Attention private landowners and residents of the Lyme Forest Block and Eightmile River Watershed! Help us conserve the land and birds you treasure.
Audubon Connecticut and many area partners invite you to learn about birds, woodlands, and watershed-friendly habitat management in your area. With the power of knowledge, you can make a difference. Please join us for the following upcoming events and invite your neighbors to take part in these learning opportunities too. Click on each event link to learn more.
BIRD WALKS
- Sunday, March 24, 2019, from 8:00-10:00 a.m. - Walk at Sheepskin Hollow Preserve (East Haddam, CT)
- Saturday, April 13, 2019, from 8:00-10:00 a.m. - Walk at Lay Preserve (Old Lyme, CT)
- Saturday, April 27, 2019, from 8:00-10:00 a.m. - Walk at Hartman Park (Lyme, CT)
- Saturday, May 11, 2019, from 8:00-10:00 a.m. - Walk at Nehantic State Forest (East Lyme, CT)
- Saturday, May 25, 2019, from 8:00-10:00 a.m. - Walk at Zemko Pond (Salem, CT)
- Saturday, June 1, 2019, from 8:00-10:00 a.m. - Walk at Babcock Pond (Colchester, CT)
PRESENTATIONS
- Wednesday, October 17, 2018, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. - It Takes a Community: Managing Connecticut's Woodlands with Birds in Mind (Salem, CT)
- Tuesday, November 13, 2018, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. - Enhancing Habitat for Songbirds and Beneficial Insects (Lyme, CT)
- Wednesday, January 16, 2019, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. - Birds Bring Benefits (Old Lyme, CT)
- Thursday, February 21, 2019, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. - Gardening with Birds in Mind (Colchester, CT)
- Wednesday, March 13, 2019, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. - Threats to Woodland-Nesting Birds (Niantic, CT) - Snow Date: March 18th
- Wednesday, April 17, 2019, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. - What Birds Need Year-Round & Important Bird Areas (East Haddam, CT)
TALKS AND WALKS
The following education events, except for the Advocacy Workshop, will include an indoor component followed by an outdoor component. Outdoor components may include a field trip to a restoration site, a guided walk, or an exercise to familiarize participants with native plants. Participants should plan on spending roughly an hour outdoors.
- Saturday, May 18, 2019, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Advocacy 101 (Old Lyme, CT)
- Sunday, June 2, 2019, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Restoration Ecology Talk and Walk (Old Lyme, CT)
- Saturday, June 15, 2019, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Bird-Friendly Communities Talk and Walk (Salem, CT)
- Saturday, June 29, 2019, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Watershed Management Talk and Walk (Lyme, CT)
- Saturday, July 13, 2019, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Managing Woodland Habitat Talk and Walk (Colchester, CT)
- Saturday, July 27, 2019, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Invasive Plant Talk and Walk (East Haddam, CT)
EXPLORE AND RESTORE DEMONSTRATION DAYS
- Saturday, August 10, 2019, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Trail Blazing at Bulkeley Hill Preserve (Colchester, CT)
- Wednesday, August 21, 2019, from 9:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. - Japanese Stiltgrass Management Along the Eightmile River (East Haddam, CT)
- Saturday, September 7, 2019, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. - Alf & Sylvia Bingham Preserve Invasive Removal (Salem, CT)
- Saturday, September 21, 2019, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Removing Invasives in Hartman Park (Lyme, CT)
- Saturday, October 19, 2019, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. - Removing Invasives at the Olde Field Preserve (East Haddam, CT)
Lyme Forest Block Stewardship Pledge
Are you planning to or currently taking action to help make the Lyme Forest Block a bird-friendlier place? We want to recognize your amazing commitment to conservation. Please Take the Lyme Forest Block Stewardship Pledge.
Resources & Information - About Forest Habitat and Bird Conservation
Improving the Quality of Connecticut’s Forests for Birds and Wildlife
Learn how Audubon Connecticut is working to stem the decline of forest birds through our forest conservation efforts across the state and with partners throughout the Atlantic Flyway
Discover Plants for Birds
This helpful and fun-to-use resource helps you find bird-friendly native plants—which also save you water, time, and money. Just enter your zip code to discover which plants are best for birds in your area.
Take back our native forests and habitats for the benefit of birds, other wildlife, and people. Learn about the invasive plant species in Connecticut and how to eradicate them. Visit the CT Invasive Plant Working Group website today.
Sources That Offer a Selection of Native Plants
The nurseries and garden centers listed below are likely good local places to start to find native plants near the Lyme Forest Block area and in Connecticut. It's a good idea to visit their websites and call ahead to verify native stocks.
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Acer Gardens 447 Winthrop Road Deep River, CT |
Holdridge Home & Garden Showplace 749 Colonel Ledyard Highway Ledyard, CT 06339 |
Riggio's Garden Center 136 Westbrook Road Essex, CT 06426 |
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Ballek’s Garden Center 90 Maple Avenue East Haddam, CT 06423 |
Ladd's Garden Center 671 Windham Road South Windham, CT 06266 |
Smith Acres 4 West Main Street Niantic, CT 06357 |
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Broken Arrow Nursery 13 Broken Arrow Road Hamden, CT 06518 |
Native 2940 Redding Road Fairfield, CT 06824 |
Town & Country Nurseries 1036 Saybrook Road Haddam, CT 06438 |
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Earthtones, LLC 212 Grassy Hill Road Woodbury, CT 06798 |
Natureworks 518 Forest Road Northford, CT 06472 |
Search for garden centers who carry American Beauties Native Plants® |
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Hart's Greenhouse & Florist Four locations: Canterbury, Brooklyn, Norwich, and Preston, CT |
Paul's & Sandy's Too, inc Hardware & Garden Center 93 East High Street East Hampton, CT 06426 |
Search for retailers who carry Summer Hill Nursery plants - a CT wholesale nursery that grows a large selection of natives |
Native Plant Sales
- Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District Native Plant Sale - Spring
- Menunkatuck Audubon Society Native Plant Sale - Spring
Click here to open the map
More About the Project
In 2016, Audubon Connecticut, in partnership with the State of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (CT DEEP), recognized the Lyme Forest Block as a landscape-scale Important Bird Area (IBA). This 60,000-acre block includes wooded areas in six towns in southeast Connecticut (East Haddam, Colchester, Lyme, Old Lyme, East Lyme, and Salem) and overlays much of the Eightmile Watershed. The woodlands in this region contain habitat that is important to the Cerulean Warbler and Wood Thrush, the worldwide populations of which are declining drastically, and supports a variety of other woodland-nesting birds identified in Connecticut’s Wildlife Action Plan.
To strengthen the conservation of this area and halt bird population declines, the Lyme Forest Block Conservation Project launched as a dedicated effort to engage people in the stewardship of a critical 1,200-acre area in and around the Lyme Forest Block IBA. Audubon, in collaboration with the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Watershed Coordinating Committee (ERWSCC), the Lyme Land Conservation Trust, the Town of Lyme, the Old Lyme Land Trust, the Salem Land Trust, the East Lyme Land Trust, the East Haddam Land Trust, the Colchester Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and other organizations, have joined forces to build awareness and promote stewardship of the Eightmile River, the Lyme Forest Block, and the bird species these habitats support.
This goal will be achieved through four program activities: 1) bird walks and presentations; 2) training workshops; 3) work days; and 4) a web page resource. By offering these education, training, and outreach activities, local landowners, community members, and visitors will gain an appreciation for natural resources, feel more connected with their lands, area preserves, and waterways, and actively participate in conservation efforts.
Together, the project partners and the Lyme Forest Block IBA community will bring about positive conservation results that will benefit the birds, other wildlife, and people throughout the area.
Questions: please contact Genevieve Nuttall, Audubon Connecticut Bird Conservation Programs Associate, by email.
Lyme Forest Block IBA - Bird Species of Concern
Thank You to Our Lyme Forest Block Conservation Project Partners & Funders!
Partners
- Audubon Connecticut
- Colchester Land Trust
- Connecticut College
- East Haddam Land Trust
- Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Watershed
- Lyme Land Conservation Trust
- The Nature Conservancy
- Old Lyme Land Trust
- Salem Land Trust
- Town of Lyme
Funders
- Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut
- Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Watershed
- Jeniam Foundation
- National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
More ways you can help, right now
Get Involved
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Visit Our Centers
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Through land stewardship, science, education, and advocacy, Audubon Connecticut works across the state to preserve habitat and protect bird species that are of state, national, and global concern.
