Hawk Walk
Last Saturday the Aspetuck Land Trust held its second fall “hawk walk” of the season at the Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area in Easton/Weston, Connecticut. I tagged along to help find some birds and talk about the wonderful land, wearing my hat for both RTPI and as a member of the Aspetuck Land Trust Land Management Committee. I also happen to love the property and, along with RTPI President Twan Leenders, helped initiate and create a conservation and management plan for the site several years ago. In the below photos you can see federally licensed bander Larry Fischer, a...
Read MoreLyme Disease
I have Lyme disease. Thankfully most people have now heard of Lyme disease, but for those who have not, Lyme borreliosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the Borrelia type and transmitted to humans (or pets!) by a black-legged/deer tick bite and subsequent feeding by the parasite. It typically takes 24 or maybe 36-48 hours of feeding for the disease to be transmitted if the tick is a carrier, though this is not a guarantee either direction. Lyme disease can cause flu-like symptoms nearly immediately, and if untreated they can be followed by severe headaches, joint and muscle...
Read MoreDeer Tick
Whether it is a warm and sunny day or a cool, cloudy one you can now expect to find some ticks outdoors, especially in edge habitats. The photo shows a tick I recently pulled off of my dog on an inch ruler. In western New York this is rarely a problem, and only a handful of sites have any ticks to be found. However, in places like Connecticut the population is robust, booming, and filled with diseases. Any time that you or your dog goes outdoors this spring, and throughout the year really, you should be mindful of ticks. The best way to protect yourself is to stay covered, change your...
Read MoreTick Season
Tick season has arrived! Whether it is a warm and sunny day or a cool, cloudy one you can now expect to find some ticks outdoors, especially in edge habitats. In Western New York this is rarely a problem, and only a handful of sites have any ticks to be found. However, in places like Connecticut the population is robust, booming, and filled with diseases. Any time that you or your dog goes outdoors this spring, and throughout the year really, you should be mindful of ticks. The best way to protect yourself is to stay covered, change your clothes, check yourself from head to toe, and shower...
Read MoreFall hawk walk at Trout Brook Valley
On Saturday morning, September 20, I joined the Aspetuck Land Trust on a fall hawk walk with over 40 of their members and volunteers at the gorgeous Trout Brook Valley Preserve in Easton and Weston, Connecticut. This major 1,000+ acre conservation area permits passive recreation in the form of hiking, birding, biking, on-leash dog walking, photography and so forth. It is part of one of the largest contiguous areas of forest left in Fairfield County and is home to rare and important amphibians, plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, pollinators and more. Twan and I spent over a year creating a...
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