The Great Avalonia Trail Trek 2021

A peaceful early autumn trail.

It’s September and finally the weather has turned, to encourage outdoor activities.  We have waited patiently for these less humid, blue sky, comfortably cool days when a hike or any other minor exertion doesn’t leave you sweating and out of breath!

I would expect most of us don’t really need any other reason to head onto a trail but this is also the time when we are planning the second annual Trail Trek to benefit Avalonia’s mission to preserve, protect and manage open space here in southeastern CT.  

No two trails are the same.

At this point in time, Avalonia cares for almost 4,500 acres and the number of towns in which these preserves are located, is continually growing.  If you are anywhere between the Thames River and the RI Border, or south to Little Narragansett Bay and Fisher’s Island Sound, and north to Griswold and the Pachaug Forest area, there is an Avalonia preserve near you ( https://avalonia.org/preserves/).

All of our preserves are open but not all are trailed. The Avalonia website is linked to the CT Trail Finder app and those preserves with trails are easy to find and well described.   Last year folks hiked, ran or did a bike loop connecting as many preserves as possible. You can bring your four footed friends along on most preserves ( there are a couple of exceptions) as long as they are on a leash and run along beside you. 

At Knox Farm, you can pull up in
your kayak and go for a hike.

 This year an added attraction will be a kayak component. Many preserves in Stonington and Groton have water access or are visible from the water.  Several years ago, I posted a blog with some directions and ideas. A Blue Trail. http://avaloniaetrails.blogspot.com/2016/08/avalonia-by-kayak.html   Now we have some freshwater access in Griswold and soon may even have access from the Wood/Pawcatuck River to our new Sheets Preserve in North Stonington.

At least one preserve will allow mountain biking for part of the event.

The TriTown Ridgeline Forest trails
are more challenging.

Last year Trail Trek helped complete our funding for the Tri-Town Ridgeline  Forest.  This preserve is Avalonia’s largest, most diverse and ecologically unique property. There are majestic trees, rocky ledges, clear streams, pre-colonial stone structures and even a true mountain!  It now has literally miles of well marked trails, some easy and some challenging, and all beautiful. They are perfect for hiking and trail running. Everyone had fun last year, and we exceeded our fund raising goals with great gratitude to all who donated. 

Those of you who have come to know me, through the blog or otherwise, know that I need no extra incentive or reason to be outdoors.  It is a passion, and some might say an obsession. A healthy one.  I don’t always need to be on a trail.   Boundary work gives me a good excuse to go off trail and check out more remote corners.   This is my favorite time of year for kayaking.  The water is warm and really clear, and the colors of autumn reflect so beautifully with the September-blue sky.  I hope I can launch my little boat during the trail trek week but surely will be out hiking.  This year “my team” will be the Stonington Stewards, dedicated to all the people who help me here in town, build bridges, pull invasives, mow trails populate the work parties, and who support all the projects we are involved in.

Please support Avalonia in all aspects of the good work that is being done.  More land preserved, more trails maintained,  more outreach and education.  It is all good.

Thanks,

Beth

A bike route may take you past untrailed
properties that you didn't know about!

Some trails open up to amazing views!

A bench welcomes tired trekkers.

Amphibians As Indicators of the Environment

by Edin Sisson and Alaine Zhang 

Green frogs sound like a banjo
being plucked!

Avalonia Land Conservancy owns a large variety of wild habitats and local ecosystems and its mission is to steward and manage these habitats in a way that benefits both their ecological health and the  communities surrounding them.  In order to aid in these intentions, one crucial group of animals must be considered as both a concentration of care and a tool to gain insight on environmental health within Avalonia’s Preserves: Amphibians.  Frogs, toads and salamanders are complex organisms that are not only intriguing but are important to focus on when studying local ecology. During the past semester as students at Connecticut College, we partnered with Avalonia to help create awareness of amphibian life on our local preserved lands. In order to do this, we collected data weekly regarding the intensity of frog calls and wanted to create a blog post that reflects the significance of frogs within the areas studied. 

 

Vernal pond at White
Cedar Swamp

There are three main groups that Amphibians are categorized into; urodeles, anurans, and gymnophiones.  Urodeles are composed of newts and salamanders, anurans include frogs and toads all of which are vertebrates.  Gymnophiones are also vertebrates but have no limbs, and are otherwise known as caecilians. Amphibians are one of the oldest types of vertebrates and are distinctive because they live on both water and land at some point during their lives. Frogs and toads spend their early stages of development with gills, and then develop lungs and limbs to be able to survive on land as well. This unique development is what makes vernal pools, swamps, and shallow areas of ponds such great habitats for them to live. In addition to lacking hair and laying eggs, frogs and toads are exothermic, meaning their internal temperature is externally regulated by factors such as the sun. Frogs and toads are active during the spring and summer and hibernate during the rest of the year, usually in the mud of ponds. What we hear most frequently in the spring are the male mating calls, sung to attract females. The males fertilize the eggs after they are laid, during a process called external fertilization. In order to gain the upper hand over other males during mating season, they practice amplexus, in which they climb onto the female and wait for her eggs to be laid so that they can be the ones to fertilize them. Depending on the frog species, mating happens at different times during spring, the duration fluctuates as well depending on factors such as temperature and climate. There are some key differences between true frogs and true toads. True frogs are skinny with smooth, slimy skin and long legs. They leap and jump fairly long distances, and they have an upper jaw with small teeth. Frogs also lay eggs in large, often round, clusters. Toads, on the other hand, are generally warty and dry, live mostly on land, have fat bodies with short legs, and don’t hop that far. They also do not have teeth and lay their eggs in long strands rather than clumps. 

 

White Cedar Swamp is great habitat 
for frogs!

This spring we focused on frogs specifically, which can be hugely beneficial to us as humans, and to the ecological systems on Avalonia’s lands. They control insect populations as they are the main part of their diet, as well as providing food for predators such as fish, mammals, reptiles, and birds. With their skin and eggs being especially permeable, frogs are very sensitive to factors such as pollution, UV light, disease, and microscopic organisms. The pores on their skin allow them to absorb gasses like oxygen through their skin to breathe, but they also make the organisms prone to environmental changes in the water or air. When the pH of water or soil, for example, becomes too low and therefore acidic, materials such as heavy metal dissolve more easily, and therefore create toxins that are unhealthy for the local ecosystem. When exposed to these toxins, frogs are some of the first animals to die, or have mutations. Their small size also makes them susceptible to fatal environmental factors before larger animals like humans even become aware of the issue. There are many reasons for frog population decline including habitat loss, non-native species, climate disruption, parasites, and over-collection by humans. However, where  frogs are generally locally abundant, they are a great, accessible resource for scientists to use to study the changing environment. By recognizing fluctuations in frog populations and breeding time, we can observe what environmental issues might be problematic within our area here in Connecticut, and if possible, address them in productive manners. 

 

Pond at Pequotsepos Brook Preserve

While exploring both Avalonia’s Pequotsepos Brook Preserve and White Cedar Swamp, we heard three main species of frogs: The Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer), the Green Frog, (Rana Clamitans), and the Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris). Spring Peepers are small frogs active from the end of the winter until the late fall and the most abundant frog species that we heard at our Avalonia sites. The Green Frog is a green or brown colored frog that feeds on insects as well as small amphibians. Green Frogs usually mate in April and early May but can continue into the summer months. Their call sound similar to the buckling of a banjo, which we heard during our final visits to White Cedar Swamp. Finally, we heard the Pickerel Frog at Pequotsepos Brook Preserve, which is a medium-sized frog with a lower-pitched call. It is also dark-colored somewhat rectangular dark spots and yellow or orange on the underside of its legs.

We performed research on the intensity of frog calls this spring under the protocols of the national Frog Watch USA organization. This organization calls upon trained volunteers all over the US to collect data on local populations of frog species and use it to monitor population decline, environmental changes, and potentially make positive steps to protect species countrywide. With the mission statement of Avalonia being to “[preserve] natural habitats in southeastern Connecticut by acquiring and protecting lands and by communicating the value of these irreplaceable resources,” these goals align extremely well, especially when applied to the conservation of the wetland habitats that Avalonia protects. By monitoring frogs on Avalonia’s lands, we can observe and analyze behavioral and population changes that could correlate with environmental concerns that negatively impact the ecosystems we cherish. 

 

Works Cited:

 

“Frogwatch Training Manual.” FrogWatch USA, www.aza.org/frogwatch?locale=en. 

Marshall, John. “Indicator Species: Using Frogs and Salamanders to Gauge Ecosystem Health.” GRIT: Rural American Know-How, 2021, www.grit.com/departments/indicator-species-zm0z13jazgou/. 

Mosseso, John J. “Green Frog.” Connecticut Frogs and Toads, NBII, wildlifeofct.com/green%20frog.html. 

“Pickerel Frog.” Virginia Herpetological Society, Virginia Herpetological Society, 2021, www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/pickerel-frog/pickerel_frog.php. 

Signs of the Seasons: A New England Phenology Program, The University of Maine Cooperative Extension, extension.umaine.edu/signs-of-the-seasons/. 

 

 

 

The Other Half of Our Mission

 

by Beth Sullivan

Our Mission: We preserve natural habitats in southeastern Connecticut by acquiring and protecting lands, and by communicating the value of these irreplaceable resources.

Communicating the value of these
irreplaceable resources.

Everyone who is aware of Avalonia as a land conservancy in southeast CT,  understands the first part of that statement,  about preserving, acquiring and protecting.  Over the last several years Avalonia has acquired, or is in the process of acquiring, almost 1000 acres.  Now, over 4,300 acres are protected for the future, for generations of wildlife and people. From our shoreline, which is imperiled by rising sea level, to coastal forests that are being lost to development;  from small vernal pools, to swamps and bogs,  ponds, streams and rivers;  from meadows and thickets to forests with rocky ledges and towering old trees;  Avalonia has a wonderful and diverse cross section of habitats to share.

An illustrated sign captures the
interest of a young hiker.

That’s where the second part of the mission comes in: sharing these resources, communicating and educating all who will listen, about the importance of habitat conservation and diversity. Many of us took refuge in nature over this past year.  Our trails saw enormous increases in traffic.   It is always my hope that people truly think about where they walk, see with different eyes, keep their ears alert, when they are on a trail in the woods and not merely walk for exercise with ear phones securely plugged in! You can learn so much, just on your own, by paying attention.

However, sometimes we are lucky to be able to truly, actively, educate people about our preserves, and sometimes they educate us!    A few preserves have informational signage to point out special elements  along the trail.  We are hoping to do a little more of that.  There is a lot of information on our website about each of the preserves, and links to articles that may offer more insight. Hike and Seek has remained popular with children, families and even older adults who have found our trails and preserves to be sources of learning, respite and  exercise.

The students become the educators

This is the time of year when we also begin to think about some special programs that offer different levels of education.   The Conn College Goodwin Niering Center for the Environment will be joining forces with Avalonia for the ninth year!  Since 2013 I have worked with some of the brightest  young minds, enthusiastic, hopeful and eager to participate in some aspect of Avalonia’s work.  Over the years we have had projects from stewardship and on the ground research, to fundraising and social media efforts. We never quite know what direction their projects will take, but in the next semester, you will be introduced to some of them as we learn together.

I am also so very lucky to be working with a great team from UConn on the Hoffman Project.  Through these connections, I myself am learning a lot about forest management, climate change and also ways to impart that knowledge to others.  We are creating more informational signs for trail side learning.  Under the leadership of a Stonington Town Committee member, a professor from GWU,  Avalonia will be offering a series of webinars about how changing climate is influencing our forests and their ability to adapt.  Entitled “Finding the Right Trees for the Right Time”,  the seminars will discuss the planning and planting we are doing to ensure a resilient coastal forest at the Hoffman Preserve.   Find out more on our website here.  We are also planning to work with the local schools and teachers to offer Hoffman as a living laboratory for learning and field work.   At a time when classrooms are often challenging to keep safe, an outdoor classroom may prove perfect!

Putting heads together to explore
life found in a  vernal pool.
(Photo credit:Kim Bradley) 

There are also many Citizen Science opportunities for students and families to participate in, providing opportunities to learn,and to contribute data to the knowledge base about wildlife in our area.   There is an ongoing opportunity to record bird sightings on eBird   https://ebird.org/.   We have just finished the Great Backyard Birdcount   https://www.birdcount.org/   and Project Feeder Watch  https://feederwatch.org/ continues.  Both websites offer great information about observing birds wherever you may be.   Believe it or not, next month we will be watching for the return of the Osprey to their nesting sites. Osprey Nation offers great information and opportunities to monitor these magnificent birds.  https://www.ctaudubon.org/osprey-nation-home. We will also begin to listen for and report,  those first sounds of spring, from frogs and toads in the Frog Watch Program https://www.aza.org/frogwatch,  sponsored locally by the Mystic Aquarium.

We may still be in the middle of winter, but we can think forward to spring. Avalonia provides the land and opportunities to communicate the value of these irreplaceable resources.

At Hoffman, educational signage helps
visitors understand conservation practices.

Citizen science activities can start early and last a lifetime.
Photo credit: Nick Young

Education and outreach can take many forms.

“The Holy Land is everywhere.” Black Elk

by Beth Sullivan

Beth,

 

Thank you for the role you play – every day – in protecting that which is Holy. Our descendants (and our ancestors) are counting on it.

 

May the conservation spirit burn brightly for you this Holiday Season and throughout the year in 2019.

 

Happy New Year!

David Allen

 

This email message caught my eye, and the words Holy Land really grabbed my attention. I am often overdosed with end of the year requests, and greetings from people or organizations with which I may have only a fleeting relationship. David Allen writes a weekly blog highlighting various aspects of development for conservation organizations. I often learn from his professional tidbits, about better ways to write to engage people with my own writing. The simplicity of this actually stopped me in my tracks. I know the same words went out to all his subscribers, but they spoke to ME!

A holy landscape rests at the heart of it all.

                                   

Holy Land

In this season of spirituality, most of us have a sense of some form of holiness. Most is related to a system of religious beliefs. But believing in the sacredness of our Earth puts a different emphasis on holy. I have always felt closer to God…in whatever form she or he takes, when immersed in nature. To me it is impossible to deny some kind of higher power at work when confronted with the simplicity and complexity of the natural world. The more scientists learn, the more profound the mystery of how interconnected everything is. I have a deep love for plants and am always just amazed at the way all species of them are working and living together to support one another and enhance their own environments. Are they really not conscious? They also are the source of all that we as humans need to survive on this planet: food, shelter, oxygen. They are constantly threatened by mankind’s assaults on the air and water and on the very organisms themselves. Yet they continue to adapt and strive to achieve balance. It is frightening to think of how unbalanced our environment has become, and how unbalanced our leaders’ efforts are in regards to protecting and preserving the very things that are essential to life.

Our Earth is indeed holy and in need of our protection. As David Allen’s quote points out: “our descendants ( and our ancestors) are counting on it.”

At this time, when one year ends and another begins, we all have the opportunity and moral obligation to think about some small thing we can do to keep this land and water preserved and holy for all that depend on it. I don’t believe that I alone, as one individual, can make a huge difference, but if each one of us makes a small effort, and sticks with it, and spreads the word so that the intent ripples out like small waves on a still pond, together we can make a difference.

I hope each one of us can make the resolution to cherish our Holy Land.

Happy New Year to all. With thanks to David Allen and Black Elk.

Beth

An annual miracle.

Each organism has a very special niche.

Many species are interconnected.

Some miraculous moments are fleeting. 

Future generations depend on our actions now.

May we all find a holy place.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan.

Fall cleaning- don't get too fussy

By Beth Sullivan

As we wind up our fall cleaning, we often make piles of leaves that will compost, but sometimes we are left with fallen branches and limbs that are too big to compost easily, and we just don’t want to haul to the landfill. In my own garden I can make nice piles of sticks and branches and always notice that those piles are the first places that Sparrows and Wrens seem to choose when the day ends and the weather gets cold.

A Song Sparrow perches on top of a brush pile but later will find refuge inside it.

We are doing fall clean up on the preserves as well, but we do not try and get rid of all our woody rough debris. Deep in the woodlands, these branches, some still with leaves, would be left to decay naturally. Those closest to the ground will be affected by ground moisture and start to rot first. A log on the ground provides shelter for numerous life forms, from worms and slugs, insects, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, and on up to salamanders, small mammals like mice and shrews and voles, and even snakes. The tangle of branches that remain suspended above the ground will decay more slowly. They provide shelter and cover for some of the same creatures, but also larger mammals, including rabbits and squirrels and birds, will inhabit the top levels. Think of a small mammal or bird being pursued by a hawk. The tangle of branches protects the smaller creatures while thwarting the predator.

During the winter, the snow cover helps insulate the pile. 

Brush piles feed the soil

Over time, the leaves, small branches, and pieces of wood continue to decay. Beetles move in, and termites and ants take up residence in the rotting wood. Worms do their part in composting and recycling. Nutrients return to the forest floor and nourish remaining plants.

In Summer, vines and plants grow in the brush pile.

Where tree limbs come down on the trails on Avalonia Preserves, it can be a big effort to remove them and open the trails and make them safe. In many cases we are able to make well -constructed brush piles. Instead of loosely arrayed branches just left on the side of the trail, a beneficial brush pile is denser, more solidly piled. Heavier pieces are left closer to the ground to provide support and structure as well as good sized gaps close to the ground. Mid -sized branches are criss -crossed on top next, and the whole pile is covered with smaller pieces, especially evergreen boughs, to fill in the gaps. Think of the pile covered deep in snow in the dead of winter. The smaller spaces within are protected from biting winds and even retain some warmth from the ground in the face of sub-freezing temperatures. Small mammals can stash food-nuts, seeds, grasses-eliminating the need to venture out.  Birds also will find protection within. Sparrows and wrens in particular make use of man-made piles.

While clearing invasive species, the debris is left to cover the ground in many places.

To make a good brush pile, put bigger pieces on the bottom, making nice holes.

Then pile on brush for shelter. 

Look for brush piles as you walk

As you walk on one of our Preserves, look for man-made brush piles. Paffard Woods has several and Perry Natural area as well. There are piles from Red Oaks and some from White Pine that were toppled by Storm Sandy in 2012 and are still present and providing shelter. The Knox Preserve has been cleaned up and the bigger piles removed to get out of the way of our mowing efforts. You will notice piles along the trails that look messy and off the top of the knoll there is a dense pile of cut limbs. This is quite deliberate. We have cut invasive vines and treated the stumps to prevent regrowth, but the branches were left in place to provide the cover that the birds enjoy. Observe from a distance to see what activity occurs at the piles. Later in the winter, when snow covers the ground, look for tracks and trails leading to and from the piles. Nature does a good job of protecting small creatures, but Volunteers can enhance the effort with great success.

Woodchucks will make their entry holes at the base of a brush pile for greater protection.

I suggest making a small pile in your yard and garden where you can watch from indoors and enjoy the activity.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan. 

Don't forget to support Avalonia Land Conservancy through the Amazon Smile program. 

This post originally appeared November 30, 2015.

Let's eliminate plastic straws

One of the final and most far reaching projects done by the students of the Goodwin Niering Center for the Environment is this one by Anna Laprise and Avatar Simpson.

They have not only done a great deal of research, they have also taken their message to the public. They are working on the Connecticut College campus, and hope to bring their message to the greater New London community. They also had an interview on the campus radio station. This was followed by an interview with The New London Day; the article ran Saturday, and can be found here. 

Belowis their project summary and I'm including some of the links and resources they used. Many thanks to MaryEllen Mateleska Director of Education and Conservation at the Mystic Aquarium, for getting this movement started locally, keeping it going, and mentoring these two students.

Avalonia Land Conservancy supports these efforts. We don’t just preserve the land, but aim to protect the waterways and oceans that surround us all.

Beth Sullivan

https://www.strawlessocean.org

https://stopsucking.strawlessocean.org 

https://thelastplasticstraw.org/about-us/last-straw/

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/plastic-straws-ocean-trash-environment/

Anna Laprise and Avatar Simpson have tackled a global issue and have gotten a good start on their home campus.

Stop Sucking is a project aimed at promoting the reduction or elimination plastic straw use. This is an extremely important cause due to the negative effects straws have on the environment. To give a sense of the magnitude of the issue, everyday in the United States alone 500 million plastic straws are used. This is enough straws to circle the earth 2.5 times in just one day. Furthermore, due to the type of plastic used in the production of straws, they are unable to be recycled. Thus, every plastic straw that has ever been used is still on the planet, either in the ocean or in a landfill. With these things in mind, it is unsurprising that straws are one of the most littered products in the world.

After hearing these staggering figures, it is important to look at what we, as consumers, can do to help positively impact our environment. One alternative to plastic straws is to simply go without. On average an American uses two straws daily, so one individual skipping straws for one year would save approximately 730 straws. If skipping a straw isn’t an option, a second alternative would be to use paper straws that are either biodegradable or compostable, or switch to reusable straws. Both options would significantly reduce waste, and have a less negative effect on the environment.

Finally, a great way to combat the use of straws can be done by local coffee shops, and restaurants. A simple step that can be taken to limit straw use is to not automatically provide straws. The common saying “out of sight, out of mind,” is an extremely effective method for limiting straw use. Furthermore, a second step that local businesses can take to limit straw use is to advertise the benefits of skipping on a straw. When using positive reinforcement, people feel more motivated to limit their straw use, and leaves an everyone wins sentiment among all parties. As such, these two simple steps can vastly decrease straw use.

Let's work to eliminate straws on the beach.
Photo from thelastplasticstraw.org

In summary, due to the negative environmental effects that straws have on our planet, it is extremely important that everyone does what they can to limit their straw use. There are easy fixes to this large problem that can be done at a personal level or on a business level. As we continue to promote the Stop Sucking initiative at Connecticut College, and in local communities, we want to thank Avalonia Land Conservancy and the Mystic Aquarium for inspiring this project, and for being stewards of this initiative. Specifically, Beth Sullivan, an Avalonia Land Conservancy volunteer, has been an integral component of this project, without her help, this movement wouldn't be where it is now.

New England Cottontail makes a comeback

By Beth Sullivan

Since 2013 I have been writing about our New England Cottontail project on Avalonia’s Peck and Callahan preserves in Stonington. Not accessible to the public, people have had to rely on written reports and photos to follow the progress.

We have laid out the welcome mat. Now we wait.  Photo from USFWS.

New England Cotton Tail returns

The New England Cottontail was determined to be in danger of needing Federal protection due to plummeting populations. They are out-competed by the non-native Eastern Cottontail that is highly adaptable to living near people and our homes and gardens. The New England Cottontail (NEC) needs shrubby, overgrown thickets of dense brush, of the kind found decades ago when farm fields were abandoned and were overgrown. Once the fields progressed into forests which are now abundant in our state, the NEC had less desirable places to live, they didn’t breed successfully (like rabbits are supposed to do) and thus the population dropped.

Studying the problem, the US Fish and Wildlife Service determined it would be far better to try and stabilize the population, create habitat, rather than allow it to further decline and need federally mandated protection. Since 2012, we worked with USFWS, CT DEEP and the Wildlife Management Institute to help create a big block of habitat up in the woods between Pequot trail and Route 184.

Last year this area was low and sparse. Now perfect habitat. 

You can read about the progress and process here, here, and here.

Last week representatives from several federal agencies and teams from New England States met in New Hampshire to celebrate a success story. Because of all the efforts to study and restore habitat in focus areas throughout New England, it was determined that the NEC did not need to be placed on the Endangered Species List.

Plentiful berries of several species provide food.

The next question seems to be: Why is that a good thing: don’t they still need protection?

The NEC will continue to need protection and monitored to make sure all the work done to create habitat is successful in having the rabbits move in and thrive. Studies will continue over the next years as the project areas regrow into the young forest habitat they need. Teams will go out in the winter when the ground is covered to collect rabbit pellets to check for DNA confirmation of NEC presence. THAT will be success! Then plans can be made to continue to work with this habitat management system, keeping it in rotation of optimal size and level of growth, and work with other land owners to provide more of the same.

Under the powerlines, the habitat is dense and thick.

If the New England Cottontail had been placed on the Endangered Species list, there would have been a huge, bureaucratic need to install protections on large territories where the rabbits might be located and restrictions placed on areas where they are found. Private landowners could lose the choice of being able to create habitat or not, to develop their land, or not. The expense to list and then protect a species far outweighs the money spent to provide what it needs to keep it off the list.

A large Black Rat Snake probably finds many small mammals to eat.

The added benefit of the work, is that there are a number of other species, about 50 in CT alone that benefit from the newly created habitat. Some of them were heading toward that E-List themselves.

Since our project was completed in August of 2013, we have visited a number of times. The area is almost impossible to walk through: Excellent for rabbits. Berry bushes cover the ground providing fruit for all manner of animals. It is teeming with more wildlife than ever before. We have counted new birds, noted many new insects in great numbers, and reptiles and amphibians as well.

Walking through the preserve in no longer easy.

On behalf of a special bunny, we are all grateful for funding by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Long Island Sound Futures fund (LISFF), the efforts of the USFWS, CT DEEP and those supporters who had the vision to proceed with the project.

We will keep you posted.

Link to The Day article on the NEC is here.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan unless otherwise indicated.

Wrapping Up the Semester and Our Work with Avalonia; Until Next Year

by Jessica Sullivan

Since we have all experienced a gloomy week, we decided to share some lovely spring wildflowers to enjoy while you read Jessica’s wrap up.

A visit to Stonington High School

As the semester comes to a close, the sophomores of Goodwin-Niering are finishing up our work with Avalonia. One project that is still in the works is that of Josh Lee and Phoebe Masterson-Eckart. Phoebe and Josh are doing a very exciting project that involves reaching out to local youths to get them interested in Avalonia and invested in land conservation. The curriculum that they will be presenting to the students of Stonington High School on May 11^th focuses on invasive species: why they are bad for the environment that they are invading, and how Avalonia is trying to get rid of these nasty invasives in order to further preserve the natural land. Josh and Phoebe explained their project, stating: “Last week we got to know the students of the Stonington High School Environmental Studies course, and we helped them plant vegetables, flowers, and herbs that they had been starting in the greenhouse at the HS. It provided us with the chance to get a feel for what they already know and what they find interesting in the field. Hopefully this kind of thing will be a part of a continued partnership beyond annual workshops, but extend into field trips or work days, and build a stronger group of young environmentalists.” It is so important that today’s youth become involved with land conservation because they are the people who are going to be taking care of things in the future, so it is great to see these young minds getting involved early.

Canada Mayflower.

Red Trillium

Another cool project is Maya Sutton-Smith’s; She is investigating the history of the Perry Natural Area. Over the course of the semester, she has learned a lot about the history of the land and the people who once lived there and the remnants of which we can still see today. After our work day at the Perry Natural Area, it was clear that the area has a rich history based on the presence of old wells, a cemetery, stone cairns, and even house foundations. Through research and interviews, Maya has been able to explore this amazing history that is now being preserved in the land. Her final project will be linked to the Perry natural Area preserve page on the Avalonia Website.

Fiddleheads

Trout Lily

Senior Integrative Projects

On a slightly different note, I would like to give a shout-out to the seniors of Goodwin-Niering who presented their Senior Integrative Projects to their friends, parents, and colleagues on Thursday, May 5^th. A lot of their projects were closely tied with land conservation and had an overall connection to the land. A few people who I want to highlight are Olivia Rabbitt, Matt Luciani, and Aly Cheney. Olivia’s project focused on permaculture as she had experienced during her time in Hawaii. She explained how one of the intentions of permaculture was the “intended goal of healing the earth” which I think ties nicely in with the work that Avalonia is doing. Matt looked at the wilderness in how it relates to narratives regarding Native Americans which shows that it is important not to forget the history of the land that we live on, something that I am sure Maya would agree with. Lastly, Aly’s project focused on the issues of preservation versus conservation as it relates to land use and recreational activities in Colorado and the importance of “treating the land in a way that is good for it and good for us.” This coordinates with Avalonia’s mission to share their trails in order to communicate the value of these wonderful resources and encourage the conservation ethic.

Not so lovely Poison Ivy. Steer clear of it.

Woodland Azalea 

In conclusion, I have had such a good experience working with Avalonia, and specifically Beth, this semester. It has been a lot of fun. I hope that in the future I will be able to work again with the Land Trust. I am sure that next year a new batch of GNCE sophomores will take up the task of doing work with Avalonia, and hopefully someone will work on the blog too. Just because the semester has come to a close, that doesn’t mean that our work with Avalonia has ended. On the contrary, we hope to work with Avalonia for years to come.

NOTE FROM BETH: Thank you to Jessica for all your writing. And thank you to all of these wonderful students. Each year I get bonded to them for a short time. I have really enjoyed the experience and effort. It has been truly rewarding to see some of the upperclassmen mentor the sophomores, to make an effort to stay involved with Avalonia, and keep what they learned close at heart as they move out into their next phase of life and learning. Congratulations and best wishes to all the students of GNCE, especially the graduates.

Quince

Photographs by Beth Sullivan.