Natural Nutmeg

I am so excited to report to all my friends and neighbors that the osprey nesting platform project that I have been coordinating for over TWO years is finally a reality. Our new osprey nesting platform has finally been erected on Burr Creek in Black Rock! The platform was put into place on November 21, 2009.

Osprey platform with Captain's Cove in background.

It all started when I had been in my new neighborhood for awhile and noticed that osprey often fished in Burr Creek.   I thought this would be a perfect location for a nest especially since an abandoned 30 Foot utility pole was already securely standing right at the edge of the water.  And with one successful pair of opreys nesting at Ash Creek on the other side of Black Rock , how cool would it be to have a second pair raising their chicks on the other side of Black Rock. 

A couple of years ago, I secured permission from the City for our Arthur Street Neighbors Committee to build and install a wooden nesting platform for ospreys on an unused utility pole on a small city green space directly on Burr Creek at the end of our street. 

Then I found a sympathetic teacher Charles Johnson at the Bridgeport School of Aquaculture who found a student to construct the 40 inch wooden square with mesh bottom and support beams. Material for the platform was donated by Wood, Steel and Glas Inc. of Madison. I searched a LONG time to find  someone who would help with the job and provide the necessary bucket truck to raise the structure, I was happy to finally find an enthusiastic landscaper, Nate Burns, from a great local tree company, Bartlett Tree Experts, to install the platform on top of the 35 foot pole using their bucket truck.

Jose Garcia from Bartlett Tree Experts secures platform to pole.

On behalf of the Arthur Street Neighbors Committee, I would like to thank the School of Aquaculture, the City of Bridgeport, United Illuminating, City Councilwomen Susan Brannelly, Wood, Steel and Glas Inc., neighbor Steve Patalano and Nate Burns and Jose Garcia from Bartlett Tree Experts.  I particularly would also like to thank the Ash Creek Conservancy Association, the Black Rock Community Council and neighbors Doug Fay, Betsy Ross, and Michael Raleigh for installation funding.

The project got some good press including this article from the CT Post and mention in many local Black Rock blogs.

It is not easy to get even a small project like this accomplished in Bridgeport, but with perseverance and with a strong belief in a “If I build it, they will come” philosophy, the nest platform is up and now we wait until early spring.  It is very likely that two of the many osprey we see here will discover the platform and check it out. Oftentimes, a young osprey couple will practice building a nest the first year, but not seriously breed or nest.  Then they will often return the next spring to that same location and seriously settle down and raise their family. 

Osprey dive feet first to grasp fish and adjust fish in talons with head facing forward to make itaerodynamic while flying.

 
Here’s hoping !

And I will keep everyone informed. 

If you have a question or comment,
or a nature topic you would like to
hear about on my blog, please
feel free to comment below here
on this blog, or email me at

madelinedennis@optonline.net 

Check out my listing of Connecticut
nature and environmental web sites
to the right on this page.  

Deer Hunting

Growing up in the suburbs of Long Island, I never really thought about hunting or thought it was something remote from me. It wasn’t until many years later when I moved to Greenwich, Connecticut to manage a 250 acre nature preserve that hunting became a very close reality.

Audubon Greenwich had begun a white-tailed deer hunting project the year before I got there, and it was my responsibility to manage it. There was a serious overpopulation of deer in Greenwich, and when there is an overpopulation of deer, they destroy the forest habitat by eating wildflowers and the forest understory shrubs. Ten deer per square mile can sustain the flora and birdlife, but Fairfield County it is more like… The deer strip the low-lying brush, and thereby deer threaten the local survival of those bird species, which need low shrubs for nesting. The multi-year ongoing project at Audubon Greenwich has been successful in reducing the herd, and inexpensive using a strictly monitored local bowhunting club.

White-tailed deer buck

The state’s deer population has been rising for the last 50 years. Incredible as it may seem, in the early 1900s, the statewide deer population was estimated at less than 50 deer because mountain lions, coyote and other animals culled their numbers. Today wildlife experts believe Connecticut’s deer population may be around 100,000.

But in the past ten years, because of efforts by the DEP to expand hunting seasons and work with different towns to open public lands, nature conservancies, water company properties and private properties to hunting, the deer population is stabilizing and, in some areas, beginning to go down.

But not in Fairfield County ! Fairfield County has the highest deer density in the state, averaging 62 deer per square mile with pockets of up to 100. This overabundance leads to more Lyme Disease, collisions with motor vehicles and over-browsing of native plants. Deer numbers in Fairfield County particularly have grown unchecked because most the land is closed to hunting, but more and more residents are allowing hunters on their private land. Also enticed by resident’s gardens lawns. Hunting is in fact and reality the only solution today. See this excellent article from the University of CT.

Many area communities, have been promoting hunting in recent years as a way to control a burgeoning deer population. From Stamford and Wilton, to Redding and Ridgefield. The town of Fairfield is the latest community to form a committee, hold public hearings and draft a management plan for what should be done about its deer. Fairfield officials expect to release a report any day now on how to control the town’s deer population. For more information go to the Fairfield Deer Management web site.

Deer hunting season is in full swing in Connecticut. And the Connecticut deer hunting season is one of the most liberal in the United States with 120 days of possible time in the field. Bow hunters have a very long season. The bow hunting season on private land, depending on the zone runs from September 15 through January 31, The firearms deer hunting season on private land in Connecticut begins on November 19 and lasts for two weeks. Click on this DEP link for all the details.

The statistics for the 2008 Deer Harvest and road kill are fascinating. 3,600 archery, 7,100 shotgun/rifle, 1176 landowner, 690 muzzleloader, 883 crop kill, 2,190 road kill, 100 other for a total of 15,800. to read a fascinating full report of these hunting stats see the US Fish and Wildlife Report on Hunting and Fishing in CT.

There are more deer hunters in Connecticut now than ever in the state’s history. This increase may be partially do to the poor economy and the opportunity deer hunting has for harvesting ones own food and obtaining high protein, lean meat.

In order to make use of such a large harvest, a new program has been established called, Hunt To Feed. This innovative program allows a hunter to donate the venison from his harvest to the Connecticut Food Bank at no cost to the hunter. At a time when Connecticut’s food pantries are hurting for food donations and have empty shelves, this is a wonderful humanitarian program provided by hunters. In Connecticut, Hunters for the Hungry donated 41,000 pounds of venison, to food charities. For more information see the Hunt To Feed web site

I personally believe that right now in Connecticut deer hunting is the most effective and cost efficient way for management of deer in our urban environment. There are no effective, approved ways to limit the population of deer in a non-lethal way. Deer management through contraception is still experimental, cost prohibitive only isolated herds can be managed in this way, not free ranging deer. Labor intensive and almost impossible.

Animal-rights activists argue that killing deer is not the answer, and municipalities should instead allow nature to take its course to control deer. Hunting shows a lack of respect for conscious life, they say, arguing it won’t end Lyme Disease or motor vehicle collisions, but instead actually prompt more breeding and faster-growing deer populations. Here is an outline of their argument from the Connecticut group Friends of Animals.

For a good description of some of the myths in deer control and an excellent refutation of what I consider for the most part to be a flawed animal right arguments see this hunters’ web site link.

Hunting Other Mammals and Birds

Over the past half-century, we have seen the recovery of many species of wildlife in Connecticut and almost everywhere. In fact, hunting and trapping have been expanded for some species, such as deer and beaver, to manage burgeoning wildlife populations. Research, management, and habitat improvement projects, funded by license and permit fees paid by sportsmen and special excise taxes on hunting equipment, are largely responsible for this recovery.

In Connecticut many bird species are hunted, of course: various species of ducks: mergansers, coots, Virginia and sora rails, clapper and king rails, Canada Geese, Snow Geese Brant as well as turkeys, pheasants and other upland birds. Crow, quail, chukar, woodcock, snipe, ruffed grouse, partridge. Each year pheasants are purchased and distributed throughout the state on state owned, state managed and permit-required areas, similar of course to stocking our rivers and streams with fish.

The state department of environmental protection say that the number of duck hunters in Connecticut is at an all-time low to about 5500.. In the late 70’s, that number was more than 16,000. The biggest reason may be that there are simply fewer places to hunt now than ever before due to loss of habitat and development pressures.

Mammals hunted in Connecticut are: the small game animals: gray squirrel, cottontail rabbit, snowshoe hare, European hares, woodchuck and also the forbearing mammals such as raccoons, opossums , red and gray foxes, coyotes, river otters, beaver, mink, muskrat, weasel, and skunk.

The hunters I know hunt safely and ethically. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection hunting and trapping are carefully regulated. Regulations and permitting are strict and mandatory hunter safety, ethics and trapper training courses. Here is a full description of the state’s hunting rules and regulations.

The hunters I know respect the environment and wildlife. Many are conservationists and bird watchers that protect animals and the environment.. Hunters have shouldered the cost of open space conservation. Hunters willingly accept and support decisions made by wildlife management agencies for the good of all animals. Hunters fervently protect our wild lands to keep them free from development, pollution and misuse.

I object to seal slaughter in Canada and other wildlife abuse around the world. I am vehemently opposed to the abuse of circus animals. I feel the stocking of birds like pheasants just for the hunter’s sport is not necessarily a good philosophy. I believe that perpetuating hunting and killing of many American birds and mammals just because it has always been that way and is an American tradition is wrong and not any kind of intelligent justification.

But I do believe in the importance of deer hunting in Connecticut for the curtailment of Lyme disease, reduction of dangerous car collisions, the protection of wildflowers and vegetation and for the conservation of Connecticut’s environment.

If you have a question or comment, or a nature topic you would like to hear about on my blog, please feel free to comment below here on this blog, or email me at madelinedennis@optonline.net. 

Check out my listing of Connecticut nature and environmental web sites to the right on this page.  

Bird watching is a different kind of sport. It is also a hobby, and recreational and educational too. It opens your eyes to the natural world right in your own backyard and in far away places. You can do it all year round. You can do it anywhere: at home, in the car, on vacation, at work.  It’s cheap. Every season, every month, brings some new bird event: hundreds of shorebirds at the beaches, jeweled hummingbirds sipping at flowers, hawks soaring over marshes, gold finches in your yard. Spring is the peak of bird watching fervor, the time when the colorful migrating birds come back north through our area. But bird watching in the fall brings tens of thousands of birds migrating south for the winter, and is an exciting time for bird watchers.

Thousands of hawks are migrating through Connecticut right now. Look up, they are there. Volunteers even count them at they move from one state to another. One good place to see them is the Audubon Greenwich Hawk Watch every day from now until the end of November. A hawk watch counter is there every day and will give you the scoop and help you identify the majestic birds.  The hawks are also perched on highway light poles waiting for a good meal to walk by. In a few weeks, ducks and geese will be on our waterways by the thousands too. It is a spectacular site with snow geese flying in like, well, like snow.  As winter approaches there will still be much to see. Winter brings eagles, and time to observe bird behavior close range right in your yard. It is a whole year round cycle.

I did not become a bird watcher until I was in my 20’s. I lived near Manhattan’s Central Park, and there are a lot of “birders” in Manhattan.  Central Park is a green oasis in the midst of concrete that attracts birds in a concentrated area.  Organized bird watching walks are frequent, and they are a great place to meet like-minded friends. I was on only my second bird walk. I was getting the knack of it.  A little way in the distance I saw through my binoculars a couple of drab birds on the sidewalk drinking from a puddle and pointed them out to our energetic leader.  “Quick, everyone.  Look what Madeline has found – two mourning doves on the ground over there!  Aren’t they beautiful! Great spot, Madeline!”  I was proud of my first sighting and hooked on the enthusiasm of the sport. 

And ever since I have been enthused even by the most common bird.  I remember when a friend from Australia, the home of a wild array of colorful parrots and other exotic birds, was overwhelmed when he saw our common blue jay’s bright plumage. And I realized that the variety and universality of bird watching could truly be an addiction.

Photo by Alfred Yan

Bird watching was recently in the news with a report released this July by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that revealed there are 48 million adult bird-watchers who contribute more than $36 billion a year to the nation’s economy. Connecticut ranking 14th in the nation with 28%  of people watching birds. People bird watch in lots of different ways. Some folks feed birds in their backyards and you can see hundreds of birds that way.  Others go out on bird walks in the woods, beaches and marshes.  Others take the activity seriously as a real sport, and even participate in competitions.

One such group effort is coming up on Sunday, Oct 11. It is called The Big Sit It is a 24-hour international bird-finding event with more than 40 states and countries competing. The idea is for a bird watchers group to see or hear as many bird species as possible from within a 17-foot circle. It is the birding community’s most sedentary event. Some people have called it a “tailgate party for birders. “The idea is that if you sit in one place long enough, eventually every species of bird will pass by. There will be a big sit at CT Audubon’s Center in Milford and others around the state.  Check out your local bird club. The Big Sit, and other bird competitions, can also be fundraisers or Bird-A-thons,  where you can support a group’s local conservation efforts by making a pledge per species tallied.

You don’t need a lot of equipment to bird watch.  Binoculars are a good thing to have, of course. You can get a decent pair for $50 or get as fancy as a $1,000 a pair. Birding Binoculars Guide s a web site with descriptions and reviews to help you choose one. The trick with using binoculars is to first spot the bird without the binoculars and then, while keeping your head still and your eyes on the bird, carefully raise your binoculars and look through the lenses. The more you practice, the better you will get at spotting birds through your binoculars!

The only other thing you really need is a field guide to help you identify the different birds. You might want to start with a book that just has Connecticut birds or birds seen east of the Rockies. Learning to identify birds, by their size, shape, body parts, coloring, behavior and song is a fascinating challenge. Other than binoculars and a guide, you can travel light and cheap on your bird watching walks.

The cool thing about bird watching is you can do it everywhere and your skills just get better with experience. I like it better than hiking.  Hikers measure the success of their day in the distance traveled and a brisk pace.  Birders like me anyway take leisurely strolls, stopping often, listening, watching, observing.  Distance is never the object.  Blending into nature and observing the natural world is.

I have bird watched around the United States, in Mexico, Canada and South America, and seen some marvelous birds in my travels, but I have done most of my birding right here in the North East. You don’t have to leave Connecticut.  There are 400 species of birds right in the Nutmeg State.  Even if you cannot get out at all, there are many beautiful web sites where you can experience the sights and sounds of bird watching.. One I like is Bird Cinema with lots of short videos.  It is sort of like a You Tube for bird watchers.

Photo by Jayne Gulbrand

There are plenty of organized bird walks at nature centers and parks around the state at all times of year. It is a good way to get started because you have the benefit not only of folks perhaps more experienced than you, but the more eyes there are the more birds you will see.  Many of these bird walks are free or have only a minimal fee.  There are many bird clubs and groups in Connecticut that you can also hook up with. See one of the links to the right.

Or you can go out on your own.  Almost anywhere: a walk down the street, in your local park, or even bird watching from your car. I have seen some great birds along the side of the road or on a highway light pole.  Check out some of the nature areas listed in my links to the right. You can even call a phone number or go on the internet and find out what rare birds might be visiting in your area: CT Statewide Hotline:  203-254-3665, Eastern CT Hotline:  860-599-5195, or with the Virtual Birder.

I hope you might venture out and turn your eyes upward too.  If you have a bird watching question or comment, or a topic you would like to hear about in my new blog, please feel free to comment below here on this blog, or email me at madelinedennis@optonline.net. 

Next Blog – Hunting in the Nutmeg State

Check out my listing of Connecticut nature and environmental web sites to the right on this page.