Category Archives: Outdoors

Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center Hosts Plethora of New Programs in New Year

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OLD LYME — The Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center (RTPEC) has announced an extensive range of new programs for the early months of 2020 as follows:

BUDDING NATURALISTS

Wednesday, Jan. 8 , 10-11am
Theme: A Long Winter’s Nap – Animal Hibernation
RTP Estuary Center, Old Lyme

Start their love of nature early. Join us for this parent/caregiver and child nature class designed for children who are 3 to 5 years old. Activities will encourage discovery, explorations, and expression through stories, hands-on activities, and art.  Adult is free with child participant.

$15 members; $20 non-members. Register here

OWL PROWLS

Tuesdays January 14, 21, 28, February 4, 11, and Monday, February 17, 5:30 pm
Old Lyme

Perhaps no other group of birds harbor as much mystery and intrigue as owls. As we’re heading to sleep they are just starting their day. These nocturnal hunters are perfectly adapted to life in darkness, from their silent flight to their unique eyes and ears. Join us at the newest and largest Old Lyme Land Trust property as we search for the incredible birds, and learn about what makes them such perfect nighttime fliers. Bring a headlamp or flashlight (preferably one with a red light setting) and binoculars, and bundle up! Appropriate for ages 10 and up. *Limit of 12 participants per program*

$5 for members, $10 for non-members

Tuesday, January 14 – Register
Tuesday, January 21 – Register
Tuesday, January 28 – Register

Tuesday, February 4 – Register
Tuesday, February 11 – Register
Monday, February 17 – Register

WINTER WATERFOWL WALK

Greater Scaup, male in foreground.

Saturday, Jan. 18, 9 – 10:30 am
Griswold Point, Old Lyme

As the lakes and ponds of the northeast freeze over, many species of waterfowl head to the coast, to open water. Sea ducks, Loons, Grebes and more call the coast of Connecticut home during the winter. The mouth of the Connecticut River, on Long Island Sound, is the perfect place to spot these winter species gathering just offshore. Bring your binoculars, and layer up! We will provide a spotting scope, an essential piece of equipment for waterfowl watching.

$5 for members, $10 for non-members, register here

MLK DAY VACATION PROGRAM WITH THE RTP ESTUARY CENTER

MLK Day Vacation Program with the RTP Estuary Center
Monday, Jan. 20; 9am – 4pm
Lyme Youth Services Bureau, Old Lyme

Explore the natural world of winter with the RTP Estuary Center! Outdoor explorations, hands-on science experiments, games, and creative activities are in store!  Winter attire required. Program is for ages 6 – 11. Each child should bring a water bottle and a nut free snack and lunch. Registration is required.

$40 members, $50 non-members. Registration is required. Register here

MURAL REVEAL

Thursday, Jan. 30, 5 pm
RTP Estuary Center, Old Lyme

Join us for the grand unveiling of our new CT River Estuary mural! This volunteer collaborated acrylic mural depicts our local estuary plants and animals at both the micro and macroscopic levels. You’ll also be able to see inside our ever changing and improving center and meet one-on-one with the teacher-naturalists and artists of the mural. Learn about the different styles that each of the artists brought to this collaborative piece and their background as budding or established artists. This event is free.

Register here

WHOO WANTS TO LEARN ABOUT OWLS?

Whooo Wants to Learn about Owls?
Saturday, Jan. 25; 10:30 – 11:30 am and 1-2 pm
Saturday, March 7; 10:30-11:30 and 1-2 pm
RTP Estuary Center, Old Lyme

Join us for an hour with an owl! Our teacher-naturalists will be presenting Cookie, the barred owl while we learn about this local species up close including where and when they nest, what they sound like and ways you can help ensure a healthy population of barred owls in CT! We will also be examining real owl feathers, dissecting owl pellets, and identifying mammal bones. $15 members, $25 non-member, $10 for children 10 and under

Saturday, Jan. 25 10:30-11:30am – Register
Saturday, Jan. 25 1:00-2:00pm – Register

Saturday, March 7 10:30-11:30am – Register
Saturday, March 7 1:00-2:00pm – Register

GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

Photo by Brian Bennett

INFO SESSION
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 6:30-7:30pm
RTP Estuary Center, Old Lyme

Thursday, Feb. 13, 6 – 7 pm
Wild Birds Unlimited, Niantic

FIELD SESSION
Sunday, Feb. 16, 9 – 11 a.m.
Connecticut College Arboretum, New London

Since 1998, people all over the world have participated in the first citizen science project to collect wild bird data, the Great Backyard Bird Count! Join us at the RTP Estuary Center for an informational session about the history and background of the count, as well as how to conduct your own Great Backyard Bird Count! On Sunday, February 16 come practice your skills in the field at the Connecticut College Arboretum in New London, a designated important bird area. Whether you are a seasoned birder or a novice, this is a great opportunity to learn how to identify and count birds in the wild, and be a part of a worldwide citizen project.
This program is free, but we ask that you register.

Register for the RTPEC Info Session here

Register for the Wild Birds Unlimited Info Session at 860-739-7302 or at wbuniantic@sbcglobal.net

Register for Field Session here

FAMILY WINTER WALK

Feb. 22, 9-10:30am
Watch Rock Preserve, Old Lyme

Shake off your cabin fever, head outside and join one of our teacher-naturalists for a winter walk. We will look for tracks, listen for birds and enjoy the beauty of the woods in winter. Keep warm by trying to complete our winter scavenger hunt!

$5 members, $10 non-members, children 6 and under free, register here

Lyme-Old Lyme HS Senior Builds Benches For OL Land Trust’s Lohmann Preserve as Eagle Scout Project

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Old Lyme Land Trust Secretary Anne Galliher stands with Boy Scout Alec Russell during the dedication ceremony for the benches built by Russell as part of his Eagle Scout project.

OLD LYME — Anyone who has visited the John Lohmann CT River Preserve recently has undoubtedly noticed the two new cedar benches. These were built as the Eagle Scout project of Alec Russell of Boy Scout Association Troop 240. Alec is a senior at Lyme-Old Lyme High School.

Russell proposed and planned this service project, organized a work team, secured donations of material from United Building Supply and Laysville Hardware. He worked with his team of adults and fellow scouts to build the benches, using cedar for its weather, insect and decay resistance.

One bench is on the riverfront where it offers views of Essex and Lords Cove year round. The other is at the top of the path leading down to the river.

The inscription on one of the benches built by Alec Russell for the Lohmann Preserve in Old Lme.

The bench commissioning celebration was held on a blustery riverside day but that did not deter a hardy group of Old Lyme Land Trust members, scouts and the Russell family from enjoying the views and warm beverages. The neighbors at Long River Farm loaned their ATV to bring in the provisions.

The benches are located in an area that is being reforested with pitch pine, a species used extensively in early days for ship building and railroad ties. Pitch pine has become scarce in Connecticut and has a particular preference for its habitat. On advice of the Connecticut River Gateway Commission and forest managers, about 20 hardwood trees were removed by Yankee Tree to encourage growth of the pines.

The John Lohmann Preserve and all other Old Lyme Land Trust preserves are always open and available for public use for hiking and enjoying the outdoors in Old Lyme.

Volunteers From Old Lyme Open Space Commission, CT Hiking Alliance Join Forces to Remove Fencing on McCulloch Farm

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A veritable army of volunteers from both the Old Lyme Open Space Commission and the Connecticut Hiking Alliance worked together on Nov. 9 to take down and dispose of the old fences on the McCulloch Farm property , which was recently acquired by the Town. Photos by and published with permission of the CT Hiking Alliance.

OLD LYME — The Town of Old Lyme purchased 300 acres of the McCulloch farm in September, and the Old Lyme Open Space Commission has been working since to prepare the property for public access.  Coincidentally, the Connecticut Hiking Alliance (CHA) was at the same time looking for worthwhile volunteer projects.

It was a perfect match for both organizations and thus the McCulloch Farm horse-fence removal project became the CHA’s Act of Kindness #76. 

The CHA is an active group with three trademarks – day’s activities end with an “Après-hike” social period; they graciously provide “Acts of Kindness,” whether that be muscle power/manual labor, cash donations, in-kind donations, and goods donations; and they love photo memories, taking lots of pictures and posting them on their website. Volunteers from the group take on trail work around the state.

Hard at work, volunteers take stock of the day’s job ahead of them.

Amanda Blair, Open Space Commission Co-Chair, and Bill Ruel, of CHA, put Saturday, Nov. 9, on the organization calendars.  Ruel and about two dozen volunteers from all across Connecticut showed up early that morning at The Bowerbird in Old Lyme to meet with Open Space Commission members, and everyone car-pooled to the McCulloch property (where construction of parking areas hasn’t yet started.)

The day’s job was to dismantle and dispose of old McCulloch Farm horse-fencing. According to a McCulloch family member, rubber strips strung between cedar posts were cut from old factory conveyor belts and installed some 40 years ago to keep prize-winning Morgan horses in the fields.

According to Blair, “Taking down the fencing was a big step as the property transitions from a farm to a beautiful hiking property.  McCulloch open space and the Old Lyme Land Trust’s neighboring Lay Preserve will be an expansive 450-acre ‘Green Corridor’ with great hiking trails to connect one property to the other.”

The fencing pictured above, which was removed by the volunteers, is believed to have been cut from old factory conveyor belts some 40 years ago.

“We’re so, so grateful for the help from the Connecticut Hikers Alliance to do some of the needed grunt work.  It’s been all volunteers from both groups working together for a good cause.”

In a preview of the future, after the fencing take-down, Hiking Alliance volunteers trekked from the McCulloch property through the Lay Preserve to Lord’s Meadow Lane, and back.  Keeping it an all-Old Lyme event, the volunteers enjoyed their “après-hike” social period at the Hideaway Restaurant and Pub.

Photos of the day’s activity can be found @https://www.meetup.com/The-Connecticut-Hiking-Alliance-great-hikes-and-more/photos/30513732/486511049/

For more information about the Connecticut Hiking Alliance, visit this link.

For more information on the Old Lyme Open Space Commission, visit this link.

Old Lyme’s Duck River Garden Club Recognized with Multiple Awards for Members’ Efforts

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Duck River Garden Club members accept the club’s awards at Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut annual awards luncheon in October. From left to right: Denise Dugas; Kathy Burton, past president; Karen Geisler, vice president; Fay Wilkman, president; Suzanne Thompson, youth & scholarship coordinator; Beverly Lewis and Nan Strohla, past president & newsletter editor.

OLD LYME — The Duck River Garden Club (DRGC) of Old Lyme has received multiple awards from Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut for the club’s civic beautification, education and horticultural therapy efforts over the past year.

The Old Lyme club, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020, was presented the awards at the statewide federation’s annual awards meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the Aqua Turf Country Club. The recognition includes three traveling trophies to be enjoyed for the coming year.

The DRGC’s monthly hands-on floral arranging programs for residents of Bride Brook Nursing Home received an Award of Excellence in Garden Therapy. The club’s weekly educational displays at Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, including “Houseplant Renaissance” and “Gardening for Birds and Butterflies” won the Civic Creativity Award.

This DRGC display outlines two of the clubs projects that were awarded traveling trophies, the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library displays and the Police Department native pollinator bed. Watch for this display in coming weeks at the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library.

The ongoing project of redesigning and replanting the flower beds in front of the Old Lyme Police Department at 294 Shore Road with low-maintenance, pollinator-supporting native plants received the Award of Excellence for Historic, Memorial and Public Gardens. This is one of several civic beautification sites that DRGC volunteers maintain each year in Old Lyme.

The club’s monthly newsletter, produced by Paula Schiavone, and annual yearbook, compiled and edited for the past decade by Karin Kline, received First Place recognitions.

Duck River Garden Club (DRGC) President Fay Wilkman receiving one of the three top honors for DRGC at the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut awards meeting.

DRCG will hold a series of programs in 2020 to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary. This will include a traveling historic display of gardening in Old Lyme, curated by the Old Lyme Historical Society. Watch for more information on DRGC’s website, www.oldlymeduckrivergc.org or call Fay Wilkman, DRGC president, 860-391-2622.

Many congratulations to all these wonderful, green-fingered ladies and gentlemen!

Lyme Garden Club Fall Birdseed Fundraiser Continues Through Nov. 13

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LYME — Lyme Garden Club is holding their Annual Fall Birdseed Fundraiser from now until Nov. 13. All seed is fresh because it is this year’s crop. All profits support the club’s Beautify Lyme projects.

Choices include:

Black Oil Sunflower Seed 50 lb. @ $36 & 25 lb. @ $23

Striped Sunflower Seed 50 lb. @ $32 & 25 lb. @ $24

Sunflower Seed Chips 50 lb. @ $66 & 25 lb. @ $36

Song Maker Mix 40 lb. @ $32 & 20 lb. @ $20

Thistle 10 lb. @ $20 & 5 lb. @ $12

Suet Cakes $1.50 or case of 12 @ $18

Suet/Seed Wreaths @ $20

Pick up is Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Lyme Fire Company parking lot (behind the firehouse) 213 Hamburg Rd. (Rte. 156) from 10 a.m. until noon.  Delivery is available for $5.

For further information, contact Judy at 860-526-9868 or jwd50@comcast.net by Nov. 13.