Naturalist Notes

After a few weeks of bitter cold, it is nice to feel spring in the air on the Bethany trails! This weekend marks the start of Daylight Savings Time in Connecticut (and all states except Arizona and Hawaii). On the second Sunday in March, clocks spring forward by one hour, meaning more daylight hours in the evening (and more opportunities to get outside after work!). As we move into spring, the days naturally grow longer, and this time change helps us make the most of that extra daylight by shifting it to the evening hours. This practice, which has been observed in the United States since 1918, aims to make better use of natural daylight during the summer months by moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. As we adjust our clocks, it's a great time to get outside and enjoy the trails, taking in the sights and sounds of nature awakening from its winter slumber. North American beavers remain active throughout the winter months, adapting their behavior to survive the cold! They do not hibernate but instead rely on a stored cache of food, typically branches and sticks, which they collect in the fall and…

Lovely morning walk with Stephen Paul Broker at the Mendell's Folly Bethany Land Trust, Inc. parcel. We heard and/or saw sign of mammals: Beaver (feeding evidence), Bobcat (scat), and Red Fox (scat and the breeding season skunk-like scent marking at the trailhead to the meadow), and delightful birds: including Virginia Rail heard at the far end of the wetland, Great Blue Heron floating by overhead, Golden-crowned Kinglets hovering in the canopy, Swamp Sparrow, a Cooper's Hawk that lifted up into the trees from the forest floor, and my favorite song and sight of the morning: a diminutive but energetic Winter Wren singing its high tinkering trills in the tangles of brush at the wetland edge.  Here's a Cornell Lab recording for your listening pleasure :>) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Winter_Wren/sounds What a gem of a place. Thanks BLT for conserving this land, and to Carol Lambiase, Bob Harrison and their fabulous trail crew for maintaining these and other BLT trails.

Take a walk on our land trust trails this winter, and you will notice evergreen clups of Princess Pine, also known as flat-branched club moss (Dendrolycopodium obscurum). This low-growing, ancient plant is native to the northeastern United States, including Connecticut, and thrives in shaded, acidic soils, often beneath pine and mixed hardwood forests. In the starkness of winter, its vibrant green foliage stands out against the leaf-littered forest floor, making it easy to spot. Princess Pine is a relic of prehistoric times, representing the Lycopodiophyta group, which includes some of the first vascular plants to evolve. Despite its common name, it is neither a true pine nor a tree but a type of club moss. The reproductive structure of Princess Pine is the strobilus, a club-like cone borne at the tips of its shoots and branches. In the fall, these strobili produce clouds of fine, dust-like spores. These spores were historically used as "flash powder" for theatrical pyrotechnics and photography, producing bright bursts of light. While the plant spreads slowly through underground rhizomes, it plays an essential role in stabilizing forest soils and preventing erosion. Additionally, its dense mats offer habitat for soil-dwelling organisms and small insects, contributing to forest-floor…