Thirty-three hikers participated in a four-mile loop hike from Old Saint Andrew’s Church through Bloomfield’s Wilcox Park (pictured), along a portion of the New England National Scenic Trail to the Bartlett Tower ruins in Tariffville, and back. Everyone enjoyed the hike, socially-distanced fellowship, and that neighbor’s Tollenberg goat!
Thanks to Kevin Gough and Paula Jones for guiding the hike through this patchwork of town- and land-trust protected spaces. Paula Jones and Sharon Mann shared the photographs below. Also thanks to Bloomfield Leisure Services for co-sponsoring this event.
When our Wine & Dine Committee had to cancel the 5th annual fundraiser in April because of the coronavirus, they went to work finding another way to have a safe event: A Take-Home Harvest Dinner from our Farms to You.
Chair Sharon Mann recruited Gillette Ridge Golf Club’s manager Jordan Stein and executive chef Jeremy Archer. Our partners Newgate Farms and the 4Five Farm provided locally-sourced organic foods. Soon BackEast Brewery, Lost Acres Orchard, Petersen’s Flower Farm, Avery Beverages and Gillette Ridge Wine & Spirits joined in!
The weather was beautiful when 137 people picked up their delicious meals packaged in beautiful peach baskets with assorted beverages, wine, decorative cloth napkins, and handpicked fall flowers. In keeping with our sustainability efforts, food was packaged in recyclable containers, participants used their own dinnerware, and extra chicken was donated to a local food kitchen.
This sold-out event raised over $17,000 … more than last year!
The funds raised will support the Land Trust’s normal operating expenses and efforts to preserve farmland, conserve natural resources, and promote recreational use of our protected spaces. Learn more about where the money goes.
We could not have accomplished our goals without the support, involvement, and enthusiasm of our sponsors, donors, and volunteers. If you want to help continue the important community work of the Land Trust, consider becoming one of next year’s leading sponsors or voicing your support as a business or individual in our event program. (See last year’s sponsorship info and program for reference.)
Thank you for joining us to eat well and do good.
Mary-Beth Kaeser and staff from Horizon Wings Raptor Rehabilitation & Education in Ashford presented a webinar on the extraordinary features of owls, including their exceptional eyesight, hearing, and ability to fly silently. Over 33 people attended and were treated to a live Northern Saw-Whet Owl, Barred Owl, Barn Owl, Great-Horned Owl, and two Eastern Screech Owls!
The most important take-away message was to avoid using rodenticides to kill mice. The mice can take up to ten days to die and are easy prey for the owls. The poison can kill an adult owl and even wipe out an entire nest if the adult takes it to its young.
Horizon Wing’s mission is to rehabilitate birds of prey for release into the wild in order to maintain their population and to educate the community to enhance awareness of the environment. “Asha” (pictured) is one of the Barred Owls in their care. This webinar was part of WLT’s on-going Nature Lecture Series with Bloomfield Leisure Services.
Peter Picone and Ron Pitz provided a guided tour of Hawk Hill Farm’s beautiful, gently sloping trails. Peter is an urban wildlife biologist at the State Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, and Ron is the former executive director of Knox Foundation (and regular volunteer at Hawk Hill). They discussed the property’s many champion trees, native plants, and efforts to identify and control invasive plants.
(Co-sponsored by the North Central Conservation District, and rescheduled from their April 25 plant sale weekend.)
(L-R: Meadows provide habitat for wildlife such as Purple Martins hunting insects. Ron Pitz and Peter Piccone. A champion White Oak. Bittersweet vines overtaking Cedars. Credits: Paula Jones and Sharon Mann.)
Update from Charlie Horn: A recording of Margery Winters’ online webinar is available on our YouTube Channel, and Margery shared Planting for Pollinators filled with additional resources for protecting our native pollinators. Many thanks to our cosponsors: Bloomfield Beautification Committee, Bloomfield Conservation, Energy & Environment Committee, Bloomfield Leisure Services, and Simsbury Land Trust.
Margery is Assistant Director of the Roaring Brook Nature Center, President of the Simsbury Land Trust, and Chair of the Simsbury Conservation Commission, and her expertise was clear. She provided a riveting and information-packed talk followed by a lively Q & A to a large virtual audience. We gained a clear idea of the dangers pollinators are facing, especially our native pollinators, and she provided us with many ways to help protect and enhance pollinators:
Update from Zellene Sandler: Have you ever stroked a snake? They are smooth and cool to the touch, rather like satin. I like snakes, and Adam Harris’ webinar on Reptiles and Amphibians did not disappoint. It reflected his love and respect for these often feared or maligned creatures. Adam is the son of Seth Harris, founder of Harris in Wonderland, located at 364 Albany Turnpike in Canton. He earned a biology degree at Hartwick College and has been keeping and breeding reptiles for more than 20 years.
Wintonbury Land Trust held its annual membership meeting online so participants could reconnect, ask questions about the annual report distributed last month, and elect members to the board of directors. Below are links to some of the materials shared for the meeting:
- Annual Report with highlights of the year and a photo slide show
- Treasurer’s Report summary and details
- Election of the Board of Directors
- Upcoming events, especially Wine & Dine on September 26
- Recognition of volunteers and sponsors, including our major event supporters
- Met Hawk Hill Farm’s new tenant: The 4 Five Farm
The group hiking events planned across the state became do-it-yourself hikes to help ensure everyone’s safety. Most remain listed on the CT Trails Day website, many with videos to help plan your adventure. So in addition to the Land Trust’s trails, we encourage you to enjoy the three hikes we had planned locally to explore our community’s wildlife and scenic views.
– Wilcox Park with the Buck Property (additional video intro)
– Seabury Wildlands (additional video intro)
Update: Although mosquitoes transmitting malaria receive the most attention globally, in the U.S. the majority of vector-borne diseases are transmitted by ticks. Dr. Kirby Stafford, III, State Entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, partnered with the Land Trust and Bloomfield Leisure Services to present a webinar on the natural history of ticks and health risks of tick-borne diseases. Additional information can be found in CAES’ online brochure, Ticks, Lyme Disease, and Other Tick-Borne Diseases.
Of the 16 tick species native to Connecticut, only 4 transmit bacteria or viruses to humans: Blacklegged Tick (the most common at ~80% of the ticks submitted to the Station for testing), American Dog Tick, Lone Star Tick (uncommon here but the most common in the southeast), and Woodchuck Tick (rarely bites humans). These are most commonly associated with Lyme disease (the most common at ~68% of tick-borne illnesses in the U.S.), Babesiosi, and Anaplasmosis. Researchers also are monitoring the invasive Asian Longhorned Ticks because it can cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. These illnesses can present with a variety of rashes, fevers, muscle and joint pain, nausea, fatigue, and in some cases serious, long-lasting health problems.
Ticks are terrestrial insects found on the ground and lower vegetation where they can reach animals to feed on blood during the larval, nymph, and adult stages of their life cycle, mostly small rodents and birds but also deer, dogs, and humans. Only half of adult ticks may be infected and able to transmit a pathogen during a bite, and their populations are greatest in the spring and fall. But though far fewer may be infected, nymphs cause more infections because they are harder to see and most common in the summer when we are active outside.
So reducing leaf litter, invasive plants, and small rodent habitat in our yards can be among the most effective methods to reduce our exposure to tick bites. Wearing long pants and high socks treated with permethrin (min 0.5%) repellent is the most recommended personal protection method. When that’s not possible, DEET (min 25-30%), Picaridin (min 20%), or oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (min 30%) can help. Keep in mind it can take 24-36 hours for an infected tick to transmit a pathogen during a bite, so simply checking for and removing ticks remains your best defense.
Update: No snow? No problem! On February 22 we held our annual winter hike in the Land Trust’s Speer Preserve. Led by Board member Dale Bertoldi, sixteen enthusiastic hikers (and three dogs, also enthusiastic!) enjoyed two hours of splendid conditions on the Preserve’s loop trails, across stunning cliff outcroppings, past a beautiful pond, and over three bubbling streams. While it was disappointing not to be able to snowshoe on this winter hike, the unusually mild and almost snowless winter made for great hiking in the upland forest, with little ice on the trails or streams. (Photo credit Dale Bertoldi.)
Join us at the Land Trust’s Speer Preserve for a winter outing. Come early and be prepared to be on the trails shortly after 9:30 a.m. The trail is easy to moderate and the hike lasts about one and a half to two hours.
Speer Preserve is an upland forest surrounded by open land and MDC Reservoir property. Speer is an outing experience reminiscent of winter in the Vermont woods. Hard to believe Bloomfield Center is just minutes from Juniper Road.
Please come with snowshoes if we have snow, or hiking boots if there is no snow. Wear seasonal outdoor clothing. Meet at the cul-de-sac at the top of Juniper Road in Bloomfield. Rain date is Sunday, February 23.
