Back marshes
Beach rose, Rosa rugosa
Dune restoration
Tip-up mound with all vegetation still alive and well
Sept 11 Living memorial
As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge List
Sherwood Island SP, Westport CT
24 05 2021Comments : 2 Comments »
Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
Dinosaur SP, Rocky Hill CT
19 05 2021
Dinosaur foot prints led to the establishment of this park
Huge blood root plants indicate rich soils from the eroding trap rock
Wild ginger
A fun butterfly garden sign
A spotted turtle (spotted by Cherry)
Witches’ hats on Witch Hazel: formed by the plant’s reaction to an aphid egg being laid on its surface
As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge List
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Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
Wharton Brook SP, North Haven CT
13 05 2021
Allen Brook Pond is the prominent feature at the entrance of this state park.
Swamp pink was a lovely sign of spring.
Low-bush blueberries were flowering.
But the major attraction was the pitch pine forest here. It had been at least 30 years since I’d visited this sandy scrubby forest tucked into North Haven.
Sadly there was no canopy of pitch pine, but some scraggly stressed trees putting out needle bundles all along their trunks.
At its densest, the forest was sparse. Since its establishment as a natural area, the lack of fire/management apparently led to the replacement of the pitch pine with other trees.
Selective cutting and a major storm has opened areas and pitch pine is regenerating, amidst extensive stands of black birch.
One can only hope that this effort will be successful.
As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge List
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Tags: pitch pine
Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
Chatfield Hollow SP, Killingworth, CT
7 05 2021
Red Covered Bridge
Good flow of water
This fella caught his first fish in two years just below that flow of water
Signs of spring
Lots of history here
As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge List
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Tags: Chatfield Hollow, Connecticut, Killingworth
Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
People’s State Forest, Pleasant Valley, CT
30 04 2021
Storms the day prior to my visit (April 19) caused extensive downed trees
Signs of spring
Quartz highlighted by moss
Lovely boardwalk trail
Very glad this year’s theme is BRIDGES and BOARDWALKS
As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge
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Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
Rocky Neck SP, East Lyme CT
29 04 2021
Bride Brook being restored to allow alewife to travel upstream; Acela overhead
Beautiful beaches, strong winds, low tide
Might even look tropical except for the jacket!
Great view of herons, egrets, and ducks
As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge List
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Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
Stratton Brook SP, Simsbury CT
27 04 2021
Entrance
Covered Bridge
Bridge across Farmington River Trail
As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge List; timber boardwalk on the Orange Trail was nonexistant
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Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
Hammonasset Beach State Park
16 04 2021Madison CT As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit
Beautiful day Wednesday April 14
Nature Trail and views (no seals)
Willard Island view with osprey
Fried clams and salmon, Fish Tales, safe and distance eating
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Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, DEEP Sky's the Limit
Wadsworth Falls State Park, Middletown, CT
31 03 2021
First trip for the 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge
Creeks are running strong already with the recent rain
Hemlock woolly adelgid infesting trees; see white cottony areas at the base of needles
Unfortunately, this snake was dead, perhaps due to freezing temperatures the previous night?
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Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, Connecticut, DEEP Sky's the Limit
East Haddam CT Preserves: Sabine and Hammon Mill
3 01 2021
SABINE: a gracious walk that includes a pleasant stop along Moodus Reservoir. Due to the abundance of recent rains, mushrooms were prolific.
HAMMON MILL: a fascinating historical site of an old mill and sluiceways, dedicated to the Kashanskis, whom I knew. Erosion along the stream was striking.
East Haddam Preserves were visited as part of the Find the Chairs Challenge. I was grateful to discover these sites that I’d never seen in town. They were clearly identified along the road and trails were well marked.
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Tags: Connecticut, East Haddam, Find the Chairs, Hammon Mill, Sabine
Categories : Beth Lapin Blog, Hiking
Beth Lapin 