Far Mill and Means Brook Join

Not many people have seen where the Far Mill River and Means Brook join, which is too bad, because it's teaming with wildlife (or maybe that's good). The spot is difficult to get to for much of the year because of the marshy terrain, but if the water is low, and you're a little adventurous, you can get there from the Rec Path and Land Trust meadow.

At the southern end of the meadow, look for an unmarked path heading west towards the river. Go straight into the woods along the path, but when the path curves left, go straight ahead to a small rise occupied by a concrete pad and wellhead (this is, after all, the "Huntington Wellfield Open Space"). Cross the concrete and bear left a bit to a small clearing. In the distance, straight ahead, is the Far Mill River coming straight towards you. To the right is Means Brook, but you can't really see it if the water is low, because it's obsured by a low island. Follow the shoreline left a bit to a log that you can cross to reach the island. Wear mud shoes, and watch out for stinging nettles.

Cross the island to see where the two rivers meet. Then hang out for a bit to watch the wildlife, as I did today:

As soon as I reached the river I heard the plop of a turtle falling into the water. Yellow iris bloomed along the edge. I crossed the river and immediately heard great crashing on the opposite shore in the brush, followed by lengthy snorting by a deer. They don't usually do that around here since they are so used to people.

I headed toward a patch of woods on the island crowned by a specimen Swamp White Oak which towered over a thicket of dogwood shrubs just covered in white flowers. A garter snake slipped by. Back out in the open, I watched a pair of bluebirds attending their nest in a 'snag' (old dead tree) on the edge of the water. A trout darted as I approached the shore. A frog croaked. All kinds of birds swooped around me and sang. Red-winged blackbirds were the most notable.

Off the island and down the shore a bit I could see live freshwater mussels on the river bottom. Usually you only see them after an animal has lunched on them and deposited the shells onshore. Clumps of Blue Flag Iris were in bloom.

Back in the meadow, I finally spied the Baltimore Orioles I'd been looking for. It was a good ten minutes before I realized I was standing directly under their nest, which hangs from a black cherry tree in full bloom right over the Rec Path. It's about half way down the meadow, next to a tree that has a 'open space' marker on it. Under it are freshly dug tunnels by a woodchuck or fox.

This was one of those days that made me wish I had a 35 mm camera instead of a point-and-shoot. Even so, I didn't do too awfully bad - here are my photos from the day.

Coral-Phase Salamander

Mike VanValen sent me this photo of an unusual coral phase redback salamander he found along the Derby Greenway. Redback salamanders are common and normally look like this. This salamander was full of eggs and may pass on her beautiful pink-lavender coloration to another generation.

Very Hungry Deer

I took this photo at a recent vacation in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Every evening the roadside was filled with deer eating the new spring grass. We saw about 50 deer in twenty minutes. Amazing.

Check out the rib cages on that deer, visible even under the thick winter coat. Ever since the Disney movie "Bambi", doing anything about the deer population has been labeled cruel, as if starving all winter isn't cruel (note we saw the survivors only). Here in Shelton, hunting has only very recently ceased (I remember hearing hunting shots out my back door not too long ago and I still get calls about deer blinds in the open space), so the deer population is presumably rising. Unless our "mountain lion" keeps them under control ;-D.

While walking along some Shenandoah trails I noted how open the forest was - there was nothing for the deer to eat. This is what happens when there are too many deer - they eat every plant they possibly can, and pretty soon all that's left is mature trees and a few plant species they don't like, such as green brier and hayscented fern (a native species that is classified as invasive in areas of large deer populations). This can be catastrophic for forest ecology and the entire food web. When a tree falls over in a storm, there are no young trees to replace it, because the deer have eaten them all. Native insects cannot find the type of leaf they need to eat, and perish. The birds, amphibians, and mammals that survive by eating those insects find that they too are starving. If only there were some way to make the Bambi people care about ALL the species of the forest, not just the cute ones.

On Assateague Island the situation was even worse. They have two deer species (Sitka Elk, technically) as well as the famous wild ponies. The forest was nothing but white pines and greenbrier, and I do mean nothing -- greenbrier as far as the eye could see in every direction.

Several years ago I saw a deer exclusion zone at Bluff Point State Park, protected by fencing, and it was very dramatic. Most of the park looked just like Assateague does now - nothing but mature trees and greenbrier. But within the tiny plots protected from deer, a healthy forest flourished, filled with saplings, shrubs and wildflowers.

Hedgehogs at Sunnyside

Someone has been feeding what I assume are feral cats at the Sunnyside Boat Launch - there's a cat house and feeding station there. The problem with feeding dogs and cats outside is that wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, coyote, opposum, and even bobcat also eat the food. Populations of these species increase to unnaturally high levels and they lose their fear of humans, which increases the risk of bites.

A new threat is the expanding population of hedgehogs coming up the Housatonic River Valley (the photo is one at Sunnyside). Native to England, hedgehogs became pests in New Zealand after they were released to eat garden pests (although they look like a rodent, their diet actually consists mostly of insects, along with bird eggs and anything else they can scavenge - including pet food). Since their release in New Zealand, songbird populations have declined. Now they have appeared along the Housatonic River, where they apparently scavenge the shoreline.

Hedgehogs have quills, but these quills are not barbed and do not release into your skin like a porpupine. So we do not have that to worry about (up north dogs are forever getting a facefull of quills). In fact, hedgehogs are sometimes kept as pets, which may be how they were released into Connecticut.

Hedgehogs are not adapted to harsh winters, so they may not move much to the north, and a cold winter might even wipe out the entire population. Time will tell.

APRIL FOOLS!!!

What ATVs Can Do

Some people think of the ATV problem as one of simple "trespassing". On the contrary, ATVs and dirtbikes cause serious damage to parkland. Unchecked, the ruts grow deeper and deeper, like the ones here at Fountain Lake in Seymour, which were over 3 feet deep. Even if all ATV usage stopped here today, these unsightly ruts will be visible for hundreds of years. Sometimes the ruts from just a few passes can cause damage that lasts for decades.

Here's a video of ATVers in Oxford tresspassing on private property that has become a regional destination for ATVers, including some from Shelton who drive across the city using powerlines, church property, open space, and RR tracks to get there.

Stratford Point

Most people around here have been to Short Beach in Stratford at one time or another, but very few know that you can walk south along the shore for about a mile to the Stratford Point Lighthouse, built in 1881.


From Short Beach you can see the former Remington Gun Club at the point, the really big house sitting all by itself. The Gun Club was shut down due to lead contamination, and the owner Dupont was ordered to remediate the site, which it did. The land was then going to be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an addition to the Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge, who was to turn the site into a public access and educational facility. However, the land transfer has stalled due to remaining contamination. The site is none-the-less being used as a scientific research facility as well as a local public access point, although it is not advertised as such.


When you get near the Gun Club, the shore will steepen and is covered by rip-rap. At that point, you have the option of walking along a mowed grassy path at the top of the slope, which is what most people do because it's a beautiful walk. You'll round the point and head straight to the lighthouse, which is occupied by a Coast Guard family and strictly off-limits (a fence surrounds the lighthouse complex). This spot is a wonderful location for a picnic.

The Point marks the tip of the Housatonic River Delta. Yes, we have a delta in Connecticut.


If you go, be sure to respect any signs or barricades that may be installed to protect the Plovers or ongoing scientific studies. An alternative access point is on Prospect Drive, just past Riverdale Lane, at a pull-off lined by boulders. Walk to the left of the chain-link fence and follow the heavily-used trail down to the water (this avoids the beach fee).




Here's a pair of Long-Tailed Ducks near the lighthouse. These are sea ducks that breed in the Arctic and can dive as much as 200 feet to find food such as snails.

Ghosts of Pleasure Beach

If you take a drive down Rt 113 Main Street in the Lordship area of in Stratford, passing Short Beach and the Sea Wall, and take a left onto Oak Bluff Ave., you come to the Long Beach parking lot. Start walking west along the narrow sandy peninsula, which feels more like an island. And walk. And walk. This is why they call it Long Beach. There are no facilities, but there are lots of shells - no one else seems to be picking them up. This time of year you may not see a single person. After 3/4 mile of beach walking, the island widens and you will start to see abandoned cottages. Stratford recently evicted the cottage owners, who were leasing the property from them. It's a ghost town.

Keep walking. When you reach the first radio tower, you've entered Pleasure Beach, Bridgeport, and the ghosts of a former amusement park. A bridge once connected downtown Bridgeport with the island, but it burned. There is no way to get here from Bridgeport, except by boat. Most of the rides and buildings are gone, but some remain, like the carosel shown above. The postcard below shows what the place looked like about 80 years ago.

This is a fascinating place. It looks like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may buy the property for a wildlife refuge and would certainly remove the old structures. Until then, anyone can take a nice long walk down the beach. If you walk the entire route and back it's almost 3 miles.

Update 3/7/2008: Last night 3 of the cottages burned down, and the two men who called 911 after seeing smoke were given $94 trespassing tickets for walking down the beach, according to the CT Post. I called up the Stratford Recreation Department and was assured that the public is welcome to walk down the beach - just stay away from the 45 cottages - they are strictly off limits. But you can walk past the cottages, staying down by the water. When you get to the Bridgeport side, and Pleasure Beach, I saw no signs prohibiting entry to the park.

Update 3/16/2008: How quickly things change! Stratford has officially closed all of Long Beach past the parking lot and there are no trespassing signs up. However, under state law, the public is guarenteed access to the beach below the mean high tide line. I was surprised to learn this law originates from Roman times. Apparently there is a very long tradition of shoreline property owners trying to keep everyone away, so that laws were passed to allow the public to fish, hunt, gather shellfish and, more recently, just recreate along the shore. This time it's the City of Stratford trying to deny public access, ostensibly worried about someone damaging the abandoned cottages that need to be demolished (I'm not exactly sure why that is such a catastrophe if they're going to remove them anyway, but what do I know?)

3/26/2008: Per the CT Post this morning, someone stole the 'no trespassing' signs, and due to lots of angry residents calling the Mayor, the new signs will say 'no trespassing near the cottages'. How surprising that people might get angry about a mile of beach being closed.

Migration of the Frogs

Here comes spring! The annual amphibian migration to their breeding pools has commenced. Woodfrogs and Spotted Salamanders are the easiest to spot. They often migrate en mass on the first few warm rainy nights of the season, and can be found crossing roads near special vernal pools.

I spotted this cute little woodfrog on the upper end of Wesley Drive and Scotch Pine in Huntington Woods, a location where I've previously seen dozens of frogs and salamanders on the pavement at once. Woodfrogs do not live in water - they live in the forest, and only return to water to breed. They will only breed in "vernal pools" - tiny ponds that have no fish and which tend to dry up in the summer. There is a substantial vernal pool on the west side of Wesley Drive, fortunately saved from development and now classified as open space.

One spot on Buddington Road, east of Grace Lane, has a MAJOR amphibian crossing. When conditions are right, literally hundreds of frogs and salamanders will be hopping and waddling across the street. The cars zoom by, crunching large numbers of them. The next day, the birds have a feast.

Woodfrog breeding ponds can be located in the spring by the sound of quacking where there should be no ducks, like in some thick but wet brush. The sound will stop as soon as you approach. That is the mating song of the woodfrog.

Grumpy Neighbors

Some letterboxing directions lead me to Beach Memorial Park in Trumbull today, where I was greeted with this nasty sign: "Park permit required year round" and "Trumbull residents only".

Year round? There wasn't a single car in the parking lot on a Sunday afternoon with spectacular winter weather. What are they afraid of? Hoards of out-of-town hikers in February?

Here in Shelton our trails are open to everyone, and there's no fee.

I ignored the sign, hoping the Trumbull police wouldn't haul me off to jail for hiking in the Trumbull woods.

The letterboxing clues brought me to an engraved outcrop in the woods, which said:

Trumbull is a town dedicated
to matters of the spirit
It's a town to live in
It's a town to remember
It's a town to love
If you're a resident

OK, I added that last line. But really, if Shelton, Monroe, Fairfield, and other towns in the region can share their parks with non-residents, why can't Trumbull?

Webb Mtn Discovery Zone

Monroe did a really nice job at their new "Webb Mountain Discovery Zone", located on 171 acres of new open space next to Webb Mtn Park, just over the Shelton border. There are lots of interpretive signs, benches, landscaping, security cameras, and wide easy trails. There were maps and scavenger hunt cards at the entryway when I visited today (see photos).

From Shelton, take East Village Road and just after you cross into Monroe, take a right at Webb Circle. The very large parking area and sign are on the left maybe half a mile up the road. Can't miss it.

Funding for the $35,000 "outdoor classroom" came largely from private businesses. Wouldn't it be nice to see some contributions like that from our own businesses here in Shelton?