asian Garden Beetle is nocturnal. They are attracted to light, so you may have cleaned these out of your light fixtures in the house or heard them whacking into your screens at night.

The beetles not only eat the leaves and flowers in gardens, but lay eggs in the soil which hatch into larvae that eat the roots of your favorite plants.

As always, we know much more about how this invasive species effects lawns and garden than our natural areas. Are there any native plant species in the forest this beetle is favoring?

Swamp blooms Along the Rec Path

2010-06-30T08:29:00.015-04:00

Take a walk with me along the Rec Path in Shelton, starting at Lane Street. Before long there is a hayfield on one side and a swamp on the other, where the Swamp Rose grows (above). This is one of our native roses, unlike the much more common pink rose we see along the shoreline (Rugosa Rose). All the species below that I found along the swamp edge are native to Connecticut.

Bonus! Under the rose growing in the mud are Creeping Bluets. This was my favorite find of the evening. Update -- not paying attention there, they have 5 petals, not four. That's actually one of the Forget-me-nots. May or may not be native.

The leaves you see are Jewel Weed.

The meadow was just hayed. As always, we are being quietly watched. Do you see it? Let's zoom in on this photo...

She's as quiet as a statue, only slinking away after I started walking towards her. Lots of people were walking up and down the Rec Path, and a couple was sitting on a nearby bench. I'll bet none of them were aware of this deer watching their every move.

Below the boardwalk is the American Burr Reed and its delightfully distinctive flowers.

This seven-foot Tall Meadow Rue also grows along the boardwalk. The leaves are what make this plant distinctive...

...growing in delicate clusters of three. There is a spring anemone with the exact same leaves named after this plant: Rue Anemone.

Leaving the boardwalk, we soon find another tall one: Water Hemlock. Not to be confused with
the similar-looking but unrelated Poison Hemlock.

The leaves of the Water Hemlock are also distinctive and look to me like the garden plant Astilbe.

Here's one of our native thistles: Swamp Thistle. It doesn't really look like a thistle, but take a closer look at the leaves...

Several caterpillar species rely on plants in the thistle family.

On somewhat higher ground now is a Fringed Loosestrife. The literature notes the plant "tolerates seasonal flooding," which is a good thing because that spot does flood occasionally.

Taking a detour onto a side trail where Means Brook and the Far Mill River meet, is the delicate Enchanter's Nightshade, growing perilously close to the Stinging Nettles (*%^&$!!). This spot also floods from time to time, but is usually dry.

New Camera

2010-06-22T20:18:00.000-04:00

OK, folks, I finally got an amazing replacement camera for the high-end Canon point-and-shoot I lost in the parking lot at Sleeping Giant last fall (after dropping it repeatedly while hiking, I confess). I've been using an old, malfunctioning point-and-shoot, and just had enough of it. Soooo, here's the Panasonic G-2, one of the new-fangled Micro Four Thirds camera that is basically a very small, light SLR without the interior mirrors. Wow, so I can take pictures in the shady forest now without a flash. But I don't have to lug around an SLR. It's about time! This camera is amazing. I had an SLR as far back as High School, before cameras were digital, but held off on getting a DSLR because they were too expensive and snobby (no video, for starters, because "real" photographers wouldn't want to take video).

The camera has interchangeable lenses, but they're expensive. The only disappointment has been adapting to the stock lense that can only go from "normal" power to a 3x zoom. The point-and-shoot camera I had last fall went from super macro to 10x at the touch of a button. But I am finding I'm getting just as good pictures by using the computer to zoom in and crop.

The camera is way fun. It has a touch screen -- touch the part of the view you want to be in focus, or scroll through your pictures like an iTouch. The intelligent mode is good for lazy photographers like me, identifying faces and locking them into focus even as they move around. Here's a video that shows how that work.

Mouse Nest

2010-06-20T18:34:00.000-04:00

My son found a mouse nest wedged in the canoe he was cleaning, with three babies and a mother mouse running back and forth. He set the nest aside and the mother hauled off two of the babies into the woods, leaving this on unattended. Hopefully she'll come back.

What kinds of mouse? I couldn't begin to say. In this area we have the White-Footed Mouse (which can go up in the trees and use bird nests), the Meadow Jumping Mouse, and the Woodland Jumping Mouse (which can jump 6 to 8 feet). Then there are the voles and several species of shrews, which the average person would also call a mouse.

Tea Party on the Powerlines

2010-06-20T08:56:00.007-04:00

New Jersey Tea is in full bloom along the powerlines in Shelton now. It's a low native shrub that forms thickets only a few feet high. The leaves were used to make tea during the Revolutionary War era when colonists were boycotting the real stuff from British ships. They say if you dry the leaves for a few weeks and then steep them in hot water you'll have a drink that tastes very much like Oriental tea.

During the winter, New Jersey Tea is marked by these distinctive little cups where the flowers once were.

Whorled Loosestrife is an easily overlooked native perennial. Although the flowers are small, the leaves join together in symmetrical clusters of four (that's the "whorl").

Deptford Pink is small but vividly magenta. This is one of the many "wildflowers" along the powerlines that are not native to the U.S.

Crown Vetch is very common along the powerlines, where it was planted for erosion control. This is yet another plant that has gone invasive in the U.S., although at least this one stays in sunny areas. It is native to Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa.

Surprise, surprise, Red Clover is also not native. The bees like it, though.

Where's Waldo, the Wood Frog?

2010-06-08T17:22:00.006-04:00

So, can you see him? Look closely. Here's a tip, he looks just like a dead leaf ;-). Try clicking the photo to enlarge...

OK, then, here's a close up (he's exactly where he was in the photo above). We have lots of Wood Frogs at Eklund Garden because of the nearby Vernal Pool where they breed. They really are hard to see, though, even when you know exactly where one jumped.

Strawberries!!

2010-06-07T21:43:00.004-04:00

These wonderful strawberries were about to be picked (by me) at Jones Family Farm yesterday. Delicious! The cultivated strawberries we get at stores or at the farm are an accidental cross that occurred in France many years ago between the small but flavorful native Virginia Strawberry (below) and the much larger Chilean Strawberry. The result is called Fragaria x ananassa.

Here's the native Virginia Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), ancestor to our cultivated berries, purchased from Earth Tones nursery for Eklund Garden. It can be found growing on the slope at Eklund just above and to the right of the cacti. I admit to tasting one of the little berries and WOW, it was amazing.

Here are some strawberries I found in the Shelton open space today along the powerlines. These were also quite tasty. Not sure, but I think these are Woodland Strawberries (Fragaria vesca), native to the western U.S. Or they might be Virgina Strawberries. Either way, they sure were tasty. (I only ate one or two, leaving the rest for the wild critters). They were growing under a mat of cinquefoil.

And here's Indian Strawberry (Duchesnea indica), a fake strawberry originally from India. The berry is dry and feels like styrofoam. This berry was found in Fairfield on May 31 (see earlier post).

Random Fairfield Parks

2010-05-31T22:42:00.005-04:00

Another afternoon of searching for treasure, this time in Fairfield. Here's perhaps the most unusual stone wall I've ever come across in the Grace Richardson Conservation Area. The weird wall/cairn/sculpture was a good six feet tall or so. It begs the question: Why?

Fairfield has a state-wide reputation for their conservation efforts. Their open space properties are consistently marked by decent looking signs like the one above. By the way, don't you just like the name "Binger Woods?"

Sadly, the theme of the day was deforestation from too many deer. All three parks I visited were the same. Much of the forest floor was just dead leaves. The native shrubs, saplings, and wildflowers were absent or severely suppressed by over-browsing everywhere I looked.

Some spots were covered with non-native invasive species the deer won't eat, like this carpet of Garlic Mustard at the Moorehouse Farmstead Open Space.

This native Jack-in-the-Pulpit shows the damage caused by deer. Nearby Jewelweed had been reduced to cropped stems. The plants can handle a certain amount of browsing, but are overwhelmed if the browsing becomes too frequent.

Growing in amongst Garlic Mustard were Indian Strawberries in full berry. This is a fake strawberry that originally came from India (hence the name). It's actually a type of cinquefoil with only three leaves instead of the usual five.

The dry berry feel light and oddly like styrofoam. Breaking it open, the flesh is white and inedible. Nothing at all like a strawberry.

Boehm Pond Wildlife, Shelton

2010-05-23T20:03:00.008-04:00

Creeping up to Boehm Pond, alert for wildlife, we spotted what looked like a big Snapping Turtle half emerged. But it didn't seem to have a face, and must be dead and rotting or something. Getting closer for a look...

...the turtle suddenly pulled his head out of the water and scrambled away. Ahhh, so it had been hunting, pulled up on a branch, face down in the water.

The Cinnamon Fern was beautiful in the low light, living up to its name.

Lots of Bladder Sedge here along the shoreline. This video made me laugh.

Pickerel Frogs jumped along the shoreline. It's hard to remember the difference between a Pickerel Frog and a Leopard Frog, but Pickerel's are usually brown and have more rectangular spots going down the back. We also heard lots of Gray Treefrogs on our way to the pond as well.

There was quite a mat of Water Starwort off the opposite shore. The Starwort is native to Connecticut. But this pond seems to get a bit too much fertilizer or septic runoff or geese droppings.

The algae bloom along the surface looked like the Gulf oil spill for a moment. The pond seems rather healthy, however, as there are lots of sunfish and bass swimming about. And a couple of geese honked at us obnoxiously the entire time we were there.

O'Sullivan's Island, Derby

2010-05-23T10:02:00.009-04:00

What a difference a few years make! The old hazardous waste site along the Derby Greenway has been turned into a riverside park, much like "The Slab" in Shelton.

The new park can be accessed from the Derby Greenway (providing some nice greenery for this rather hot and shadeless path), or more directly from the Derby boat launch located under the Route 8 bridge (get there via Caroline Street).

Here's what O'Sullivan's Island looked like just a couple years ago. It's not actually an island any longer due to historic filling. The site was seriously contaminated with PCBs and strictly off-limits to the public. (Click the photo to enlarge). An EPA webpage details the contamination issues they had to contend with.

And here's what it looks like now. Lawn and new trees planted (Click the pan photo to enlarge). Here's an article about the clean-up last year.

Looking downriver along the Housatonic you would hardly know you were in an urban area.

Lots of Cottonwood trees along the floodplain there going to seed. The "cotton" was blowing all over.

You can always tell where the good fishing spots are by the numbers of fisherman congregating there. Some very large fish, including big Stripers, swim up the river looking for food.

This area was industrial and densely populated going back to the 1800's, and there is plenty of evidence of that here. The ground is littered with antique pieces of glass and metal, making a walk along the shoreline a bit of an archeological expedition.

Nice job, Derby!

Freedom Trail, Boston

2010-05-10T21:58:00.012-04:00

The Freedom Trail in Boston is one of a kind. People commonly visit a few of the more popular historical sites along the trail, but we decided to spend a day walking from the start at Boston Commons to the finish at Bunker Hill. "The Granary" (above) was near the beginning and is remarkable for both its famous residents from the 1600's and 1700's as well as the contrast with the surrounding modern building.

There was Sam Adams, three people who signed the Declaration of Independence, and some of the victims of the Boston Massacre.

The walk was very pleasant. The streets were clean, the architecture interesting. It seems that around every corner was another statue or historic building. Here was Ben Franklin.

One of my favorites was the Old South Meeting House (or Old South Church). This functioned as the city's largest auditorium during the Revolutionary War period, where people like Sam Adams inflamed the crowd.

For a fee you could go inside. It wasn't very busy, which made it easier to imagine the way things used to be. We didn't have the time or energy to explore every historic building along the way, but this one was worth it.

We came to Quincy Market, and found this escape artist putting on a show. A hot dog stand was nearby, so we stopped for lunch.

Further up the trail, the famous stops become further apart, but the neighborhood was always interesting. We went through the North End and Little Italy, which made me feel a bit like I was back in Connecticut for a spell. The Paul Revere Mall (that's him on the horse) was park-like, and then we found this:

It was a dog-tag tribute to the soldiers of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The tags chimed softy in the breeze.

The Freedom Trail is marked by a red line. Sometimes it's a double row of bricks, like the picture above.

And sometimes it's just red paint. This is the bridge going over the Charles River to Charlestown.

We stopped on the bridge to enjoy the view. You can see the Bunker Hill monument in the distance.

There was some kind of big event going on at the site of the USS Constitution, and it was so crowded we weren't able to see the ship. We did go in the museum, and we when came out they were shooting a cannon.

The dry dock was impressive. We then headed up the hill towards Bunker Hill. I don't think you could appreciate the fact that the British soldier were fighting uphill unless you walked up the hill from down below.

The monument was not crowded, so we climbed the 294 steps up to the top.

And this was the view, looking back towards where we started our walk.

Bicentennial Park, Berlin

2010-05-01T20:33:00.006-04:00

My day in this popular park of oh-so-many-dogs started out with woodland spring wildflowers, such as this Rue Anemone, above.

And these Hepatica leaves.

And this Wood Anemone. These were off in the woods to the right of a large meadow, where I stumbled upon what must be a brand new reroute of the Blue-Blazed Mattabassett Trail. CFPA had posted pictures of a spring workshop in the park on their Facebook page. They reportedly had 70 volunteers helping out.

Here was a new map box at the entryway off of Winesap Road.

The old red blazes for part of the dog walk loop were replaced with the CFPA standard blue/red blaze denoting a side trail to a CT Blue-Blazed hiking trail.

They built quite the bridge across the stream.

As well as a swamp walk and steps going up the hill. Those volunteers did a heck of a job!

Nature didn't seem to mind. The big timbers were covered with thousands of flying insects (not sure what kind, but I bet they breed in water), as well as this hefty Wolf Spider.

Housatonic River Cleanup

2010-05-01T09:35:00.001-04:00

Perfect weather for the annual Housatonic River Cleanup, a multi-city effort organized by John Valentino and, in Shelton, Leon Sylvester Jr. , and lots of help from area marinas and businesses. We showed up around 10:00 am at Sunnyside Boat launch and found the event tent next door at Ayers Landing Marina. The event started at 8:00 am and the free T-shirts had been picked over, so I got a leftover from 2009.

Boats were taking people out to the islands and distant shorelines, and bring back the collected garbage. Our timing was bad and we had to wait about 20 minutes for the oyster boat that would take us to our destination. It was nice boat ride and we passed some rowing crews in their sleek red racers.

We passed lots of people who had been picking up litter for a couple hours already.

We were dropped off at Two Island Island, which is actually a peninsula that has been used as a gravel quarry for quite some time. Our shore was jagged boulders with rebar jutting out randomly - a treacherous shoreline. But we set to work.

The boulders, the huge poison ivy vine my daughter mistook for a tree, pricker bushes, and incoming tide made for very slow cleaning. There were three of us and it took a good hour to collect just three bags of litter.

How much easier it would be for people to pick up this litter when it is still on the streets! Because that's where it all comes from: Street litter is washed into storm drains during heavy rains, and from there it flows straight into our streams, eventually making its way to Long Island Sound. I'm always surprised at how many people think stormwater goes to a treatment plant.

On a random note: See all that "bamboo" debris in the photo above? It's Japanese Knotweed stalks, an invasive species.

Around lunch time the oyster boat came back to pick us and our garbage up (it was a challenge getting back in the boat!). Almost all the non-crew volunteers were from Shelton High School.

After dropping off passengers at the dock, the oyster boat went to the boat launch to drop off the garbage. Six-Foot subs were on the way, but we had things to do and took off.

This is how much had already been collected by lunchtime, with another four hours of clean-up to go.

Spring Arrives at Sleeping Giant

2010-04-24T20:34:00.009-04:00

It was five months ago that I journey down the west slope of Sleeping Giant at dusk, having lingered too long at the top looking for treasure. My intentions were to return soon, as I had unfinished business there, but Mother Nature intervened and coated with the slopes with ice and snow for the season. Yesterday I finally returned to the Tuttle Ave parking area for the Red Trail and was greeted by a host of spring wild flowers. That's Red Trillium above.

The tiny Fringed Polygala was quite dramatic along the lower trail. I wondered if I had found something rare (this is possible at the Giant), but there was a handwritten note in my copy of Newcomb's Wildflower Guide that I had seen this same species in 1992 -- at Sleeping Giant.

The red circle trail follows a stream to the top of the ridge, at one point taking you high above Gorges Cascades, a mini-canyon of sorts. A bit higher was a classy waterfall that this picture does not do justice to, alongside a small cave. The cave rock was conglomerate (sedimentary rock) and the falls flowed over "trap rock" or basalt (previously molten rock), so there's a bit of geology going on there.

An old bird nest was built right into the side of the cave next to the falls. I don't know what kind.

Bloodroot and Dutchman's Breeches were done blooming, but their delicate leaves hadn't yet gone dormant.

Dwarf Ginseng was all over the lower slopes.

The stream goes up and up and eventually leads through a notch in the ridge to this sprawling red maple swamp on the mountain.

Turning onto the blue-blazed Quinnipiac, the terrain became rockier and drier, home to the occasional Columbine.

Last time I was here the trees were bare. What a sight to see!

Letterboxing at the Giant is strenuous. It may seem like there are a lot of boxes in the park, but there are many miles of trails and the boxes are really spread out. I generally find I'm spending at least one hour per find. This time I spent eight hours for five finds (and five not found). Many of the boxes are older and have gone missing, or if you do find them, they may be wet. But there are a lot of real classics and great carvings, and if you go looking for them all I guarantee you will find yourself exploring all sorts of nooks and crannies you never knew existed at the Giant.

After descending the west slope, I couldn't help but drive around to the main parking area to look for a few more, returning to the Mill River...

...and the quarry (see the grayish spot on the cliff to the right? That's where a chunk of the mountain collapsed a couple years ago)...

...and the ruins of the quarry infrastructure.

And that's all for now: I've looked for every box that I know of at the Giant. On to some other park.

Fort Hale, New Haven

2010-04-14T19:00:00.003-04:00

What a nice little spring diversion with the kids during Spring Break. Fort Hale sits on a low outcrop of traprock that juts out at the entrance of New Haven Harbor, providing the perfect spot for fortifications as far back as the 1600's.

There's a nice reconstruction of the Revolutionary War fortifications, then called Black Rock Fort (the name and size changed with each war), all located right next to a small beach, playground and fishing pier. A huge container ship headed out of the harbor, perhaps headed for China.

The main entrance to the fort was closed, so we parked at the beach and walked over along the shoreline. It wasn't far.

After enjoying Black Rock Fort at the point we explored inland, where the larger Fort Nathan Hale was located (Wars of 1812 and the Civil War).

We found that two small hills were actually man-made fortifications for the soldiers.

And here's something you don't see every day: a reconstructed Civil War drawbridge over a moat.

Fort Hale is one of those overlooked spots in the region. I suspect the beach area is pretty busy in the summer, spilling over to the Fort, but it was just perfect for a warm spell in April.

Wildflowers Vs Invasives at Birchbank

2010-04-11T18:48:00.004-04:00

Birchbank has more early spring wildflowers than anywhere else I know of in Shelton. But it also has some serious issues with invasive species. Garlic Mustard, Japanese Knotweed, and Japanese Barberry are the worst problems. In the photo above you can see a native Trout Lily (left) and Red Trillium (right) being overrun by invasive Japanese Barberry.

Japanese Knotweed, a tall plant some people call Cane, is notoriously difficult to kill, and can survive repeated applications of Round-Up. Near the parking area, the knotweed is spreading into areas that were once solid mats of Dutchman's Breeches and Red Trillium. In the photo above you can see flowering Breeches along with old stalks from the Knotweed and fresh Knotweed sprouts.
The surviving Dutchman's Breeches also have to contend with illegal ATVs trampling the area.

The sprouts of Japanese Knotweed are edible, and though they look like asparagus they taste more like tart rhubarb. There are lots of recipes online. Garlic Mustard is also edible and in fact was brought to this country for cooking. Garlic Mustard pesto is very good.

Here's a Red Trillium competing with the Japanese Knotweed. At least it gets out early each spring before the Japanese Knotweed can overtake it. Here's a video about Japanese Knotweed.

Birchbank Wildflowers

2010-04-10T19:56:00.007-04:00

If you appreciate early spring wildflowers, now is the perfect time to visit Birchbank Mountain Open Space. If you park on Birchbank Road at the RR crossing (the parking spot is currently in sad shape) after only a few hundred yards you will be surrounded by a blanket of Dutchman's Breeches.
Walk along the flat old road (it gets muddy from the illegal ATVs), skipping the left turn up the hill marked by white blazes, until you get to Upper White Hills Brook, which is split in two. Not far up the bank is the cascades (above). This spot is amazing for spring wildflowers -- All the flower pictures below were found along the stream and trail in that one spot.

Red Trillium - a favorite.

Blue Cohosh, almost in bloom. The big blue berries persist into the winter and are striking.

False Hellebore. Not in bloom, but an attractive alternative to skunk cabbage. There's lots of it there.

Trout Lilies are traditionally in bloom on April 15 - opening fishing day.

Unidentified species of violet. The yellow ones are not as common.

Cut-Leaved Toothwart.

Dwarf Ginseng.

Be prepared for some mud and water crossings. The ATVs have just made a mess of this otherwise beautiful old colonial road.

A neat pair of tracks: a raccoon hand next to a pair of tiny mouse or chipmunk tracks.

Tame Toads

2010-04-09T10:25:00.004-04:00

Here's a pair of lovebirds in my gold fish pond a couple days ago. They were like that all day. Daddy (the little one), never released his hold. Mommy would dive down from time to time, and he just hung on. But mostly they just sat in the sun while we worked in the yard.

Toads are amazingly tame and make wonderful pets. Taking the picture above, I was actually able to pick off some vegetation from Mommy's head without her moving. As a teenager I trained my pet toads to eat hamburger out of my hands (you start by putting raw hamburger or bologna on the end of a broom straw and twitch it, gradually shortening the straw).

When my son was about six, he brought a huge toad home from Vermont. I thought the poor thing might be traumatized by the long ride and fidgety boy. But the toad immediately began catching flies out of the air while my son was carrying him around.

The toads have been trilling from random ponds the past week or so. They live on land (and LOVE to eat ants), but lay eggs in the water in long strings that they wrap around vegetation. The tadpoles are jet black. Here's a short video of another toad trilling in my pond.

Some ponds get invaded by toads, like this one at Jones Family Farm in Shelton.

Gristmill Trail Flood

2010-03-14T09:30:00.001-04:00

And that's why they call it a flood plain! This flood plain is located along Gristmill Trail and the Far Mill River in Shelton. Every year there is a flood or two, but not always this big. See the blaze on the tree above marking the trail location?

There was quite a current in the river today. The Far Mill River drops in elevation pretty rapidly, which is why so many mills were located alongside the river. That gives it a strong current. Kayakers also enjoy the current, and are seen putting in at this spot during floods.

This river is only for very experienced kayakers, however. In addition to some falls, there are large standing waves like the one above, caused by rocks below the surface.

Diurnal Fireflies

2010-03-07T18:50:00.004-05:00

While painting blazes this past weekend, I kept running into these beetles and sometimes even had to flick them away. They're very common on tree trunks this time of year. I'm sure you've seen them at some point. Today I grew curious about the beetles and looked them up.

They happen to belong to a genus of fireflies that don't light, also called "diurnal fireflies" because they are active during the day. They breed on the tree trunks in March, which is why certain tree trunks have a lot of them.

Here's the underside of the firefly. The abdomen is all black, unlike most fireflies, which have a light-colored lower abdomen where they light up.

If this sort of thing interests you, here is a really nice description of these fireflies and how they live.

Indian Hole Bridge, WPA Project

2010-02-28T17:39:00.004-05:00

This is Birchbank Road in Indian Well State Park in Shelton. Many people drive over the bridge and barely notice it. It's located just after the parking area designated for the Paugussett Trail and for the waterfalls that give the park its name. The photo above was taken from the very beginning of the Paugussett Trail, where I was trying to match up blue paint for some reblazing at Shelton Lakes this spring.

I meant to walk up to the falls, but found the bridge more interesting. This bridge, as well as other stone work at the park, was a WPA project, the 1930's version of "stimulus spending." The Paugussett Trail was also created during the Great Depression by using CCC workers.

Indian Hole Brook is shallow, even today after all the rain we had a few days ago, so it's possible to walk underneath and admire the effort it must have taken to build this bridge by hand.

Over the past 75 years or so, stalactites have formed. Some are six inches long. Bridge stalactite are made of gypsum, and form much more rapidly than cave stalactites, which are made of limestone.

Birchbank Cascades

2010-02-27T18:02:00.006-05:00

Water, water everywhere! What better time to visit falls and cascades than after the 2010 'snowicane'. Here's a little known cascade on Upper White Hills Brook, just off of Birchbank Trail.

Part of the fun of visiting Birchbank Mountain is the journey getting there. You drive north on Birchbank Road past the state park and onto this insane stretch of roadway.

And here's your view of the Housatonic River if you're a passenger (drivers are too busy trying to avoid collapsing pavement and oncoming cars).

Look for parking where the road descends and crosses the railroad tracks.

Birchbank has a flat part along the flood plain and the 'mountain' part, which is the river bluff (click the pan shot above to enlarge).

Lot's of water was coming down the river bank, flooding the trail in couple spots. Water proof boots were a necessity.

Today the floodplain was living up to its name, collecting all the water gushing down the bluff.

We followed the old roadbed past the turnoff for the white trail and came to White Hills Brook. A short climb up the stream brought us to the cascades.

Immediately below the cascades the stream breaks into two during high water. The pan above is looking down from the cascades (click to enlarge).

We saw surprisingly little sign of life - no tracks, not even ATV tracks (ATVs are strictly prohibited but are still a problem).

"Snowicane" at Gristmill Trail

2010-02-26T16:15:00.007-05:00

The big "snowicane" turned Gristmill Trail in Shelton into a series of beautiful postcards today.

The first half of the storm gave us a full day of steady rain, and the Far Mill River was really roaring. This was no 'silent snow' type of walk.

This park has a lot of invasive species. Above are some berries from a Burning Bush.

And here is some Japanese Barberry, also an invasive plant. Turkey are known to eat the berries, however.

Near Judson Street, the water spread out over the flood plain, right up to the trail.

And then the hike was cut short by water raging across the trail (that's the trail straight ahead in the picture above, where the old canal crosses under some rockwork).

It was a world of black and white.

Back towards Judson Street, the river drops down towards the falls at "The Villa", a favorite of regional kayakers.

What Grows at Pine Lake

2010-02-21T18:28:00.003-05:00

Pine Lake in Shelton is becoming a popular place for people to linger and enjoy the sunshine, as I did today. Here are some fuzzy cattails just below the bridge.

I think this is Swamp Milkweed.

Red Osier Dogwood is a classic wetland shrub that wildlife loves. See the bright red stems?

This red Dewberry was easily overlooked in the leaves. Seems like a cross between Poison Ivy and Strawberry.

Gray birch is often mistaken for White or Paper Birch. But White Birch, which is much more common up north, peels.

Watch out for those Poison Ivy vines growing up the trees near the bridge. This one still had some berries.

This poison ivy vine at the bridge is growing so vigorously, people assume it's part of the tree.

Here's some Japanese Knotweed that managed to find it's way to the bridge. It's an evil invasive plant. There's not much there yet, but we better get it quick before it takes over.
This Cranberry Viburnum (Highbush Cranberry) was planted next to the bridge. It's probably a cultivar of the native plant.

Turkey Trot Trail, Shelton

2010-02-14T18:06:00.006-05:00

Back to Turkey Trot Trail, a local favorite. I headed up the powerlines, leaving the trail and climbing all the way to the top. Wild Yam, a native species, was growing alongside the powerline road, with these really distinctive seed pods. The roots of the plant look just like the the yams you can buy in the store, but taste nasty. Or so they say, I haven't tried them.

Here's the sun glistening off of some fuzzy Sumac, with the Wild Yam growing below.

Here's a pan that includes 5 photos stitched together. Youl'll need to click it to see anything. On the left is Silent Waters and on the right is the powerline corridor stretching south past Route 108. The Trails Committee is clearing the "Northwest Passage" along this route north to property near the High School.

Here are some parasitic Beech Drops. The plant has no chlorophyll because it just steals food from Beech trees. That's why you only see them growing next to Beeches.

Near the top of the hill there is plenty of Sweet Fern, which is not a fern but a small shrub. The leaves are fragrant in summer, but here they are curled around the seeds.

The powerlines were teaming with birds. I heard a Rufous Sided Towhee, which I don't remember ever hearing in the winter before. And nearby there was a flock of Robins, which have become a common sight in winter as the climate warms.

Goldenrod, a classic winter weed.

There weren't many tracks along the powerlines because most of the snow had melted. Heading back towards Silent Waters, there was a tiny track, probably left by a deer mouse who crossed the trail and climbed up a tree.

And here's evidence of a tunnel, perhaps left by a shrew.

Silent Waters was lonely and much colder than the adjacent powerline corridor (where I was hot in the sun). I walked around the shoreline a bit but the snow was deeper and tracks were rare.

Near the dam you can really see the old foundations for large piping (there are 3 pair in the photo below) that once served the reservoir at Silent Waters back in the 1800's.

Old & New at Wellspring

2010-02-12T19:24:00.020-05:00

I don't know of anywhere else in Shelton where the contrast between old and new is as striking as it is here at the Wellspring open space, just a few hundred yards from Route 8, exit 12. Parking is on Farmill Crossing near Old Stratford Road, near the sign in the photo below (there is no pull-off). See map. Be careful how you park, and do not block the drive.

A quick stroll down the access drive will bring you to an old corn crib.

Corn cribs were built with large gaps between the boards so that air could circulate into the building and dry out the corn.

And now for something new: There is some impressive graffiti under the modern Farmill Crossing bridge. Good place for it, in my opinion. I suspect it's not bothering anyone.

Going back up to the access drive, you want to walk along the gravel emergency access road shown in the picture below (it's on open space). The big modern homes will be to the right, and the river will be visible down below. The developer did a nice job with the large stone retaining wall - it looks like old New England. We have new, old, and new that looks old.

When you get to a couple of telephone poles you have reached the old dam used to power the Beards' sawmill (hence the name of a nearby road: Beard Sawmill Road). The dam has washed out, but there is plenty of rockwork still evident. Just upstream from the dam the river rushes through a series of chutes and rapids as it drops radically in elevation.

And for contrast, just across the Far Mill River is a big modern corporate office building, currently home to Health Net.

And here's the abutments for a bridge that washed out some time ago. This is located immediately south of the washed out dam. Instead of Farmill Crossing, we had Beard's Sawmill Road, and this was the crossing near the sawmill.

The photo below is looking downstream from the bridge. I believe the large stone walls were related to another mill as shown on a map from 1868.

The gravel emergency access road ends, but you can continue along the river on an unmarked dirt fisherman's trail to a sharp bend in the river. The rough streamside trail enters private property at the bend for a ways, although it is not posted and people apparently use it. Very scenic, with waterfalls and a deepening ravine. Eventually the trail reaches City of Stratford open space known as Far Mill River Park, which is very beautiful.

The map below is from 1868. The main road going from left to right is now called Bridgeport Avenue. The river is the Far Mill River, with Mill Street and Beard Sawmill Road alongside. The river crossing near the bottom of the map is where the old abutments are.

Rec Path at Pine Lake

2010-02-10T16:22:00.003-05:00

The snow today made a mockery of the biking, kayaking, and fishing featured on this sign at the entrance to the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path at Pine Lake in Shelton. The hiking was great, however.

Picnicking might also be a tad difficult, although the view of Pine Lake was great.

We really like our logo. See how the path is in the shape of an "S" for Shelton? Bet you never caught that before.

Everyone love the pines. They were planted by the water company way back when so they didn't have to worry about leaves falling into the reservoir and mucking up the water supply every fall.

Instead of a blizzard we got a pretty Christmas card type of snow.

Poindexter Preserve, Easton

2010-02-07T20:37:00.003-05:00

Today I returned to Easton to the Poindexter Nature Preserve. Here you can really see the classic New England stone walls in the snow:

There are a series of neat interpretive signs that have seen better days. I got a chuckle out of the first one - for ticks.

A bit off trail there was a stand of what I believe is Highbush Cranberry, also called Cranberry Viburnum, which are known for their bright red berries that persist throughout the winter. Great for the birds.

Ice formations sparkled at the bridge crossing:

A woodpecker was apparently having a go at this tree, which was hollowed out and rotting. Maybe it was a Pileated Woodpecker trying to get at carpenter ants, their favorite food, because the holes were so big.

Poindexter Nature Preserve is managed by the Aspetuck Land Trust.

Long Brook, Short Beach, Stratford

2010-01-31T20:11:00.002-05:00

What's the best way to prevent cabin fever? Get outside! We bundled up and went in search of treasure in Stratford, starting out at Long Brook Park. Hey, no crowds! The stone work, which I understand was quarried from nearby Roosevelt Forest, is especially striking in the winter. The picture below shows an arch bridge, walk, and built-in stone bench.

A flock of mallards clung to the last bit of open water on the brook.

Biscuit, who was on a flex leash, seemed a bit intimidated by the ducks when they didn't flee. She never even tried to charge them. Ha!

There's also a walk up above the dam. This park was created in the 1930's using stimulus funds, also known as the WPA, to create a park out of a 34-acre swamp and put people back to work.

After a stop at Wendy's to warm up (the car's heat was busted) we stopped at Short Beach. Again, no crowds! Just a vast empty (and cold) shoreline. We found what we were looking for (in a hurry to stay warm) then went for a brisk walk down the beach.

As the sky began to turn pink one small plane after another headed into Sikorsky Airport.

Here's the playground at sunset. You can see the Stratford Lighthouse in the distance. It's the white building with the reddish roof.

Although it was nippy with no heat in the car, we were content to get off the computer and TV and out of the house for a spell.

Shelton Community Garden?

2010-01-30T10:18:00.007-05:00

Shelton is on track for building a new Community Garden this spring, similar to Milford's garden at Eisenhower Park, where people can lease small garden plots for a nominal fee. Most likely spot: Klapik Farm Open Space just south of Long Hill School. Last Tuesday's crazy warm weather was the perfect time to walk the site and check the soil. The picture below is looking south towards the end of the Longview Road cul-de-sac. The field is at the crest of a hill, in this case a glacial feature called a drumlin.

State maps classify the soil here as "prime farmland", but drumlins often have nasty hardpan a few inches below the surface, so I tried digging a hole. One would expect to hit ice and rock this time of year. Instead, the shovel slipped through the soil like butter, going down a full 12". And it had rained an inch or two the day before, yet the soil was not muddy. Very nice!

Here's a pan of the field (stitched together with Canon Photostitch). You'll need to click on this to zoom in. You can see that the field is surrounded on all sides by trees (the north side is actually an old pentway with another field beyond it).

Here's an aerial with the open space map overlay (the green is city property). The lower left field is where the garden is may be going, off the end of Longview Road. Long Hill School is in the upper right corner of the photo.

Pre-registrations are being accepted by the Community Garden Committee and will be used to demonstrate need to the Board of Aldermen. There is no obligation or fee for preregistration, but you will be notified when plots are available and receive priority. Plots will be around 20x20 feet, and the fee will be about $20.

The new Community Garden Committee meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 9:00 am in City Hall room 104. They will be working out all the details, then forward their recommendations to the Board of Aldermen for approval and funding. Agendas and minutes can be viewed here.

Paine Open Space, Easton

2010-01-23T20:51:00.008-05:00

Paine Open Space in Easton is on the one hand a nice patch of woods and on the other hand really is a bit of a pain. Getting a map is the first hurdle, because the Aspetuck Land Trust requires an obnoxiously detailed registration before they let you look at their maps online. Since I've drawn trail maps and provided them free online (no registration required!) since 1995, I find that very irritating.

Or you could just take a picture of this board map at the trailhead and refer to your camera from time to time. Won't help much, though.

The online map doesn't help as much as it should, either, because as attractive and detailed as it is, there is no real trail identification system (like a "red" trail and "white" trail identified as such on a map). And there are sooo many trails, too, many of which are not shown on the map. I started to feel like I was in a corn maze rather than a nature hike.

Easton doesn't know how to mark trails. Occasionally a random trail marker will pop up, like this one below, a flimsy and tacky-looking thing that kids will probably pull down in a heartbeat (hey, maybe that's what happened to all the trail markers).

But mostly there was nothing. Hey Easton, there is a universal system for marking trails with color-coded rectangles of paint on trees. This system has withstood the test of time. It works great, give it a try! Here's the guidance book you need to do it right (use the right paint, not too many blazes, etc): AMC Guide to Trail Mainenance.

There are a series of distinctive ponds in the park, the largest called "Island Pond." The bridge was almost as big as the island.

I was looking for a seven-year-old series of letterboxes that had not been logged "found" in nearly four years (this is probably in part because the old clues refer to a trail color system that no longer exists). I knew that even if I were able to find some of these old boxes, they would likely be in rough shape, so I stuffed my pack full of maintenance gear: papertowels, heavy-duty double-zip freezer bags, and spare logbooks. Good thing I did! I found five of the boxes and four were soaked. Two boxes leaked because rodents had chewed holes in them. I've never seen that happen before.

One of the boxes was a big ice cube inside. I removed four soaked logbooks on this trip - a record by far (yuck!). Letterboxers are encouraged to provide this kind of maintenance to the boxes they find.

This tupelo tree was really getting worked over by a woodpecker. Tupelo are known for providing hollows like this.
There were lots of well-build stone walls, including this one below. The cedar post is a reminder that these lands were pasture not too long ago (as was nearly all of Connecticut).

On the way out there were some people riding horses in the field next to the parking area, as there were the last time I was here. Horses are also ridden on the trails, so if you bring a dog, be sure to leash it -- a dog can startle a horse and cause a rider to be thrown and injured.

Halaby Nature Preserve, Trumbull

2010-01-17T15:35:00.003-05:00

Halaby Nature Preserve is in Trumbull near the Shelton border, just off of Isinglass Road. I've driven along Isinglass Road many times and had no idea there was a preserve back behind those houses. Access is at the end of Red Fox Lane, and you don't even have to be a Trumbull resident.

I came in search of treasure, this time a geocache. I'm usually looking for letterboxes because I like the hand-carved rubber stamps they contain, a form of folk art, but this particular geocache had a puzzle that called out to be solved, and I was curious about the preserve.

The Trumbull Land Trust has done some nice work on this preserve, most of which is low and moist. There's an unmarked trail with a couple of sturdy boardwalks across the wet areas. Christmas Ferns were peaking out through the melting snow along one of them.

Although the preserve is only 27 acres, it nearly connects with significant water company lands around Trap Fall Reservoir in Shelton, which are teaming with wildlife. The diversity of plants and animals in this preserve may therefore be greater than if it were in isolation, a situation biologists referred to as 'fragmentation.'

General Tom Thumb

2010-01-15T20:44:00.003-05:00

It's easy to forget that Bridgeport was once a powerful and rich industrial city, but Mount Grove Cemetery, with its forest of towering prestige monuments, is a testament to more prosperous times. The cemetery is just off of I-95, and a few of the monuments are listed as roadside Americana attractions, including General Tom Thumb's memorial.

Born Charles Sherwood, he was inducted by P.T. Barnum into the circus at age five in 1842 and renamed after an old English fairytale character. He was the most popular act of the entire show. His adult height was just 3'4", and the figure on top of the monument is reported to be life sized. Nearby is Tom Thumb's employer, P.T. Barnum, who also happens to have designed the cemetery.

Snow for the Holidays

2009-12-20T15:59:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas from Shelton! Here's the Charlie Brown Christmas tree that gets decorated every year by hikers. It's along the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path about a half mile from Huntington Center, off of Lane Street, at the edge of the Land Trust's meadow.

An unmarked trail nearby leads to the spot where you can get a glimpse of the Far Mill River and Means Brook coming together. In the photo above, the upper Far Mill River is coming from the direction of the house, while the smaller Means Brook is coming in from the right. They join and then flow off to the left.

The Far Mill River continues downstream on it's journey towards the Housatonic River. This is part of the "Huntington Wellfield" open space, a section of the Shelton Lakes Greenway, acquired from the water company in the late 1990's.

A few years back there were beaver in here, but they've disappeared after making some neighbors very unhappy with the flooding their dam created.

Winterberry is festive along the river. The Winter Solstice is tomorrow and people from many different cultures throughout the ages have marked the happy occasion (the days will be getting longer!) by decorating with cheerful green evergreens and red berries. Happy Solstice!

Coral Reef

2009-12-12T09:02:00.005-05:00

It's been pretty cold and dark out lately, so how about a trip to the tropics, via my livingroom?

This is a coral reef tank. A very bad one, actually, because a proper reef tank requires lots and lots of attention and water monitoring, which I find tedious. Everything you see is real, and most of it is alive. Except for the green ferny-looking algae, everything that looks like a plant is actually a colony of animals, and if you touch them they'll suddenly shrink back. It's gardening with animals. The "live rock" came from the ocean tropics and is filled with worms, isopods, sponges, and algae. It's composed of a purple corraline algae, which continues to grow and encrust everything with purple, including the glass (only a razor blade gets it off).

I learned the hard way about the dramatic effects carbon dioxide has on reefs. Reef animals take a lot of calcium carbonate from the water and use it to build their skeletons. So you have to test the carbonate/pH periodically and add more as it's removed by the coral. Like most of you, I had heard that increased CO2 levels are causing acidification of the oceans and threatening the reefs, blah, blah, blah. Then, at one point my coral started to die back, so I did some testing and discovered I had added way too much carbonate over the past few months. High carbonate equals high pH, and that's caustic. This is the opposite of what they say is happening to the ocean.

The solution was to add just one tiny ounce of seltzer water (water with CO2) to the entire tank. WHAM, the pH and carbonate shot down to correct levels. Holy Cow! A tiny bit of CO2 can do all that?? Suddenly the concept of ocean acidification became very real. My coral perked up immediately and lived happily ever after.

Here's Ricky and Lucy, my clownfish, still in bed, where they spend the night staying perfectly still to escape predators. In the wild they would be in an anemone, but these are tank-raised fish and have adapted to my soft coral. You can't have many fish in a reef tank because they pollute the water.

Quinnipiac Oak

2009-12-02T08:52:00.001-05:00

While hiking the Quinnipiac Trail in Hamden I picked up some White Oak acorns that were already sprouting. These can be hard to find since wildlife snap them up right away, but there were dozens. Some are outside for the winter, but one I let grow in the window sill:

Oaks in the Red Oak family will not sprout in the fall, but oaks in the White Oak family will sprout immediately. For that reason, and because they are much sweeter than Red Oaks, squirrels will either eat the acorn immediately, or nip off the sprouting end before burying it. How do they know to do this?

White Oaks were once the dominant tree in Connecticut, comprising maybe 25% of all trees. Now they are much less common (Red Maple is now the most common tree, and Red Oaks are now much more common than White Oaks). Oaks in general are declining in Connecticut, for various reasons that are not well understood. In Fairfield County, one factor is the deer population, which favors oak seedlings and acorns, especially those of the White Oak.

Back to the Giant

2009-11-29T19:12:00.010-05:00

Went back to Sleeping Giant today and fought off the mob at the busy end of the park. This is one popular place to hike. And I think there was a requirement that everyone must bring a dog. The Tower Trail was a parade of dogs.

Here's a Raven on the cliff face of the quarry (the biggest cliff I know of in these parts). They look like a big crow, but their call is more of a throaty "cronk" as opposed to the "caw" of the crow (here's a Youtube video of a Raven calling). Raven LOVE cliffs.

As a matter of fact, the first place I ever saw a Connecticut Raven was right here on the Giant's Chin, where there is another big cliff. I was sitting on this ledge and a Raven was just hovering below me without flapping his wings (I had previously seen a Raven only once, in Maine). Ravens have made quite a comeback in Connecticut. I can't remember how long ago I first saw them here - 10, 15 years ago? Now I see them all over. In Shelton they are said to be nesting in a cell tower.

Here's a "Raven's eye view" of Quinnipiac College from the Giant's Head. There appeared to be quite a few Quinnipiac students enjoying the trails today.

I came down via the easy Tower Trail, which is in deep shadow in the next picture because of the Chin, which looms overhead (that's the cliff where I first saw Ravens). This deep notch between the Chin and the Chest seems to have its own weather. In October this is where I stepped into a thick bank of fog for the scariest creepy hike I've ever had:

As soon as I emerged from the notch, it was a sunny day:

Would you expect wildflowers to be blooming at the end of November? I found these Herb Roberts blooming along the Tower Trail. It is uncertain whether these flowers are native to Connecticut or originally from Europe. They like rocky hilltops and will bloom into the fall.

Trumbull Dog Park

2009-11-26T23:40:00.008-05:00

Well, I finally got over to the Trumbull Dog Park. It's located deep inside Indian Ledge Park, residents only allowed. But it was Thanksgiving, so in the spirit of Arlo Guthrie we thought that one big pack of dogs was better than two small packs of dogs, and rather than try to bring their dogs home we decided to have our dog join in. Besides, we never heard of a town ticketing on Thanksgiving before.

A lot of people don't understand the purpose of dog parks, which is socialization, NOT exercise. The photo below shows the proper way to greet, which is something dogs have to learn. People greet with rituals like a handshake or by saying, "Hi. Nice to meet you." Dogs sniff butts to say hello, and a polite dogs learns to let other dogs sniff HIS butt. This is the proper way for dogs to greet each other.

The Trumbull Dog Park was nicer than the neglected Milford park, but not as nice as the one in Ridgefield. It is very close to what the park in Shelton will be. It has two sides, one for small dogs and one for larger dogs. It's set in thick woods, so there is no grass, and a lot of woodchips have been set down instead. The area at the top of the large dog enclosure was muddy, and our dog came home with some of stinky mud on her, though not enough to keep me away from a park like this.

The photo below is a set of three pan photos stitched together (you may need to click on it to get a better look). Some of the others in the park were having trouble with their dog eating the sticks and digging in the mud.

We made the mistake of not reading the rule until we were leaving, but met all the rules anyway. No children under 10, that was interesting. I guess they don't want any little kids getting bit or acting inappropriately with the dogs, which makes sense. Might be hard for parents to use the park if they also need to watch their kids, though.