In honor of Arbor Day, we will be clearing brush and small trees from around the trees along the Notable Tree Trail at Hawk Hill Farm. The trail, introduced in Spring 2025, features 9 trees including 5 notable trees, along with educational signage.
Bring water and loppers, hand saws (and chain saws if you have them), and dress for the woods with long pants, long sleeves, boots, work gloves.
Please RSVP to conservation@trlandconservancy.org if you are interested in helping so that you can be contacted in case of changes or cancellations.
In honor of Earth Day, we will be working with Environmental Science Professor Dr. Kirsten Martin and her students to remove invasive Callery and Bradford pear trees from the grassland habitat there and weed the pollinator garden. Bring loppers and hand saws, and dress for poison ivy and ticks. Park in the lot on the west side of campus closest to Trout Brook Drive.
Please RSVP to conservation@trlandconservancy.org if you are interested in helping so that you can be contacted in case of changes or cancellations.
Also visit the TRLC table at St Joseph’s Earth Day Fair, April 22 from 11am-2pm. The fair will be held in front of McDonough Hall (inside McDonough if it rains).
Featuring a Presentation on Automated Mapping of Beaver Activity and Its Environmental Impacts in CT
Members and guests are invited to our Annual Meeting featuring a presentation by Evan Zocco, a Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Evan will talk about the ways in which beavers change the landscape, and his development of advanced computer methods for environmental monitoring using drone imagery. The results of his research have valuable implications for wetland mapping, ecosystem monitoring, and decision-making in land and water resource management.
After the presentation, we invite you to stay to learn more about the work of protecting the environment, preserving local farms and connecting people with nature. You will also be able to meet the board of directors who will report on activities and finances and answer your questions. Current TRLC members will elect directors to the board for the next term. Light refreshments will be served.
As an early Earth Day celebration, we will be picking up accumulated trash from Privilege Preserve in Bloomfield. Parking is on the road apron across from 68 East Dudley Town Road. Trash bags will be provided.
Note: Bloomfield will not be holding their official trash cleanup day this year, so this an opportunity to participate in a community cleanup event.
RSVP to conservation@trlandconservancy.org if you are interested in helping so that you can be contacted in case of changes or cancellations.
Join master naturalist Brad Robinson for a hike at Wilcox Park in honor of Earth Day. The park is on Hoskins Road one mile south of Tariffville Road and a half mile north of Adams Road. We will ascend to the ridgeline where we join the Metacomet Trail and hike in a loop back to the parking lot. There are nice views along a lesser-traveled area of the Metacomet ridge. The hike should take about two hours and will involve some hilly terrain. Meet at the Wilcox Park parking lot at 10 a.m. Rain date is Sunday April 19 at 2 p.m.
Join us at this invasive plant workshop to get hands-on experience clearing invasive plants and help us in the effort to replace invasives with native species in our community.
Stout Family Fields is one of our most visited preserves; if you haven’t been yet, spring is a great time to check it out. Over the past three years, TRLC volunteers spent more than 100 hours clearing invasives from around the wetland copse (The Island) in the southern field. In 2024, we planted native species there and in 2025, we hired a contractor to remove invasives from the banks of the brook between the two fields. Last year, we also planted sycamore seedlings from the Pinchot Sycamore on The Island.
On this day we will be removing the remaining invasives left between the fields before our contractor plants more native species there this spring. Bring water, loppers and work gloves, and wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, bug spray and sunscreen. Park at the end of Stone Hill Road.
RSVP to conservation@trlandconservancy.org if you are interested in helping so that you can be contacted in case of changes or cancellations.
POSTPONED – STAY TUNED FOR NEW DATE
By Zellene Sandler, DEEP Master Wildlife Conservationist
May is the month when many birds arrive back to their nesting territories, some flying thousands of miles. We will learn about what causes birds to migrate in spring and fall, how latest technology is used to track them, and dangers to migrating birds. We will discuss the Bobolinks of Bloomfield and the issues they face here and will view a video on warblers, the little gems of the bird world.
Zellene, a past president of the Hartford Audubon Society, leads hikes and naturalist walks for the Appalachian Mountain Club. She is a dedicated birder and occasional wild plant and mushroom forager who writes occasional articles for local papers and environmental groups, and book reviews for the Horticultural Society and the Audubon.
Co-sponsored by: Bloomfield Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services
Join us at the Speer Preserve annual outing led by TRLC member John Cappadona.
This short trail connects to more remote sections of MDC Reservoir 6 and Talcott Mountain State Park, which can feel very much like one is in the deep woods. The route is easy-to-moderate and will last 1.5 to 2 hours. Snowshoes are recommended, or if not, waterproof hiking boots and poles.
Meet at the cul-de-sac at the top of Juniper Road in Bloomfield. Check Facebook that morning for postings or cancellation.
Alternate date: Sunday, February 22.
The Abundant Life in Old Dead Trees
By Margery Winters, Assistant Director at Roaring Brook Nature Center
Once considered a wasted resource and a hazard in forest landscapes, dead trees and logs are now known to be valuable and essential parts of a healthy forest ecosystem. Learn how they provide habitat and food for many terrestrial and aquatic species, act as seedbeds for new trees, and serve as a source of water, energy, carbon, and nutrients for the entire forest.
Margery is a long-time nature instructor at Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton where she is delighted to share her passion for earth sciences and nature with students of all ages. Margery currently serves as chair of the Simsbury Conservation Commission, is a member of the Simsbury Open Space Committee, and is president of the Simsbury Land Trust.
Co-sponsored by: Bloomfield Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services
Here There Be Dragons: The Unseen World of Dragonflies
by Dr. Kirsten Martin, Professor of Biology and Program Director for Environmental Science at the University of Saint Joseph.
Dr. Martin will talk about the life cycle of dragonflies, with special attention paid to the nymphal and emergence stages. She will also talk about her work with the Dragonfly Mercury Project, a project which uses dragonflies to track mercury deposition.
Dr. Kirsten Martin is an environmental scientist whose research work focuses on nymphal dragonfly behavior. She earned her BS in Wildlife Management from the University of New Hampshire, an MS in Environmental Education from Southern Oregon University, and her PhD in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England.
Co-sponsored by: Bloomfield Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services
