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The Great Meadows Conservatfon Trust. Inc. fn Glastonbury. Rocky
Hill and
Wethersqeld, Connecticut
VOL.XI Spring 2002
THE EAGLES' NEST
The Eagles' nest high in the cottonwood by the river on the
Wethersfield/Rocky Hill border, begun in the summer of 2000,
enlarged over the winter, began to attract the attention of
onlookers this winter. As the pair continued to show conscientious
nesting behavior, DEP closed off the Meadow Road for the nesting
season.
The area of the meadows east of Goff Brook Lane and the MDC
plant, includes several trust properties and provides marsh, wooded
and open habitat. Trust members Ken Etheridge and Paul Woodworth
observed numerous species of ducks in the wooded and marshy areas
that predominate
. just east of the entrance, where a large beaver dam is
expanding the marsh habitat.
Their trek brought them out into the field near the Crilly
parcel, where they paused to train the scope on a great homed owl's
nest with two babies. From that same vantage point, they observed a
peregrine falcon, a turkey vulture, and a hawk. Heading south into
the open bean, hay and turf fields, and into view of the eagles'
nest, they observed a kestrel hunting from a perch in the lone tree
near the model airplane field. All this while motorbikes buzzed and
sailed through the air to the south. Photo & text by Jim
Woodworth
GREAT MEADOWS STUDY WINS AWARD
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The Public Education Award, presented to the Trust by the Land
Trust Service Bureau at the Convocation of Land Trusts held March
23, 2002, was for the Trust's publication of "The Great Meadows of
the Connecticut River, Glastonbury, Rocky Hill & Wethersfield:
A Review of Its Resources & Recommendations for Its Protection
& Preservation." Receiving the award from Arthur Miller,
Executive Director of Flanders Nature Center and member of the
Convocation planning committee, are Trust members Jolly Steffens,
coordinator of the project and Ralph Moyer, President. Photo &
text by Duffy Schade.
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NEW MEMBERS ON THE TRUST'S OPERATIONS COMMITTEE (Exerpts from
their response to questions from the editor of Meadow View)
ED CHUICARELLO of Rocky Hill writes:
"My neighbor is Neal Cox. He did a pretty good job of luring me
into the fold. I consider myself a lucky person to be surrounded by
Quarry Park, the Connecticut River and the Great Meadows. I cross
country ski and hike and I don't even have to get into a car to
witness nature at its finest.
"I'm an avid gardener. Along with my beautiful wife and son
Arden (short for garden) we maintain .6 of an acre of fruit trees,
herbs, roses and wildflowers ...We have blueberries, strawberries,
grapes, and raspberries. My goal is to lessen my lawn by creating
pathways to walk around the yard. All organic ...
"I'm an elementary school teacher. ..at Dwight School in
Hartford .... Before teaching I was a selfemployed and
underemployed juggler, musician and actor working for the Great
American Sideshow Theater. We wrote and performed educational
shows, so it seemed a natural move to become a teacher ....
"My interest in land preservation began when I walked past the
Foundry building at the end of my street 5 years ago. I thought it
would be a simple task to get my town leaders to clean up the area
along the cr river. Oh my! I canvassed my neighbors door to door on
the issue, then co-founded the Riverfront Preservation Society with
the goal of cleaning up that site and protecting the river. We
lobbied town officials, attended numerous redevelopment meetings,
influenced the townwide plan of conservation and development and
fought for open space along the river. We're still at it!
"I want to help protect and preserve nature. I have a son who is
three. We walk together all the time. I want him to be a caretaker,
too."
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PAUL WOODWORTH of Wethersfield, writes:
"Growing up I have always had an affinity for the outdoors,
playing in the nearby woods (which I now know have been overgrown
with Japanese Knotweed). Against the stem warnings of our parents,
we used to scramble through a long culvert under 1-91 to play in a
portion of the meadows, known to us, as 'the wild side' because it
was off limits to us and seemed so remote. Canoeing on the river
followed as we got older. I went from heading the environmental
club at Wethersfield High to getting a degree in Biology and
Environmental Studies while living in the Green Mountains of
Vermont.
"College gave me some great opportunities to study and immerse
myself in the great outdoors from New England to the desert
southwest to Alaska for two summers. Soon after school I joined the
Peace Corps to teach environmental education in the Republic of
Macedonia. It was an ..experience too complex to summarize.
Afterwards I traveled to Egypt and a handful of countries in
southern Africa, then Scotland, all the while soaking in these
foreign environments and peoples' lifestyles in them.
"Having temporarily satisfied the 'travel bug', I was eager to
come home, settle down and set about protecting and improving the
environment of my home.
"With the recent passing of my grand-father and great uncle,
both lifelong agriculture and horticulture professionals who worked
the meadows, I am reminded of the connection my family has to this
region's rich history and the meadows' rich soil. I see great
importance in the work of smalllo
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TRUST'S VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD
TO lARRY LUNDEN
Larry Lunden of West Hartford as the Trust's volunteer of the
year was awarded a certificate of appreciation and a photograph.
Larry is a computer specialist at the State Public Safety
Department. He chairs the Trust's Land Management committee and as
such, co-authored the Land Mangement Plan for Trust's parcels in
the Meadows. He also leads inspection hikes of these parcels. In
addition to his work with the Trust, he is on the program committee
of the Connecticut Audubon Center in Glastonbury, leads bird walks
for a number of organizations and is an active member of the
Universalist Church in West Hartford. Photo by Duffy
Also, at the Annual meeting held at the Connecticut Audubon
Center in Glastonbury the evening of March 20, the president had
many others to thank for their services to the Trust. He cited
those leaving the board at this time: Peter Revill, of Rocky Hill,
an earlier recipient of the Trust's certificate of appreciation,
Gary Gagnon of Glastonbury, as Treasurer also advised on investment
and fund development strategies, and two relative newcomers to the
Board: Francine Bransfield and Paul Stacey who in tum served as
secretary to the Trust. Francine's increased responsibilities at
Ames in International Sales necessitated that she step down. Paul,
LI SoundWater Quality Director at DEP, is moving and, no longer a
resident of a Trust member town, may no longer serve on the
board.
Elected as directors for three years: Lisa Olson and Jolly
Steffens of Glastonbury, Neal Cox of Rocky Hill and Ralph Moyer of
Wethersfield. The officers for the coming year reelected were Ralph
Moyer as President and Mary Carter asVice-president. Neal Cox of
Rocky Hill was elected Treasurer and Jolly Steffens of Glastonbury,
secretary.
URBAN WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST
PRESENTATION AT ANNUAL.MEETING
Peter Picone of the CT DEP presented a slideshow on "Enhancing
Your Backyard Habitat." Picone, who works at the Sessions Woods
Wildlife Management Area, began with a description of the change in
the CT landscape from the times of local native inhabitants, to the
colonization of European immigrants, to the drastic transformation
of modernization. Rapidly and extensively cleared with the arrival
of European immigrants and their intensive agriculture, the cr
landscape began to grow back with westward expansion and the
decline of local agriculture. Wildlife eradicated or driven off has
been returning. Today, however, our landscape is vulnerable to,
among other things, the fragmentation of modem development and the
spread of exotic, invasive plants.
Picone identified many native plants that provide nutritious
fodder for our favorite critters through all four seasons --
highbush blueberry, viburnums, oaks, maples and winterberry to name
a few. Picone also targeted the fast-spreading non-native plants,
including the Norway Maple, Japanese Knotweed and Purple
Loosestrife, and named native species with which to replace them
that would create similar natural beauty and wildlife sustenance
without the ecological harm. Picone's notes and species lists are
available for the interested home gardener or landscaper. Reported
by Paul Woodworth.
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COMING EVENTS:
A LANDOWNER'S GUIDE TO LAND CONSERVATION OPTIONS
Conn. Audubon Center, 1361 Main St., Glastonbury Tuesday, April
30,7- 9:30 p.m ..
Practical technics for landowners who wish to conserve their
land. For more information contact Judy Harper, 633-8402, John
Rook, 652-7513 or Katherine Wins'low, 344-0716 ext316. The Trust is
one of the sponsors.
EARTH FAIR 2002 Connecticut Audubon Center at Glastonbury.
Saturday, May 4 - 10- 4 p.m.
At 8 a.m. the Trust is sponsoring a Bird Walk with Isabel
Higgins, a local birder.
WORK SESSION ON WOOD PARCEL Middletown Ave. & Rt. 3
Wethersfield. Saturday, May 25 - 10-12 a.m.
To clear trash, tackle invasives, post Trust
markers.
Wear work gloves, boots& bring tools.
Contact: Larry Lunden 232-2416
CONNECTICUT TRAILS DAY Saturday, June 1 - Sunday June 2
Sponsored by Conn. Forest & Parks Association.
Call CFPA for schedule or to volunteer to work on trails
860-346-2372 or www.ctwoodlands.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This edition of "Measdow
View," the newsletter of the Great Meadows Conservation Trust,
Inc., was edited by J. Steffens.
Great Meadows Conservation Trust. Inc P.O. Box 171 Glastonbury,
Connecticut 06033
In this issue: Eagles' Nest Meadow Study Award New on Operations
Committee Annual Meeting Coming Events Work & Discover
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A MORNING OF WORK & DISCOVERY ON THE WOOD PARCEL
Join Larry Lunden and fellow Trust members for a morning of work
and discovery of the remarkably rich and varied natural habitat in
the Wood parcel.
On a preliminary foray by Jim and Paul Woodworth into the marsh,
frogs splashed into tiny Beaver Brook from their hiding places
under the bank, while an eagle soared overhead. Later a pair of
redtails circled over the grassy field, marsh and thicket near
Middletown Avenue.
On the higher ground northeast of Beaver Brook, sturdy black
oak, cherry, maple, sycamore and cottonwood sheltered several dens
and ubiquitous deer sign. Following the deer trails through the
woods skirting the pond, provoked the chattering of a kingfisher.
Beyond the pond and up the bank, revealed the sweep of rich yellow
soil of the farmland, plowed and harrowed by David Anderson, ready
for planting.
Acquired by the Trust in 2000, the Wood parcel is located where
the Old Wethersfield Historic District and the Route 3 Highway meet
the Beaver Brook marsh and the Elm Street "Plains." Our stewardship
of the Wood parcel embodies an important observation from our
study: the health of the meadows depends on the health of the
tributaries and neighboring areas. Trash and non-native species
demand our attention. By limWoodworth
http:www.ctwoodlands.org
