Saturday Field Trips Continue into Summer

Estuary Explorations: Up the River
Banningwood Preserve, Lyme
June 10, 9 – 1 pm

Venture up the Connecticut River Valley to discover the rich variety of habitats at the 102-acre Banningwood Preserve in Lyme. The idyllic Roaring Brook (a tributary of Whalebone Cove) and its associated intact floodplain forest will be showcased on this excursion, but upland fields and forested habitats will also be explored. In addition, natural and human history are interwoven at the Banningwood Preserve, as quarries used for the construction of Gillette’s Castle, now seasonally flooded, provide breeding habitat for Spotted Salamanders.

Biologist Jim Arrigoni holds a snapping turtle.

Notable birds include Louisiana Waterthrush, Worm-eating Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Pileated Woodpecker. Following a picnic lunch in the heart of the Preserve, participants will have the option to examine a sequence of beaver ponds of varying ages, each performing a different ecological function and supporting a different suite of plant and wildlife species.

Register online today.