Blog
Who’s in the House?…The Bird House, That Is
What cavity nesting birds use man-made bird houses? What months do birds nest and what materials do they use to build them? What can we learn about bird nests and their nesting behavior from our bird houses? The Land Trust's Bird Houses The Land Trust, with the help...
Preparing our Birdhouses for the Spring Migration
Do you love birds? Would you like to help NCLT get ready our bird boxes ready for the spring nesting season? We have two ways to get involved: Birdhouse Clean-out:We have 35 bluebird-type bird houses that need to be cleaned of last year's nests. Clean-out is a simple...
Getting Ready for Firefly Season
The Land Trust's Firefly Sanctuary has become one of our post popular preserves, and for good reason! Each summer, tens of thousands of fireflies light up the night sky in what is thought to be the first dedicated firefly sanctuary in the United States. Visitors from...
Losing a Giant
Written and photographed by Aaron Lefland. Click images to enlarge. Like many of the forests across Connecticut, the woods of New Canaan are fairly homogenous. Past disturbances to the landscape, both natural and anthropogenic, have created woodlands that are...
Ways to Preserve Nature While Hiking
Hiking is a great way to stay fit if you’re not comfortable going to the gym and you want to spend more time outdoors. There are thousands of miles of hiking trails scattered throughout the country and many local communities are creating more trails for people to use....
Fall Blooms at Silvermine-Fowler Preserve
The following photo essay was written and photographed by Susan Bergen. The wildflower meadow at Silvermine-Fowler is bursting with fall color and offering pollen and nectar to late season pollinators. The meadow, planted last fall by volunteers, features a...
If a Tree Falls in the Woods…
It’s amazing what one can learn about a tree when it falls in the forest, or in this case, on our preserve! We recently found a beautiful, old oak tree blocking the trail in our Watson-Symington Preserve, a few weeks after Hurricane Isaias. After ensuring the trail...
2020 Summer Steward Internship Program: Session 2, Week 3
Dear supporters of the New Canaan Land Trust, We have just finished week three of the Summer Steward Internship Program! This week was very exciting for multiple reasons; we got to go on two field trips, learn about different non-profits in Connecticut, and got even...
2020 Summer Steward Internship: Session 2 , Week 2
To Supporters of the New Canaan Land Trust: This week marks our halfway point of Session 2’s Summer Steward Internship Program! Everyone agrees that this session is flying by; we cannot believe there are only two weeks left. From the tropical storm we got on Tuesday,...
2020 Summer Steward Internship: Session 2 , Week 1
Dear supporters of the New Canaan Land Trust, This week, I finally got to meet and welcome our Session Two interns to the NCLT team! Jack Craig, Jeronimo Marsili, Lorenzo Marsili, Peter Murphy, and Calvin Stuart encompass our official Session Two team. Throughout our...
New Homes for Wood Ducks
This wood duck nesting box was put up last week at the Hupper Preserve pond on the GreenLink Trail between Irwin Park and the New Canaan Nature Center. A second wood duck box was installed at the Smith Preserve overlooking Jelliff Mill Pond. Both were donated by Jim...
Meet our Historian & Steward
Thanks to the generosity of everyone who attended our Summer Sculpture Soirée, the Land Trust was able to create two seasonal positions for college students whose summer plans were impacted by the pandemic. These positions are not only helping to address youth...
2020 Summer Steward Internship: Session 1 , Week 4
Dear Supporters of the New Canaan Land Trust, I cannot believe that this past week marks the ending of Session 1’s Summer Steward Internship Program! Although the time flew by incredibly fast, the amount of projects completed as well as the quality of friendships...
2020 Summer Steward Internship: Session 1, Week 3
Dear Supporters of the New Canaan Land Trust: We all cannot believe how quickly the Summer Stewardship program is flying by, as we only have one week left in our first session! The interns have been continuing to give it their all through their physical hard work and...
2020 Summer Steward Internship: Session 1, Week 2
Dear Supporters of the New Canaan Land Trust: Our NCLT Summer Steward Internship Program finished yet another amazing week, and we are shockingly now halfway through Session 1! This week, we had a mixture of challenging yet enjoyable trail maintenance and building,...
Announcing our Newest GreenLink Trail on Oenoke Ln
Today, we are thrilled to announce the opening of our newest GreenLink trail on Oenoke Lane. The new walking trail provides access to six acres of woodlands, protected by the land trust since the 1990s. About one quarter mile in length, the trail creates a convenient...
2020 Summer Steward Internship: Session 1, Week 1
Dear supporters of the New Canaan Land Trust, My name is Sophia Livecchi and I am the NCLT Summer Intern Program Coordinator for Summer 2020. It is with much pleasure to say that we have completed our first week of the Summer Steward Internship Program with an extreme...
Pollinators at our Doorstep
Written and photographed by Susan Bergen, NCLT Board Member This is National Pollinator Week, and a good time to reflect on why pollinators are important. How we can make our own yards and public spaces more pollinator friendly? NCLT’s wildflower meadow at Still Pond...
The Not So Shrinking Violet…
Written and photographed by Susan Bergen, NCLT Board Member There is an idiomatic expression that describes an extremely shy woman as a ‘shrinking violet.’ While violets may be miniscule and often passed over for more showy flowers, there is nothing shrinking about...
Keeping an Eye on our Preserves
Designed to blend in with their surroundings, you've probably never noticed the trail cameras that NCLT uses across our preserves. Yet these cameras are a critical tool in land management, and one that we've been using for years. NCLT maintains a small fleet of...
An Early Spring Update at the Fowler Meadow
Our first wildflowers, Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) are blooming now at the Fowler meadow. These bright yellow flowers offer pollen and nectar to early season pollinators such as azure butterflies, mining and other short-tongued bees, flower flies and soldier...