Happy New Year! Are you looking for another resolution for 2014?

By Beth Sullivan and Heather Milardo

“It’s well known that ‘making a difference’, makes us happier and healthier: People who volunteer live longer.” (AARP Bulletin, January 2014)

By now we hope you understand that our organization is not just about holding on to the land and enjoying it. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in order to help the organization uphold its mission of conservation. Can you help us? We are looking for your skills and a little time; volunteers that can help in various ways throughout the organization.

Do you enjoy organizing fundraisers or special events? Can you research and write grants? We are looking to grow our organization and would welcome your talents on our Development team.

Avalonia President Michelle Fitzpatrick addresses the audience at last fall's community presentation.  Many volunteers helped create this event; were you one of them? 

Do you enjoy writing? Can you offer ideas about marketing and member recruitment? We are actively working toward increasing our connection with the community. This blog is just one way. We also have a Facebook page, publish a quarterly newsletter, and put out an Annual Report, but we want to do more. Your help with Public Relations and community outreach would be most appreciated.

Can you organize and lead? Right now the PR and Development Committee Chair is vacant. It is a Board Position and involves organizing all the people who may work on the aspects just described above.

Do you enjoy working with people and making new connections? The Personnel Committee oversees and organizes volunteers in all capacities. When a new member joins Avalonia, we want to be able to not only welcome them into the organization, but find ways they can best use their talents for a greater good.

Are you a numbers person? We are in need of a book-keeper to help in the office and also a Treasurer who will be part of the Board.

As we enter this New Year, Avalonia’s Executives , Board of Directors and a special committee are working on developing a far reaching strategic plan that will lead us into the next years. We invite you to be a part of that.

So “people who volunteer live longer”? Here’s to a long and happy life!

Photo by Jim Sullivan.

Dog Watch Café Fundraiser for Avalonia Land Conservancy

The Dog Watch Café in Stonington will host a fundraiser to benefit Avalonia Land Conservancy on Wednesday January 15th 2014, during the restaurant’s regular opening hours of 11.30am to 9pm.  Customers can order the lunch or dinner from the Dog Watch’s extensive regular menu (www.dogwatchcafe.com), and if they tell the waitstaff they are there in support of Avalonia, the generous proprietors will donate 15% of the check to Avalonia, no coupons needed.

Proceeds from the event will be directed towards Avalonia’s current strategic acquisition project, conservation of Babcock Ridge in North Stonington. “We really appreciate the support that the proprietors of the Dog Watch Café are providing to Avalonia,” said Avalonia President Michele Fitzpatrick. “We hope we can return the favor by bringing in additional, and perhaps new, customers to the restaurant.”

Avalonia Board members will be present to during the day to meet interested customers, to answer any questions about Babcock Ridge and to discuss Avalonia's mission of conservation in southeastern CT.

Some New Year’s Inspiration…and a Challenge

By Beth Sullivan

Winter is firmly in place. Days are short, cold and often gray. The tendency would be to hibernate: curl up, get warm, slow down, eat.

Get out and move!

There is another option: Bundle up, get out, move, and explore. The preserves you may have visited in the green season look so different now. Their browns and grays are subtle; cloaked in the white of new snow they are stunning. Their beauty is unique; details are revealed.

Hooded Mergansers don't mind the snow

Knox Preserve beckons all year long

Avalonia Land Conservancy spans eight towns in Southeast Connecticut: over 3,500 acres. I am not sure if any one knows how many miles of trails there are. So, why don’t you go find out and tell us!

Make it a New Year’s Resolution to hike as many trails on as many Avalonia Preserves as possible, and log some miles. Record some observations, take some photos. Let us know what you find, what you think. Let us know your mileage too.

Mice claim a Catbird's net for the winter

We will create a photo gallery in a future post of your experiences, so send one of your photos to avaloniaetrails@gmail.com.

We wish you a Happy, Healthy New Year, and a great way to start is getting out the door and onto the trails!

Photographs by Beth Sullivan and Rick Newton.

Tis the Season..for the Annual Christmas Bird Count

By Beth Sullivan

Not rain, nor snow nor sleet or hail: nothing can stop the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Well, almost nothing. One year there was a blizzard and it was reluctantly rescheduled. Not because folks were worried about driving about in the weather, but because visibility would be low and they might not get to see many birds and thus lower their tallies!

Bluebirds(above) and Robins often remain through the winter when there are berries available.

For 114 years birders around North America have joined forces to be citizen scientists on behalf of collecting data and increasing our knowledge and understanding about birds in a given area. By being consistent with the dates: always between December 14 and Jan 5, and consistent with the areas covered each year, data has been collected and studied to give ornithologists a better view of changes in populations of birds over time.

The New London Bird Count was started in the 1940s. It is based on a circle centered at the intersection of Gardner and Ocean Avenues in NL. The circles are all 15 miles in diameter and are often created to include the greatest diversity of habitats, thereby increasing the greatest number of species possible.

Buffleheads(above) and Hooded Mergansers are found in many
quiet coves along the shoreline.

If you look on Google Maps for Christmas Bird Counts, you can see our area covered by the circle. It extends to include Rocky Neck in the West to Mason’s Island in the East. To the North it goes up the Thames River to Bartlett’s Cove in Montville and at its Southern most reach it includes the Western 2/3 of Fisher’s Island and includes the Island owned by Avalonia: South Dumpling. All of Avalonia’s Preserves in Groton are included, some from Stonington and a bit of Ledyard as well.

Our local CBC circle

It includes just about every habitat possible: hardwood forests, shrub-land, fields and meadows, freshwater wetlands and reservoirs, brackish tidal areas, salt marshes, open water of the Long Island Sound, rocky islands and sandy shores. Much of the land covered is public land, but private landowners contribute observations and open their properties for the count as well. The area is covered by teams of birders who will move from place to place during the course of the day. Some start before dawn to find the owls as they roost. Many of these teams have been doing the count for decades and know the “hot spots” and come to expect certain species in certain areas. One team may hop the Ferry from New London to Fisher’s Island just to get a count of those open water birds that are rarely found close to shore.

Mallards are the ducks with the overall highest counts every year.

Bob Dewire has been organizing and doing compilation for the New London Christmas Count for 50 years! His teams will be spreading out on December 28^th. A good year will see the tally around 120 species. Last year we had 122. The highest count was 125. Bad weather and fog always lower the tally.

Several species will converge where the water is ice free.

Check the National Audubon CBC website for a lot more history and information. Then register to be part of the count and get out on Sat. Dec 28^th. Don’t forget the binoculars Santa brought & a note pad! Have fun. Merry Christmas to all.

Song Sparrows hide in brush piles and find seeds in meadows.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan and Rick Newton.

Avalonia annual appeal

The following comes from the Avalonia annual appeal letter. As the year comes to an end, it's time to remember that your financial support is important to the success of Avalonia Land Conservancy.

Thanks in part to donations, Avalonia is growing in leaps and bounds and most importantly acres. In the past year contributors like you have helped Avalonia conserve 140 additional acres to protect our water sources, provide homes for wildlife, and offer places where we all can enjoy nature for years to come. Contributions during the past 45 years have allowed Avalonia to acquire and protect over 3,400 acres.

This year Avalonia was thrilled to complete the acquisition of Bell Cedar Swamp, described by the CT DEEP as a “rare, intact Atlantic White Cedar swamp listed as a Connecticut Imperiled Natural Community.” Avalonia enlarged the Hoffman Preserve by 53 acres, expanded Billings Brook Preserve by 4 acres, and added 16 acres of protected land to a large greenway in the midst of the Mystic tourist area.

Preserving additional properties, such as Babcock Ridge, is increasingly important, but increasingly challenging. Saving land is just the beginning; when Avalonia commits to protect a property, the commitment is to protect it in perpetuity. Each new acquisition brings stewardship obligations and associated costs. Avalonia has been successful in winning grants, both for acquisition and stewardship, but most grants require matching contributions, either in cash or in volunteer effort. Please help preserve Babcock Ridge with your donation.

Babcock Ridge

In the past year, with generous member support, Avalonia has strengthened conservation partnerships with CT DEEP, USFWS, Connecticut College, Trinity College, The Nature Conservancy, and other groups through collaborative efforts. These organizations offer Avalonia substantial assistance free of charge because they recognize the efforts and commitment that you, Avalonia members and volunteers, bring to Avalonia's mission of conservation. But if Avaolina is to continue to grow, funds will be needed as well as energy and passion.

Avalonia is your land trust. During the upcoming holiday season, take some time to go out and explore the lands that you have helped to preserve. Go alone and enjoy the peace and solitude, or take the family and show them what Mother Nature has to offer and what you have helped to save for them. It is a gift that lasts.

Please give what you can by sending a check to :

Avalonia Land Conservancy, Inc.

P.O. Box 49

Old Mystic, CT 06372

Avalonia is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent permissible by law.

Visit the remodeled Avalonia website here.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan and Rick Newton.