Connecticut Botanical Society Field Trip to Anguilla Brook Northern Headwaters Preserves.

Anytime of year, in my opinion, is the right time to visit an Atlantic white cedar swamp, but on Saturday October 5th all the environmental variables seemed to align, giving us a beautiful day for a “swamp walk”. A contingent from the Connecticut Botanical Society (CBS) along with Avalonia’s Director of Stewardship, Tobias Glaza, visited the Anguilla Brook Northern Headwaters Preserve in North Stonington, with the dual purposes of enjoying some weekend botanizing in this forested wetland and to evaluate the success of a recent small-scale Atlantic white cedar restoration project, one that CBS helped to fund.

The 150 seedlings planted in the spring, spread throughout a half-acre of newly created canopy openings, have firmly established themselves and appear to be settled in nicely for the winter. We plan to check in on them periodically to make sure that they are thriving and continue to be protected from deer and other hungry herbivores.

We had a great time with plenty of stops along the way to examine plants of interest! The collective expertise of this group led to productive discussions, the beginnings of a plant list, and made it even more clear that the Connecticut Botanical Society can serve as wonderful resource and partner to Avalonia Land Conservancy.

To learn more about this habitat type and other Avalonia restoration projects please contact stewardship@avalonialc.org