Mt Archer Woods, a town-owned preserve in Lyme, has been recognized by Audubon’s Bird-Friendly Maple program for forest management that supports songbirds in the sugarbush, the forest area where maple sap is collected by Fat Stone Farm. In celebration of this honor, Audubon forester Rosa Goldman will lead a tour to explain the Bird-Friendly Maple program and how Mt Archer came to be recognized. We will visit various examples of habitat, and learn about the birds they support.

Space is limited on the walk. Please Register: openspace@townlyme.org

Through the Bird-Friendly Maple project (a collaborative effort between Audubon, Cornell, the New York State Maple Producers Association, and the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut), the Mount Archer Woods sugarbush is managed in ways that provide more resilient bird habitat. An Audubon bird habitat assessment and recommendations for future management are provided for each property in the program. 

Fat Stone Farm has been collecting organic sap from the maple trees on an approximately 32-acre area in Mt Archer Woods for ten years through a lease agreement with the Town of Lyme. Fat Stone Farm is located in Lyme, a short distance (as the crow flies) from the Preserve. Their syrup is available in local stores, at farmers markets, and online. Mt Archer Woods is a 275-acre preserve that is part of a larger block of about 2000 acres of preserved property including the River-to Ridges-Preserves and conservation easements on adjacent private properties. 

Co-sponsored by the Lyme Land Trust and Town of Lyme. 

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER!

Young or old, experienced, or totally unfamiliar, we look forward to exposing you to our uniquely dark skies here in Lyme. We have several different telescopes that are on display including a 14″ Schmidt-Cassegrain housed in a permanent observatory.

Registration required. Upon registration you will receive a link to directions and observing session guidelines.

For more information and to register: Astronomy Events

Stone wall interpretation provides new opportunities to thread together historical, archaeological, aesthetic, geological, and ecological interests. Historically, the walls are important adjuncts to the thousands of historic houses and buildings, cemeteries, battlegrounds, and monuments throughout the region. Archaeologically, they are above-ground ruins. Aesthetically, they convey essential themes in literature and art. Psychologically, they provide boundaries in space and time. Geologically, they are signature land forms for the Anthropocene epoch, the counterpart to the babbling brooks, inland wetlands, coastal dunes, kettle ponds, and bedrock ledges of the postglacial Holocene Epoch. Ecologically, they create dry lands as porous, elevated, and elongate volumes of surface stone that drain quickly.

These words by Robert Thorson convey the importance of New England’s unique stone walls, and he is the authoritative expert, having written the book Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England’s Stone Walls back in 2002. His urgent mission is the preservation of these ubiquitous structures: a step wise approach to the conservation and interpretation of New England’s stone walls that considers these diverse values while also remaining respectful of the presence of Indigenous stonework in the landscapes. We invite you to come and explore these ideas with Dr. Thorson in this fascinating talk – it’s one you won’t want to miss! Learn more.  Conserving the Historic Stone Walls of New England by Robert Thorson. 

Robert Thorson has advised countless federal, state, and town governments, non-profit historical societies, conservation groups, law practices, and private landowners. In a 2023 Smithsonian essay he linked the history of stone walls to literature, ecology, climate change and geoscience, an article selected by the History News Network for the “Best History Writing of 2023.” At the University of Connecticut, he coordinates the Stone Wall Initiative as scholarly engagement within the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. For three decades he’s been a stump evangelist for the preservation of New England’s historic landscapes.

Co-sponsored with the Lyme Public Hall

Meet at Selden Creek Preserve parking on Joshuatown Road. We will walk up the ravine, to the overlooks and then circle back through Brockway Hawthorne. 2.5 miles.  Arduous in some areas.

Register: kristina.white@lymelandtrust.org

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule

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. Each time we meet, we offer a different topic, often with a hike and trail work in a selected preserve.

Tools and gloves provided.

For more information. 

Registration required: reganstacey@gmail.com.

Click on flyer to enlarge.

Sponsored with the Lyme’s Senior Center.

View the Take-a-Walk Wednesday Schedule

The unique natural, historic and archeological features in Hartman Park make it a delight to explore. We will look for spring wildflowers. About 2 miles. 

Directions: The parking lot is about 1.5 miles north of  the intersection of Gungy Rd, Beaver Brook Rd, and Grassy Hill Rd. In Lyme. From the Hall’s Rd Old Lyme traffic light, travel north on 156 for 6.6 miles. Turn right onto Beaver Brook Rd and travel 2.7 to left at intersection.  

April showers bring May flowers. What do May flowers bring… Pilgrims! I doubt we will see any pilgrims on this 1.75 mile hike in the center of Lyme, but I am looking forward to a hilly hike with some lookouts and early habitation sites. With luck we might also see some May flowers!

Contact: ryan.p.quinn@gmail.com

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule

Join our work party to remove invasive knotweed and other invasive plants, and tend the natives that have been planted in their place. Learn to control Knotweed on your own property. We will also to the Reed Landing gardens, and check on the 50 plants that were installed at Union Triangle on the corner of Rte 156 and Old Hamburg Rd. We are in our fifth year of tackling the knotweed using the “method of 3s”: cut knotweed down to the ground and remove the plant material; 3 chops each growing season (May, mid-July, and mid-August). The cuttings must be carefully disposed of since each little piece will regrow into a new plant. The knotweed has been highly reduced where we have used this method but we still have to cut back the ones that persist and new ones that come up from seeds.

Bring work gloves, clippers or loppers. We’ll provide the bags! Bring your own water bottle. Snacks will be provided. 

Please register: (walk-ins welcome) Openspace@townlyme.org

Sponsored by the Town of Lyme, Lyme Pollinator Pathway, and Lyme Land Trust.

Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant which crowds out native plants that pollinators and other wildlife depend upon for survival. For a brochure on Nix the Knotweed Method of 3s.

This event is cancelled due to weather. Bird migration is in full swing, so we will listen for birdsong and look for birds along the gentle-to-moderate 2.5-mile walk through mixed and deciduous forest. Binoculars will be good to bring, but are not essential.

Register: Jim.arrigoni@lymelandtrust.org

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule

Join Jim Natale, naturalist and amateur botanist, on a ramble through Johnston Preserve to identify all types of plants, focusing on spring ephemerals and mosses. Jim, who is an expert identifier, has been submitting observations to the iNaturalist app for six years. He has logged an amazing 39,291 observations. On the walk, he will demonstrate how you can upload your observations to support the Wild Lyme Project and its mission to catalog and compare the biodiversity of preserves protected by the Town of Lyme, The Nature Conservancy, and the Lyme Land Trust. Participants wishing to record observations to iNat should bring a smartphone, camera, or both. All skill levels are welcome, from experienced to those who have never used the iNaturalist app.

Space is limited. Register: education@lymelandtrust.org

Jim Natale is owner of Wilder Gardens, LLC, whose mission is to establish a regional native plant garden community, exposing the people to the beauty of our natural world and promoting the stewardship of our natural areas for the benefit of wildlife and mankind.

This event is part of the Lyme Land Trust Wild Lyme Project. You are welcome to join the Mini-Bioblitz team to be part of more events like this.