News and Visitor Information at Deer Pond Farm
Deer Pond Farm Nature Preserve photo by Christy Bonaiuto
Deer Pond Farm covers 850 acres of rugged hardwood forest, meadows, and wetlands straddling the border of Connecticut and New York.
Situated between elevations of 900 and 1200 feet, there are many vistas to enjoy along the trails.
About 650 of its 850 acres are upland forest; 125 acres are forested wetlands; and 59 acres are meadow.
Deer Pond Farm includes a network of 15 miles of trails. The sanctuary is open year-round, seven days a week, from dawn to dusk. All trails are accessible from the visitor parking lot at 57 Wakeman Hill Road, Sherman, CT.
Over 150 species of birds have been documented here, including forest birds such as, Broad-winged Hawk, Scarlet Tanager, and Pileated Woodpecker as well as early successional specialists such as, American Woodcock, Eastern Towhee, and Chestnut-sided Warbler. There are two eBird hotspot locations: Deer Pond Farm (CT Audubon) and Deer Pond Farm, CT Audubon (Dutchess Co.). Thank you for reporting your bird observations.
Mammals include bobcat, coyote, several bat species, fisher and long-tailed weasel, beaver, black bear and, of course, deer.
Numerous amphibian species breed in its 11 vernal pools, including Wood Frog, Spring Peepers, and Spotted Salamanders. To date, two turtle and four snake species have been confirmed.
Deer Pond Farm Trail Map – click here.
Injured, “Abandoned” or “Orphaned” Wildlife – click here.
Please note: dogs, horses, fishing, swimming, camping, fires, hunting and collecting are not permitted.
Thank you for staying on the trails.
Deer Pond Farm Staff:
Cathy Hagadorn, Director (chagadorn@ctaudubon.org)
Lori Lichtenauer, Sanctuary Manager / Naturalist (llichtenauer@ctaudubon.org)
Christy Bonaiuto, Office Manager (cbonaiuto@ctaudobon.org)
Birds You Can See at Deer Pond Farm
Field Sparrow by Sharon Cuartero
Click on each month to view bird list:
Videos
Visit our YouTube channel, CTAudubonSociety to view videos from Deer Pond Farm and other centers.
2024 Year in Review Deer Pond Farm Nature Preserve
Bird Watching at Deer Pond Farm
PROGRAMS & EVENTS:
53 programs with 431 attendees
25 events with 609 participants
Increasing community presentations and school programming
850 VOLUNTEER HOURS
Forestry Project Volunteers at Deer Pond Farm
FORESTRY: 400 hardwood seedlings planted on the NY side of the nature preserve. Several species of oak, hickory and maple were planted with funds from a matching grant through the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Forestry Division.
Eastern Bluebird
Photo by Linda Miller
NEST BOX MONITORING & other avian & wildlife research projects:
Purple Martins: 6 nesting pairs, 4 nests successfully fledged 17 chicks. 13 banded
Eastern Bluebird: 12 nest boxes fledged 35 birds from 76 eggs – some nest boxes with three clutches
MOTUS (Wildlife Tracking): 4 species, and 12 individual birds pinged the receiver station
Wood Thrush: two birds outfitted with MOTUS tags by CT DEEP Wildlife Division
Dr. Min Huang. (CAS Pomfret WOTH banded with MOTUS pinged DPF)
COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Several Plein Air Painter groups and NY/CONN Hiking groups coming to DPF Quarterly. Continued partnerships with Great Hollow Nature Preserve, Friends of Great Swamp and other environmental organizations.
POLLINATOR GARDEN: 6th year, High Bush Blueberry, Summersweet, Meadowsweet, Sneezeweed thriving. Lupine is doing well here at higher elevation. Clustered mountain mint with long season blooms supports pollinators and is deer resistant.
Lupine in Pollinator Garden at Deer Pond Farm
FOOD PLOTS: 5th year of planting annuals to support pollinators and migrating birds. 3 areas of half an acre each planted with Millet, Sorghum, Zinnia, and Cosmos.
INVASIVE PLANT MANAGEMENT: Year three of three completed to address Phragmites in multiple areas with professional invasive plant vendor. Stiltgrass and Mugwort being mowed and treated. Garlic Mustard, Purple Loosestrife, Japanese Hop and others being managed by hand. Japanese Barberry and Oriental Bittersweet are also high priority. A large Tree of Heaven (an invasive tree and host plant of invasive Spotted Lanternfly) was removed from one of the forestry sites. It was almost 12” in diameter. Over 50 Tree of Heaven seedlings were also treated and removed here.
WILDLIFE CALLS: Over the past year, our team has responded to more than 50 calls and email inquiries from community members seeking help for injured animals or young birds. While Deer Pond Farm is not a licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility and is not equipped to provide direct care, we do our best to guide each inquiry by connecting people with licensed rehabilitators and organizations that can offer the appropriate assistance.
Check out our 2023 Year in Review
Check out our 2022 Year in Review
