Born and raised a fisherman, the progression of my year is closely tied to insect hatches. Trout is the quarry of choice and so I often find myself on the banks of the Shepaug River. Keen eyes examine anything in flight, anything swimming, anything floating...
Within our Strategic Plan 2020, a key stewardship priority is to manage our lands for biodiversity. In order to accomplish this, Steep Rock Association (SRA) applies science-based knowledge of our land’s natural resources and wild inhabitants. A broad spectrum of research has been performed on...
Calling Marsh Birds - Beams of mist shine from the headlights as I turn into Macricostas Preserve’s parking lot. Wheels lightly crunch over dirt and gravel until slowing to a stop. Another vehicle is stationed at the trailhead and two Steep Rock Association (SRA) citizen...
A large chunk of pellet for dissection. Note: Accompanying needles suggest the owner of this pellet likely prefers a certain white pine perch. Steep Rock Association trustee, committee chair, and conservation easement landowner, Natalie Dyer, poked into the office this spring possessing some treasure. “It’s...
With snowshoes strapped, baggies at the ready, and GPS fixed, I head out into one of Steep Rock Association’s (SRA) preserves characterized as overgrown field rejoicing my career choices and the presence of such preserved land. A cold-water stream runs through it. Seeps percolate from...
They’re not the easiest to obtain. Stooping, crawling, and dipping through young forest, citizen scientists with Steep Rock Association (SRA) earned their cottontail scat (or pellets). The native species, New England Cottontail (NEC), prefer this brambly habitat type over more open fields and meadows where...
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...