Sunday, July 31, 222 1-5pm
Doors open at 12:30pm
Ticket price $20 in advance through July 29th; $25 at the door
Location:
Indian Rock Nature Preserve
501 Wolcott Rd., Bristol
The event will feature live musical acts from Bonnie Marie with The Scott Heth Quartet, Portrait Party, Radio Waves and Special Guest Matt Sperzel (Solo Acoustic).
Click HEREto view Band Line-up and Bio's.
Beer (provided by Firefly & Counter Weight Brewing Companies) & wine (provided by Thirsty Owl Wine Co.) will be available for purchase as well as food items (provided by Heavenly Smoked BBQ, etc.).
Proceeds from this event will benefit Environmental Learning Centers of CT (Indian Rock Nature Preserve and Barnes Nature Center). The setting for the event will be on the teaching farm of the 280-acre preserve. This event is rain or shine. Please, no outside food, beverages, coolers or pets will be allowed.
Tickets are $20/person through July 29th and can be purchased online by clicking HERE or by calling 860.583.1234. Tickets ar $25/person at the door.
For further information on event sponsorships, advertising opportunities, or to volunteer at the event, please call 860.583.1234.
Features
Habitat Management at Roberts Property Park
Sees Immediate Success By Correia, John
Endangered Grasshopper Sparrow
In April 2022, a small group of volunteers lead by a partnership between Environmental Learning Centers of Connecticut (ELCCT), the Bristol Parks Department, and the Friends of the Hoppers-Birge Pond Nature Preserve, worked to remove dense non-native and invasive plant growth from a small area of Roberts Property Park on Perkins Street in Bristol to benefit an endangered sparrow. Soon after, the elusive Grasshopper Sparrows returned to their breeding habitat at the park and announced their presence through territorial song. Previous monitoring efforts found that only two pairs of Grasshopper Sparrows bred in the park which was slowly changing from an open field to a non-native shrubland. A plan was made that would improve the habitat of Roberts Property Park for the sparrows while maintaining the diversity of other wildlife and allowing continued use of the field as a popular dog park. The plan has culminated into an early success as a third male Grasshopper Sparrow has staked his claim on the newly managed area. This tells us that the management undertaken is identifiable to sparrows as potential habitat and that the management has no apparent negative effect on the two existing sparrow territories.
We hope to continue to increase the number of Grasshopper Sparrows by expanding the management area in the years to come. Continued monitoring will help us determine if the new male is able to attract a mate and successfully breed while using the managed habitat.
UPDATE: The third male did not stick around the park. Arriving later in the breeding season, he most likely failed to find an available female to mate with. The other two pairs of Grasshopper Sparrows were again successful in breeding, however, and were busy raising their young below the rustling waves of wildflowers, invisible to the many passersby. While the third male's visit may have been fleeting, it still tells us that the managed land has what it takes to become a Grasshopper Sparrow's home. The use of the area by other birds already living in the park also tells us we made a step in the right direction.
The towering giant of the Eastern forests of the past was the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata. It is estimated that one of every four trees in Eastern forests was a chestnut. The chestnut was known to grow to great heights in a relatively short period of time when compared to other trees. It grew exceptionally straight and strong, its wood was resistant to rot and its large, sweet nuts were abundant food for humans and wildlife alike. Commercially, chestnut lumber was highly preferred and was used for furniture, log cabins, musical instruments, telegraph poles and railroad ties.
In the early 1900s, a blight was noticed first in New York City, and spread rapidly to chestnuts everywhere. The blight is a fungus that spreads by spore through the air. It finds its way into crevasses and wounds in the bark of a tree and eventually kills its host within a few years. About 60 years after the blight was first noticed, it had wiped out every single mature chestnut tree in the country. The demise of the American Chestnut is considered one of the greatest ecological disasters of the last century.
A silver lining to the cloud is that the chestnut could not be wiped out entirely because the fungus is unable to penetrate to the roots of the trees. So, although the tree is functionally extinct, in small patches here and there, the roots of ancient trees are still alive and sending up new sprouts. Although the sprouts eventually succumb to the blight, if the right conditions are present, they may grow to about 10 or 15 feet tall, large enough to reach reproductive maturity.
Did you know that there are American Chestnut trees right in our own backyard? The Hoppers-Birge Pond Nature Preserve in Bristol is home to several of the larger stands of chestnut to be found in the State. At the Hoppers, glacial eskers and kettle holes from the ice age form the sloping land on which chestnuts thrive. Past logging efforts and frequent fires at the Hoppers have opened patches of sunlight, which chestnuts need in order for new shoots to grow. Although at the Hoppers, the great trees of the past are still hanging on, time is running out. Eventually, the forest grows up around the old rootstock, shading the new chestnut sprouts. The roots, not being able to get enough nutrients, start to wither and die.
How can we help? The Connecticut Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is aware of the chestnuts at the Hoppers and needs a few dedicated volunteers to help the population to live on. There are many ways to help, including mapping the healthier and larger trees, putting mud packs on tree wounds to slow the growth of the blight and helping with a harvest of mature chestnuts in the fall. After nuts are harvested from around the state, they are nursed into germination and the resulting saplings planted into orchards. The orchards will be cared for until such time as blight-resistant chestnuts can be introduced to cross-breed with existing genetic stock. At that time, the offspring may be returned to forest clearings to slowly grow to the majestic heights of the chestnuts of the past and to restore their partnership with all living things.
One way to find out more is to join the Chestnut Walk at the Hoppers, hosted by Friends of the Hoppers and Jack Swatt, President of the Connecticut Chapter of TACF. Meet at the lower parking lot of the Hoppers-Birge Pond Nature Preserve on Ambler Road, Bristol, CT on Friday, July 22 at 1:30 pm.
For more information, contact Michelle Rudy by email atmirwater@yahoo.comor by phone at (860) 558-5393.
Indian Rock's Summer Camp
Indian Rock Summer Day Camp
Indian Rock's Summer Camp will run for 9 weeks this summer from June 20th – August 19th. The 2022 camp brochure, with session topics, dates and forms, is available online. Registration is still open for camp but space is very limited for Earth Magic (entering K-1st) and Explorers (entering 4th-5th). Scholarships are still available.
Indian Rock's New Garden for Good Intern Paige Cormier
On 6/27, our first donation of 29 pounds of lettuce was donated to the Wolcott Food Pantry.
Indian Rock's New Garden for Good Intern is Paige Cormier. Paige is working towards a degree in Forestry from the University of Maine. She is interested in forest and land management, invasive plant control, plant ID, and garden management. She will be spearheading planting and maintenance of the garden which produces vegetabes for area food pantries.
Volunteeers will also be instrumental in helping Paige maintain the garden and facilitate the donation produce. Summer campers have already interacted with Paige and have been learning about the importance of healthy food, no pesticide gardening and gardening in general.
If you are interested in volunteering in our Garden for Good Sustainable Garden, please contact Leila Agoora at lagoora@elcct.org or 860.583.1234.
THANK YOU!
Reuilding Wigwams at Indian Rock
ELCCT staff and volunteers have embarked on a project to rebuild one of Indian Rock’s wigwams. The existing wigwam was more than 13 years old and had started to deteriorate. Volunteer Bill Pasternak took down the wigwam and removed all of the old material. Staff, volunteers, and summer camp counselors have been in the process of creating a new frame out of saplings. The new wigwam will then be covered with tulip tree bark which is the traditional covering used by Native Americans.
In the past, ELCCT staff would harvest tulip tree bark from properties that we owned. However, this was a time-consuming and often dangerous process. This year, Scott Heth located a company that actually sells bark for siding for housing and struck a deal with the company to provide raw bark for a project. The bark was picked up in Pennsylvania, and we are in the process of installing it on the wigwams.
The cost for the bark has been covered by a grant from the Thomaston Savings Bank and a generous donation from Terry and Sally O'Connor. THANK YOU DONORS AND VOLUNTEERS!
Above: Scott Heth trekking through super tall grass to find saplings! Below: Volunteers building the wigwam.
Volunteers Maintain Yarde's Apple Orchard
The apple orchard has been maintained by staff of volunteers including pruning and spraying. Last year was a bumper crop for apples and the expectation was that this year would be lean. Though the apple crop will be smaller than last year it appears that it will be better than expected. The spraying regime will continue to ward off fungal diseases and insect damage.
THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!
Thank You Corporate Volunteers!
For helping repair fences, painting, maintenance and moving canoes.
For deep cleaning the barn yard shelters and areas to prep for Indian Rock's Summer Camp.
Upcoming Events
Save the Date!
Saturday, October 22, 2022
Raindate: Sunday, October 23, 2022
11am-4pm
Join us for hayrides, pumpkin patch, farm animals, lawn games, face painting, apple cider making, colonial demos. Visit our Native American wigwams and shop craft vendors! Food and drink for sale.
More details forthcoming!
Farm Animal Caretakers
Weekday mornings
Location:
Indian Rock Nature Preserve
501 Wolcott Rd., Bristol
For more information, please contact Leila Agoora at lagoora@elcct.orgor 860.583.1234, ext. 103.
Renting Our Facilities
You Can Rent Our Facilities at Indian Rock Nature Preserve & the Harry C. Barnes Memorial Nature Center?
At Environmental Learning Centers of Connecticut, our Mission is "to inspire the appreciation and enjoyment of nature through education and conservation, fostering a healthy environment and an improved quality of life".
ELCCT's Core Culture Values: 1) Educate - We are committed to providing opportunities for all to learn about and experience the environment thus inspiring appreciation and enjoyment by present and future generations. 2) Protect - We are committed to fostering a safe and healthy environment through sustainable practices and promoting a culture that heightens awareness of conservation and preservation. 3) Respect - We are committed to respect for the environment and to teach respect for all. 4) Collaborate - We are committed to engaging the power of an open and inclusive community to ignite creative thinking and solve problems to nurture a healthy environment and improve the quality of life.
