A winter’s day awakens with a burnt salmon sunrise engulfing the horizon and a fresh snow blanketing the landscape. A frigid breeze rattles frozen limbs. You pull up the sheets and pity all wildlife, for they must be hunkered down in coniferous stands, reserving stores...
A cattail falls to the blade of my brush cutter, grudgingly smacking my face and exploding into a cloud of seed. Reed canary grass, invasive by nature, has also colonized this wet meadow of Macricostas Preserve that parallels Route 202, and its eradication is the...
Winter is primetime for owl prowling since many species’ breeding seasons are either underway or quickly approach, and they act accordingly. Great horned and barred owls hoot in declaration of their territories as well as to communicate with their mate. Eastern screech owls whinny and...
What's in this Issue: Invasive plants at Steep Rock; Hemlock research; In the Arena, behind the scenes at Steep Rock Association; From Judea Garden; Notes from the field, conservation easement; Children's Nature book review; Volunteer Spotlight, Missy Stevens and Natalie Dyer; and a Kestrel Family. Read this issue:...
As a senior at Shepaug Valley High School in 2005, I would look forward to when “C Period” would roll around in early afternoon, a time designated to work on a personal project required for graduation. I decided to keep a naturalist’s journal and at...
Eastern (red-spotted) newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) in eft life stage The air is thick with moisture this morning. My glasses quickly fog and I remove them, decidedly better off with just sub-par vision. Thunder claps in the distance and I realize the day’s rain may arrive earlier...
Updated September 1, 2016 All trails on our preserves are in the process of being clipped of encroaching vegetation and cleared of woody material. Oftentimes in mixed hardwood coniferous forest, an eastern hemlock bordering a trail will branch out into the opening and need to be...
What's in this Issue: The Valley Station Bridge; Note from Executive Director, Lori Paradis Brant; Notes from the field, Land Management and Stewardship; Meet the team; Explorations in Nature events; In the Garden, Summer Intership; and Land Trust accreditation. Read this issue: VISTA Spring 2016 ...
What's in this Issue: A year of bridges, Hauser Bridge, Reich Bridge, and Thoreau Bridge; Return on your Steep Rock Investment; New Board Leadership; Judea Garden Growing; Explorations in Nature Events; Managing Biodiversity, inventory; and Steep Rock Honey. Read this issue: VISTA Winter 2015 ...
What's in this Issue:Vernal pools; Steep Rock Vision; New Trustees; Students lead Judea Garden; Explorations in Nature events; Reich Bridge reopens; and The Van Sinderen family and Hidden Valley.Read this issue: VISTA Summer 2015 ...