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A Vernal Pool Adventure, Babcock Ridge Preserve

March 22, 2023 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

There’s no better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than to visit a woodland pond alive with the sounds and sights of newly awakened amphibians and invertebrates—and there’s no more exciting time to do so than at dusk, when the local vernal pools are a noisy chorus of quacking wood frogs and bell-ringing spring peepers. As the skies darken, we’ll follow our ears for about a half-mile to a group of special ponds at the center of the Babcock Ridge Preserve that were dry holes last autumn and are now filled to the brim with a variety of exciting creatures. In addition to frogs, we’ll likely see marbled salamander youngsters, fairy shrimp, giant predaceous diving beetles, and the stars of the show, the exquisite yellow-spotted salamanders. We’ll use nets to collect pond residents and examine them at close range before releasing them unharmed, and if we’re especially lucky, we might also hear the booming hoots of barred owls and the peents of woodcock.

Bring a flashlight and a headlamp, wear warm clothes and waterproof boots, and don’t forget your spirit of adventure on this family-friendly exploration of a fascinating part of the natural world.

Walk leader Bruce Fellman has been introducing people to vernal pool life for almost half-a-century. “As a kid, I liked to jump in puddles,” explained Bruce about his lifelong love of all things aquatic. “I guess I never grew up.”

Directions: Babcock Ridge

For more information, contact the leader at bruce.fellman@yale.edu or 860-599-4867.

To register for the adventure, which is free and open to the public but limited to 25 people, REGISTER HERE. This program tends to fill up quickly, but If there’s sufficient interest, we’ll try to schedule additional walks.

Details

Date:
March 22, 2023
Time:
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Event Categories:
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Venue

Babcock Ridge
113 Babcock Road
North Stonington, CT United States
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