Wintry Woods? Not Today, Kids
By Genevieve Reilly, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport
Jan. 21–Teacher/naturalist Tricia Lombardi stops the group of preschoolers on a recent trek along the path in the Connecticut Audubon Society’s Roy and Margot Larsen Wildlife Sanctuary in Fairfield.
“If you’re quiet, we might be able to hear a woodpecker,” Lombardi said. “He’s been hanging around this week.”
The children’s chatter stops. Quietly, they wait.
“Beep, beep, beep!” It’s a distinctive sound, but it’s neither the elusive woodpecker nor anything natural, for that matter.
Giggles from the youngsters, who recognize the “call” echoing through the woods as that of a school bus warning horn, sounding as the vehicle backs up in a nearby parking lot.
Not exactly what the group of young explorers was hoping for on this walk to take in “Winter Wonders.” Then again, for those hoping for snow, so far this winter has been anything but wonderful.
Not only has the unusually balmy season kept skiers off the slopes, but some of the nature preserve’s animals are sticking around their northern Fairfield habitat a bit longer than usual before heading to warmer climes or bedding down for a long winter hiatus.
Take a walk to one of the swamps on the 150-acre sanctuary on Burr Street, owned by the Connecticut Audubon Society, and these days plants such as skunk cabbage are popping up, tricked into a false-spring spurt of growth by the warmer weather.
“You don’t usually see that until late February, early March,” said Carol Kratzman, another teacher/naturalist at the Audubon Center. “And it’s usually covered in snow.”
The great horned owls are supposed to be nesting now, Lombardi said. The great horned owl is one of the first birds to nest, laying its eggs as early as late January.
Kratzman noted the recent sighting of a spring peeper, a tree frog whose sound — a high-pitched whistle — is usually among the first signs of spring.
It’s likely that some creatures and plants may die if they hang around during the warmer winter, only to be caught in frigid temperatures still likely to come, the naturalists indicated.
“But I think some of them have learned to adapt,” Lombardi said, adding it’s not the first time New England has seen a warmer-than-normal winter in recent years.
“The same thing happened last year, though it wasn’t as late as this year,” Lombardi said. “It will be really interesting to find out what’s here.”
“That’s what adaptation’s all about,” Kratzman said.
What the center is all about is providing environmental education, and it addresses that mission in a variety of ways.
The Larsen Sanctuary, open from dawn until dusk every day, is home to about seven miles of walking trails, with at least one mile of trail designed for people with disabilities.
The wildlife sanctuary began to take shape in the 1950s when the state started construction of Interstate 95 and sliced through land at the Connecticut Audubon Society’s Birdcraft Museum on Unquowa Road in Fairfield, leaving that landmark nature center with only 5 acres off Unquowa Road, not far from the town’s center.
The property for the Burr Street sanctuary was donated by Roy and Margot Larsen, Congress Street residents with a long history of supporting conservation.
In addition to the land donation in Fairfield, Roy Larsen, once a vice chairman of Time Inc., also helped establish the Nantucket, Mass., Conservation Foundation.
In 1976, he was named to the national committee of the American Land Trust. And a 2,138-acre tract in Texas, donated by Time Inc., was named for Roy Larsen.
The Burr Street acreage encompasses nine ponds, a garden marsh and a swamp. There are boardwalks, an observation platform and signs.
“The sanctuary is just such a wonderful place to walk through,” said Joyce Hergenhan, a Fairfield resident who was recently named chairwoman of the society’s board of directors, after being a member for about 25 years. “And the birds of prey there, the hawks, the owls, it’s just fascinating.”
Visitors who exercise enough patience at Dirty Swamp Pond may be rewarded with a glimpse of river otters.
“One man sat there for four hours,” Lombardi said. “He finally saw them.”
There is an education center, built in 1971, nature gift shop, a natural history library, educational exhibits, a birds of prey compound and a solar greenhouse on the property.
Education programs, lectures and workshops for schools and individuals, including summer camps, are offered throughout the year.
Special annual events include bird seed sale days in October, December, February and April; reptile education days; an egg hunt and breakfast in the spring and an Enchanted Forest nature-themed Halloween event each October.
On Saturday, an “Incredible Eagles” program is planned, with participants building an eagle’s “nest” and learning things such as what eagles eat for dinner.
The center can be rented for events such as birthday parties, or members can sponsor an animal, helping to care for nonreleasable wildlife through monetary donations.
The sanctuary’s many birds are what Lombardi likes best about the nature center.
For Kratzman, while “I could say the animals, which would be true, I like the whole area, especially out by Dirty Swamp Pond and trail. Very few people get out there & it’s a little more ‘wild.’ “
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Copyright (c) 2007, Connecticut Post, Bridgeport
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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