by Beth Sullivan
Here we are in December. We have had
several significant periods of hard freezing, and even some light
snowfalls. Yet, we also have had days that are positively balmy-days
near 50 degrees, great for hiking, working outdoors, squeaking out a
few more of those chores we thought we were done with, stewarding our
preserves.
It was on just such a warm, moist
and quiet day this past week, that several of us donned waterproof
footwear and headed into the Fennerswood Preserve on North Main
Street in Stonington. The preserve is quite large and is comprised
of several parcels acquired over time and spanning the roadway. The
West side has several lots along the road that will be maintained as
fields as we combat invasive vines. Another roadside lot will be
reverting to young forest. The loop trail takes you west to a lovely
waterway: Stony Brook, which is protected along much of its path, by
Avalonia Preserves, before it makes its way to Quanaduck Cove.
The East side is un-trailed. The
acres along the roadway were once pastures. There are a few older
trees, many oaks, that have stood maybe for 100 years or more. But
they are surrounded by many young trees, new growth, similar size,
crowding in, competing for sun space. A stroll through this area
reveals a number of trees with a very recognizable trait: the
peeling bark of the Shagbark Hickory. The distinctive bark grows and
flakes leaving crevasses and cracks. These are hiding places for
numerous insects, spiders and even bats which will use the large
flaps of bark as protective hiding places during the day, to remain
out of sight, until nightfall.
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| Shagbark Hickory |
Woodpeckers were abundant the day of
our walk. Hairy, Downy, Red Bellied and Flicker were heard. These
birds, as well as Nuthatches, Brown Creepers and others, work around
the shag bark to discover insects or their larva hidden there. A
pile of yellow shafted feathers spoke of a drama: a Flicker had
fallen victim to a hawk.
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| Hairy Woodpecker |
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| Yellow-shafted Flicker |
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| Signs of a Hawk taking a Flicker. |
As we walked further East into the
preserve, the wetlands spread out in front of us. Mounds of sphagnum
moss remain green throughout the winter. In many areas, spikes of
Skunk Cabbage were already emerging and will be the first plants
breaking through the snow in spring. And then we heard a familiar but
out of place sound: a Spring Peeper,no doubt confused by the warm
weather.
The ground was unfrozen; our feet
slipped into puddles. This area will be impossible to navigate in the
wet spring season, but now, following a dry fall, we could penetrate
the wet areas and explore until we reached the sandy stream bed where
the waters gathered into a flowing brook. Watercress was bright
green even now. Small clumps of violet leaves dotted the mossy
mounds. It didn’t seem like almost winter.
As we looked more closely we were
truly surprised to spy a good sized bullfrog, quietly camouflaged and
quite subdued. The warm weather can bring amphibians out of a
hibernating state. This can be dangerous as they are likely too cold
to be able to hunt and find food. They are too slow to evade
predators, and their metabolism will be increased just enough to use
up their valuable fat stores, meant to supply them the whole winter.
Not a good situation. We moved him closer to water, covered him with
leaves and wished him well.
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| Bullfrog on a warm December day. |
Photographs by Beth Sullivan and
Rick Newton.
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