Avalonia Land Conservancy

Nature Study Hike and Picnic at Tefftweald
2015-10-18 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Tefftweald at Birchenturn, 282 Grindstone Hill Road, North Stonington, CT, 06359, United States
Join us at Tefftweald at Birchenturn Preserve, for a fall exploration of this 77-acre jewel of a preserve.
To work up an appetite, we’ll begin with a leisurely hike and explore the flora and fauna along the trail, which will take us along the edge of Wyassup Brook. Naturalist and photojournalist Bruce Fellman will highlight botanical and zoological treasures, from Mountain Laurels and Tulip Trees to migrating warblers and late-hopping Wood Frogs, along our meandering route. Since we’ll be out at the height of fall foliage season, this is sure to be a walk you’ll want to photograph; the leader will be happy to offer lots of helpful advice.
At the end of a mile-long trek, we’ll enjoy beverages and cheese, fruit and doughnuts; participants may also bring their own snacks to share. This year’s picnic takes place on Sunday, October 18, from 2 to 4, at the Tefftweald Preserve in North Stonington. We’ll meet at the parking area just off 282 Grindstone Hill Road.
Note: heavy rain postpones to the following Sunday, October 25. For more information and to register, contact Bruce Fellman, 860-599-4867, or bruce.fellman@yale.edu.

Groton's Fall Festival
2015-10-10 11:00 - 17:00 | Poquonnock Plains Park, Groton, CT, United States
Look for Avalonia’s booth at Groton’s Fall Festival. Be sure to stop by and say hello, learn about our ongoing projects and meet your fellow conservationists.
A community-wide event for artists, crafters, businesses and nonprofit organizations to display their wares and share information. Over 110 vendors participate and thousands of people from the local area (and some from the not-so-local area) attend.
http://www.mysticchamber.org/events/groton-s-fall-festival

Timothy Lester Homestead Tour
2015-10-04 13:00 | CT
Sunday, October 4th at 1pm.
Visit the 18th century Timothy Lester Homestead to learn about 3 Griswold properties on The National Register of Historic Places (Lat. Long.: 41.570433,-71.957000). Visitors may explore the site where local American Revolutionary War militia met and trained; Avalonia owned Mary & John Walton Meadow Preserve. Walk the grounds, view the exterior of the main “Garrison House”, carriage house, barn, cistern, old foundations and stonewalls and hear some of Griswold, CT’s history. The barn was recently featured on the cover of the Barns of Connecticut book!
Time: about 1.5 hours, Distance: 0.5 miles.
This program is also listed in The Last Green Valley’s WALKTOBER calendar as well as included in Griswold, CT’s Bicentennial calendar of events.

Celebrate the Sound
2015-09-27 10:00 - 12:00 | Birch Plain Creek Park, Thomas Road, Groton, CT, 06340, United States
Sunday, September 27
10:00am-12:00pm
no registration fee
All ages (all children must be accompanied by an adult)
Celebrate our local estuary in style! Join Mystic Aquarium educator and Avalonia volunteer MaryEllen Mateleska for a habitat exploration program. Search some of the unique plant and animal life that make Birch Plain Creek Park home. Nets and buckets will be provided but be prepared to bring shoes that can get dirty and be ready to have fun!
This salt marsh estuarine system lies along Birch Plain Creek on Thomas Road in Groton and offers an excellent habitat for a variety of animals. A gravel parking lot is provided and there are nice walking trails along the creek.

photo by Joellen Anderson
Photo of Creek and Map courtesy Town of Groton website

Celebrate National Public Lands Day
2015-09-26 15:00 | Preston Nature Preserve, Krug Road, Preston, CT, United States
Celebrate National Public Lands Day with a DPNC naturalist led walk on Avalonia’s Preston Nature Preserve on Krug Road, one of Avalonia’s twenty one trailed preserves, on Saturday, September 26 at 3p.m. (Lat. Long.: 41.535453, -71.977043).
Arrive early, 10am-5pm, to attend Preston’s 10th annual Scarecrow Festival to view and vote for your favorite scarecrow and stay after our 3pm walk to enjoy a Chicken BBQ dinner at the Preston City Congregational Church from 4 to 6:30pm. If you feel really creative, design, construct and submit your own scarecrow. Prizes are being awarded for the public voted best scarecrow.

North Stonington Harvest Festival
2015-09-26 11:00 - 16:00 | Hewitt Farm, 21 Wyassup Rd, North Stonington, CT, United States
Look for Avalonia’s booth at the North Stonington Harvest Festival. Be sure to stop by and say hello, learn about our ongoing projects and meet your fellow conservationists.
Enjoy wagon rides, animals, antique tractors, games, gardening information, fishing or hiking, and great food. Parking available in two areas: just inside the Hewitt Road entrance off Route 2, or a quarter mile down Hewitt Road from Ryder Road, where there is a marked parking area.
(rain date: Sunday, September 27)

Argia Cruise
2015-09-26 09:20 - 12:50 | Argia Mystic Cruises, 15 Holmes St # 7, Mystic, CT, 06355, United States
Mary Ellen Mateleska will be our Naturalist tour guide aboard the Argia.
BUY TICKETS

"Brunswick" Film Screening
2015-06-27 13:30 | Olde Mistick Village, 27 Coogan Blvd., Mystic, CT, 06355, United States

Board of Directors Meeting
2015-06-24 18:30 | Stephen Main Homestead, 1 Wyassup Road, North Stonington, CT, 06359, United States
*Location is now moving around- best call or email | 860-884-3500 or avalonialc@yahoo.com

Walk at Dodge Paddock & Beal Preserves
2015-06-13 10:00 - 11:00 | Dodge Paddock & Beal Preserves, 32 Wall Street, Stonington Borough, CT, 06378, United States
Walk at Dodge Paddock/Beal Preserves to discuss history of problems, plans and progress.

X-Town Trail Hike in Groton
2015-06-06 09:30 - 13:30 | Bluff Point State Park, Depot Rd, Groton, CT, 06340, United States
Join us for a 5- to 6-mile moderately paced journey from the Poquonnock River at Bluff Point State Park to Haley Farm State Park, continuing on to Beebe Cove on the Mystic River and through Town of Groton parks and land owned by the Groton Open Space Association (gosaonline.org) and Avalonia Land Conservancy (avalonialandconservancy.org). Minimum road walking. A bus will meet us at the end of the hike at Beebe Pond for our return to Bluff Point. Participants are responsible for their own beverage and snacks (no water available along the way). Toilet facilities are available at Bluff Point and Haley Farm.
Event # in Booklet: 062
Leader(s): Sidney F. Van Zandt, Dick Conant
Total Distance: 5 – 6 miles
Meeting Place: Meet at the Bluff Point State Park parking lot. Please arrive a little early for a prompt hike departure.
Rain Plan & Registration Details: Rain cancels.
Pre-registration is REQUIRED
Questions and/or participant registration (if applicable), contact: Sidney F. Van Zandt – (860) 572-5715 – svanzandt3@aol.com
Sponsored by: Groton Open Space Association (GOSA), Avalonia Land Conservancy, Inc. & Town of Groton Parks & Recreation Department

Board of Directors Meeting
2015-05-20 19:00 | Hatch Street Office, 6 Hatch Street, Mystic, CT, 06355, United States
