Black Rock State Park

Here's my new favorite beach not 30 minutes up Route 8 in Watertown, just north of Waterbury. Forget the jellyfish at the shore, this beach comes with lifeguards as well as hiking trails in lovely Litchfield County. Just $5 will get you in. The Mattabassett Blue Dot Trail goes up to the top of a small peak overlooking the lake where, after finding a letterbox, we picnicked. It's called Black Rock due to some graphite that was mined here once, and after lunch we hiked down the red trail, which looks like the old haul road for the mine. A few geocaches later we strolled back along the lakeside trail and finally returned to the beach for a swim, which was clean and uncrowded.

There are no concessions, but the gas station (Citgo?) just down the road has a deli where we picked up fried chicken and a salad.

Later, while my daughter fished, I explored the shoreline with the old point-and-shoot. We discovered some huge snails I had never seen before and suspected they were invasives - there were so many. Sure enough, they turn out to be "Chinese Mystery Snails", which have been reported in Western Connecticut and the Hudson River Valley. The snails are native to Asia, where they are eaten, and they are also used in fresh water aquariums because they close up when water quality becomes toxic, thereby alerting the aquarium owner before the fish die.

Here are some photos of the park.

Indian Potato or Groundnut

In an area dominated by invasive species, it was a pleasure to discover this historic American vine growing on the banks of the Far Mill River near Means Brook (photo above). It's been called Indian Potato, Potato Bean, and Groundnut because the tuberous roots, which contain significantly more protein than potatoes, were eaten extensively by Native Americans. Over the years, many efforts have been made to cultivate the crop, with the 2-3 years required per crop the biggest drawback. Still, efforts continue. The legume is in the pea family, and "beans" are now appearing on the vine.

Another native species, Swamp Loosestrife (left photo), was also growing along the banks (not to be confused with the highly invasive Purple Loosestrife). I've been trimming back some of the invasive Asiatic Bittersweet, Autumn Olive, and Japanese Barberry that dominate the area, so this was a pleasant surprise.

The Red Eft

The Red Eft is the beautiful orange terrestrial phase of the Red Spotted Newt. These creatures start out camo greenish colored in the ponds, change to the vivid orange form and live on land for a while, then revert back to the camo form as adults. Back in May 2007 I posted an entry showing the adult aquatic phase hunting in a pond. Red Efts can be locally abundant after a rain. I nearly stepped on this one at Tarrywile Park in Danbury on a very steamy afternoon following a thunderstorm, then saw seven others on the trail during my walk.

Tarrywile turned out to be a very nice park. They have 21 miles of trails on 722 acres, including several ponds and a big hill with a view towards downtown Danbury. Not to mention 6 letterboxes and 3 geocaches (that I know of). Timing is everything. This park looks like it gets busy, but because I arrived just after a big line of thunderstorms the place was deserted and, walking quietly, I saw lots of wildlife. Besides the Red Efts, I saw two flocks of turkey, 10 deer, and this really neat arrowhead, freshly exposed by the thunderstorm (see photos).

Update Feb. 2009: While at the Peabody Museum I took a look at their CT arrowheads on display and the ones that look like mine are called, "squibnocket triangular." Most webpages say they are generally 3,000 to 5,000 years old. Holy Cow!

CSA at Stone Gardens Farm

Here's my first weekly box of produce from Stone Gardens Farm's CSA program in Shelton. I bought one share in their summer program, so I get a box of produce each week through October. This is a classic example of "Community Supported Agriculture", or CSA, in which people buy shares of the farm's crop. You pay for your shares in advance, then each week you pick up your share (or 1/2 share, or 2 shares, or whatever you paid for). There is no guarantee, just as there is no guarantee if you plant your own garden and spend hours and hours tending your crops, only to have a bunch of great big tomato hornworms wipe out your entire garden in one day, which is one reason I no longer have a vegetable garden (do I sound traumatized?) I trusted these folks were better at gardening than I was, and the box of veggies proves it.

My neighbor Carol also bought a summer share, so we'll save gas by taking turns picking up the produce. In my box were about a dozen ears of sweet corn, a bag of green beans, a head of cabbage, a couple cucumbers, some hot peppers, 2 yellow squash, a couple zuccinni, 3 big tomatoes, some garlic and parsley, kale, collard greens (had to figure that one out), and chives.

The program is pretty much word of mouth, and I hear these folks work their butts off on the farm, which doesn't surprise me. Farming is hard work! The farm is located on Saw Mill City Road in the White Hills, off of Birdseye Road.

Housatonic Tunnels, Locks, & Dam

Trails volunteers and friends had a little fun today exploring the old tunnels and locks of the Housatonic River. See our photos and video. If you have a high-speed connection, select the 'higher resolution' option on the video.

We kayaked from the Derby boat launch under the Route 8 bridge to the Derby Dam. The industrial artifacts were the main attraction along this route. First there are the bridges, then there are tunnels, including this one located underneath the Birmingham. The tunnels were built under factories from the 1800's to capture power from water as it fell from the canal above to the river below. Each factory had it's own tunnel.

Image the amount of work, all of it by hand, that went into building the structures that allowed the rise of factories in Shelton - the canal, the dam, the tunnels, and of course the factories such as the Birmingham. Shelton is the only city in Connecticut that legally changed its name (from "Huntington"), choosing to honor Edward Shelton, the man most responsible for the industrial rise of downtown.

We continued up the river to the Shelton locks and then on to the Derby Dam, which wasn't letting out very much water at the time. If it were, we wouldn't have been able to get so close.

The trail volunteers then traveled up the Naugatuck River to Ansonia. I don't have any photos or video of that since I had to leave early.

Baby Possum Plays Dead

This half-grown (and still cute) possum was playing dead on the Rec Path near Wesley Drive. I nearly stepped on him and instantly thought, "Gross, a dead animal right on the trail." Followed by, "Wait a minute...that's a possum .."

It was dusk and there were lots of fireworks in the neighborhood - maybe that spooked him. Possums don't actually "play" dead - it's more like they go into shock easily. I nudged him with a stick and he "grinned", showing off his teeth. It seemed like he was maybe coming out of his 'coma'. When I touched a ticklish spot, his hind leg moved up to scratch his ear like a dog.

I used sticks to move him off the trail before I left so no bikers would run him over. About 20 minutes later I brought my daughter back to show her. By this time it was pretty dark, but the possum was right where I left him. See the YouTube video - He seemed a lot more "dead" in the video, I think because of our flashlight shining in his eyes.

Lion's Mane Jellyfish

My daughter and I stumbled upon this Lion's Mane or "Red" Jelly at Hammonassett State Park today. This species and the Portugese Man-o-war jelly reportedly have the most serious stings. In general, the brightly colored animals (especially red ones) are the more toxic ones, and I instinctly gave this one a wide berth. Update 7/3/2008: Short Beach in Stratford was just covered in small versions of this jellyfish today, from 1 inch to 5 inches in diameter. I was told a couple days ago, the water was filled with very large ones, over one foot in diameter (the one on the photo from Hammonassett was maybe 6 or 8 inches). I've never seen these at Short Beach before.

On a lighter note, the park was a step away from Watership Downs with over a dozen rabbits along the park road on the way out. This one was just stretched out and relaxin'.

Back to Pleasure Beach

The birds have really taken over Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport (see earlier post for more info about that beach). Last winter I saw a Kestrel, which looks rather like a dwarf Peregrine Falcon.

On a visit yesterday we followed the shoreline closely until we reached the old pier and bridge, then headed inland. Immediately a Willet harrassed us incessantly, circling overhead and chattering. Willets are brownish shore birds with long legs. I assume a nest was nearby. Then, a pair of magnificent Osprey circled over us. I think the nest in the photo is not their main nest -- I glimpsed a larger nest in the distance later on.


The vegetation was intense - especially ragweed and poison ivy. Oh for joy. Good thing for the old pavement. We did a quick walk past the carosel and other derelict buildings. Someone recently told me they saw turkeys living in one of the buildings.


On the way back, along Long Beach, some areas have been kindly roped off to protect nesting shorebirds. I was annoyed that someone had set up a beach chair and was playing music right next to one of the ropes. The beach is 3/4 mile long, for crying out loud, they had to set up their chair right next to the rope?




At any rate, at one of the enclosures a flock of Least Terns heckled anyone passing. They darted about so quickly it was hard to see what they looked like and even harder to get a picture. I finally succeeded to some extent, enough to identify the birds. Least Terns are considered a threatened species by the Connecticut DEP. Here are some fun facts: They weigh just one ounce and were pushed towards extinction in the early 1900's by the millinary trade. What the heck is the millinary trade? ....(looking it up)... OK, according to Websters that means, "Women's apparel for the head." Feathers for lady's hats, I guess. At one ounce, I'm sure they weren't being killed for the dinner plate.

Bambi Strikes Again

How cute is that? Bambi nursing as mom gives him a bath. This was just a few feet from Ripton Road near Huntington Center. There was another mom and baby nearby, too shy to leave the tree line (the fawn was bleating like a sheep at his pal out in the meadow). Sure, they spread disease, cause property damage, and are destroying the forest understory that other species depend on for survival, but when I see something like that I can't help but turn the car around a get a photo. They're cute!

We Are Being Watched...

Today I glimpsed a red fox on Birchbank Trail as it fled up and off the trail. When I reached the point where he had left the trail, I stopped for a few minutes and looked carefully at the hillside above me. Red fox are bright and curious, and I was convinced this one was watching me from ... somewhere. Couldn't find him. I walked up the trail a few more steps and looked again and there he was, about 150 ft up the hill, sitting there panting in a sunbeam like a golden retriever. The two of us watched each other for about five minutes (I MUST get myself a 35mm camera!). By the way, we call these moments "trail magic."

The alert hiker knows that he or she is being watched. As we walk down the trail, the deer, bobcat, coyote, and fox quietly monitor our passage, sometimes within pouncing distance. Last summer near Silent Waters I passed a deer frozen like a statue just 15 feet from the trail. Only her head moved slowly as I passed. There was hardly even any brush, and this was right across the street from the busy Middle School. The animals must sense how unobservant we humans usually are.