Past Events
The Bobcat “Connecticut’s Secretive Wild Cat” – Presented by Paul Colburn
Date: Thu December 5, 2019Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Place: Lyme Public Library, 482 Hamburg Rd (Rte 156), Lyme
Contact Email: programreg@lymepl.org
Join the Friends of the Lyme Library for this presentation that focuses on the natural history of bobcats in Connecticut. Paul Coburn will present an overview of bobcat habitat, diet, behavior, reproduction, and current research efforts. Learn about “citizen science,” the role of the public in helping with field data collection. Bobcat artifacts are shared with the audience. Paul Colburn is a 2015 graduate of the Master Wildlife Conservationist Program (MWCP) and a certified Master Wildlife Conservationist (MWC). Mr. Colburn has provided over 160 wildlife presentations across the state on black bears, bobcats, eastern coyote, fisher, white-tailed deer and a natural history of Connecticut dating back to 1650. Mr. Colburn is an avid outdoorsman, “The Bobcat: Connecticut’s Secretive Wild Cat” is the subject of an informative talk by Master Wildlife Conservationist Paul Colburn, a graduate of Wesleyan.
Please call the Lyme Public Library at 860-434-2272 to register or email programreg@lymepl.org.
Saturday after Thanksgiving Hike – Hartman Park Red Trail
Date: Sat November 30, 2019Time: 1:30 - 3:30ish pm
Place: Meet at Hartman Park Entrance Parking Lot
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Wendolyn Hill, Lyme Land Trust Board member, and Lyme open Space Coordinator, will lead a walk on the Red Trail in Hartman Park. Work off your Thanksgiving overindulgence on this beautiful moderate trail that winds along craggy ridges strewn with boulders. The route will follow a portion of the Goodwin Trail.
The Goodwin Trail, overseen by the Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Coordinating Committee, is a an extended trail system crossing four towns: East Haddam, Salem, Lyme and East Lyme. Dr. Richard H. Goodwin (1911-2007) was president of the Nature Conservancy from 1956 to 1958 and again from 1964 to 1966. The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organization, was started in 1951, and Dr. Goodwin was one of its founders. Since then, it has protected 15 million acres of land in the United States and 102 million acres in 29 other countries.
The entire walk is about 3.5 miles. There are some moderate hill climbs and some rocky terrain. We will have a snack break on the bald nubble about halfway through. Bring something to drink.
Meet at the of Hartman Park Entrance Parking Lot on Gungy Road in Lyme.
Rain cancels.
Directions: The parking lot is on Gungy Road about 1.5 miles north of the 4-way stop signs at the intersection of Beaverbrook Road, Grassy Hill Road, and Gungy Road.
Registration is appreciated: openspace@townlyme.org
Hadlyme Autumn Road Litter Clean Up
Date: Sat November 23, 2019Time: 9:00 am
Place: Meet at Hadlyme Country Market, Rte 148, Lyme
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Volunteers Needed
Project: Pick Up Litter Along Rt. 82 from Shagbark To Baker Lane
Orange or Bright Yellow Outerwear Recommended
Plastic Bags Will Be Provided
Sponsored by Hadlyme Public Hall, North School Society, Friends of Whalebone Cove, Lyme Land Conservation Trust, Hadlyme Hall Garden Club, & Town Of Lyme Open Space Office.
More Info – Call Humphrey 518-253-4844
(Rain Date: 1 PM Sunday Nov 24)
Explore Nature Walk for Families with Kim Hargrave
Date: Sun November 17, 2019Time: 1:00 pm
Place: Banningwood Preserve, Town Street, Lyme CT
Contact Email: education@lymelandtrust.org
Please join us at Banningwood Preserve for a family walk geared for young children, with Kim Hargrave, Education Director of Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center. Along the way we’ll explore rock outcroppings, notice changes of the season and search for creatures getting ready for winter. We will listen to the sounds around us to create sound maps.
Reservations appreciated. Education@lymelandtrust.org
The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center. located in Mystic CT, is a combination wildlife sanctuary, natural history museum, and educational facility highlighting the habitats of southeastern Connecticut. Their mission is to inspire and nurture appreciation and scientific understanding of the natural world and foster a personal environmental ethic.
Ceremonial Stonework: The Enduring Native American Presence on the Land
Date: Fri November 15, 2019Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Lyme Public Hall, 248 Hamburg Road, Lyme CT
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Documentary photographer Markham Starr will present a slideshow which takes the audience on an extended walk through the woods to see the ceremonial stonework left behind by the indigenous population that inhabited New England for 12,000 years. Native Americans built several distinct types of structures in our area, ranging from cairns to stone serpent effigies, and these spiritual offerings remain standing in now long abandoned woods. While Native American stonework is widely recognized out west and to the south, New England’s stonework remains obscure, having blended back into the woods. This slideshow, from the book by the same name, comes from photographs from sites in North Stonington and neighboring Rhode Island.
Attendees of the slideshow will be invited to a walk to see stonework in one of our local preserves on Saturday, November 16th at 9:00 am, location to be announced (raindate Nov 17).
Markham Starr is a documentary photographer concerned with the disappearing working cultures of New England. He is the author of a dozen books, providing glimpses into the lives of people such as commercial fishermen, farmers, and cannery workers, and has written about other subjects such as historic barns in Connecticut. His work has appeared in national magazines and is part of the permanent collection at the Library of Congress, Historic New England, and other museums throughout New England.
For information: openspace@townlyme.org.
Demonstration and Work Party with an Audubon Expert- Identifying and Removing Invasive Plants
Date: Sat October 19, 2019Time: 9:30 am-11:30 am
Place: Olde Field Preserve, 170 Parker Rd, East Haddam, 06423
Contact Email: gnuttall@audubon.org
Join an expert from Audubon Connecticut to learn how to identify and remove invasive plant species. This is an excellent event for volunteers who wish to learn how to enhance wildlife habitat by controlling invasives in our nature preserves and in their own backyards. Please bring heavy duty work gloves, shovels, and pruning shears/loppers/clippers to this event. Bring protective clothing, sunscreen, and water.
This free event is part of a Bird Workshop Series offered by the Lyme Forest Block Conservation Project—an initiative launched by Audubon Connecticut, in partnership with the Town of Lyme and the Lyme Land Trust, the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Coordinating Committee, The Nature Conservancy, and other local land trusts, and municipalities. For a schedule of other events offered by the Lyme Forest Block Conservation Project.
Space is limited. Please fill out this RSVP form if you plan to attend this workshop.
Tree Collective- Teen Steward Group Meet-up
Date: Sun October 13, 2019Time: 1:00-4:00 pm
Place: To be Determined
Contact Email: education@lymelandtrust.org
The Tree Collective is a program designed to engage young conservationists ages 14-18 in outdoor fun and education while working to maintain trails in our beautiful town of Lyme, CT. It is sponsored by the Lyme Land Trust under the leadership of environmentalist/artist Regan Stacey, Lyme Land Trust board director.
Each time we meet, we offer a different topic, often with a hike and trail work in a selected preserve. Tools and gloves provided.
Mycology Walk with Laurie Gorham
Date: Sat October 5, 2019Time: 10:00 -11:30 am
Place: Brockway-Hawthorne Preserve, Meet at parking lot on Brush Hill Road, Lyme CT
Contact Email: education@lymelandtrust.org
Please join us for a walk to search for fungi with local mushroom lover Laurie Gorham. A long-time member of the CT Valley Mycological Society, Laurie will identify the various fungi along the trails, pointing out edibles, medicinals, and poisonous mushroom varieties. Heavy rain cancels.
Reservations appreciated: education@lymelandtrust.org
Climate Change in CT
Date: Sat September 28, 2019Time: 2:00 -4:00 pm
Place: Lyme Public Library, 482 Hamburg Road, Lyme CT 06371
Contact Email: programreg@lymepl.org
Presenter: Lyme Public Libaray
This presentation will explore current and predicted climate change impacts for Connecticut and Long Island Sound over the next 100 years, information and tools that are available and adaptation strategies to improve our resilience. Storms Irene and Sandy showed just how vulnerable Connecticut is to damage from intense storm events. The impacts of climate change on municipalities is likely to result in more intense rainfall events, higher air and water temperatures, more vulnerable beaches and dunes, and increases to the land and infrastructure that could be inundated by rising sea levels and riverine flooding. These events challenge communities to come up with adaptation strategies to deal with impacts from climate change and many communities are working to address this challenge.
Juliana Barrett is with the University of Connecticut Sea Grant College Program and the Department of Extension. Her work focuses on climate change adaptation and coastal habitat management working with Connecticut’s municipalities, NGO’s and state and federal partners. Prior to coming to Sea Grant in 2006 she worked with CT DEP on management plans for state natural areas and for The Nature Conservancy as the Director of the Connecticut River Tidelands Last Great Places Program. She has a doctorate in plant ecology from the University of Connecticut and is a co-author of the Vegetation of Connecticut and Salt Marsh Plants of Long Island Sound.
Please call to register 860-434-2272 or email programreg@lymepl.org.
Work Party to Help Plant Elm Trees at Czikowsky Hill Preserve
Date: Thu September 26, 2019Time: 10:00am -2:00pm
Place: At Czikowsky Hill Preserve, Joshuatown Rd., Lyme CT. Park at Hemlocks Preserve. On Joshuatown Road, just across the road from the end of Old Hamburg Rd.
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Presenter: The Nature Conservancy
Please join us to help The Nature Conservancy plant 20 disease-resistant elm trees in Czikowsky Hill Preserve. Czikowsky Hill Preserve is owned by the Town of Lyme and The Nature Conservancy with a Lyme Land Trust easement. The Nature Conservancy is doing a series of plantings along rivers and floodplain areas in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont with the intent that elm trees with a proven tolerance to Dutch elm disease will become well-established and ensure this important tree species remains a healthy part of riparian forests throughout the state.
Please bring heavy duty work gloves, sturdy shoes, and water. Bring a shovel if you have one.
Please let us know if you plan to join us: openspace@townlyme.org
