| Event Schedule | August 4 Workday at Towner Hill 9am-12pm
August 11 Workday at Towner Hill 9am-12pm
August 15 Hike at Pootatuck State Forest
October 2-5 Land Trust Alliance Rally in Hartford
October 10 Picnic at Kemp's Meadow in the Hadlow Preserve
We will send out emails with more information on these hikes as each date approaches. Call or email the office with questions, suggestions about other hikes you'd like Naromi to lead, or to register in advance.
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Volunteer Opportunities
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Are you looking for something to do outdoors? There are always opportunities for Community Service at Naromi Land Trust. High schoolers and others can earn Community Service. Please call the office if you are interested! The office phone number is 860-354-0260.
- Clearing brush & Invasives
- Mark Boundaries
- Trail Maintenance & Construction
- GPS spot and photos at all key property corners for Fee and Easement properties
- Adopt-a-trail for maintenance and status reports on that property
- Compile booklet of all area trails open the public
- Build Kiosks Towner Hill Preserve Irene's Woods
- Re-Build Footbridge Brookland Preserve
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Dear Friend of Naromi,
| Thank you so much to all of you who attended our Annual Meeting and who continually support Naromi. It was so wonderful to see such a varied and engaged group. We can accomplish so much conservation work with a community like ours!
Naromi has (finally!) received the funds from the CT Open Space Grant, awarded in 2007, dedicated to the acquisition of Towner Hill. We are celebrating with two volunteer workdays cutting a trail. Please look at the notice below for more information.
Many birders turn their attention to butterflies during the summer months, when the birds are not moving around as much and the blooming flowers are attracting all kinds of butterflies. We have included a selection of photos taken in Sherman to help you get to know these beautiful creatures.
We hope to see you at the Babbling Brook farm stand and at the hike on August 15!
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Annual Meeting For the Birds!
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Friday
evening July 9th an audience of over 125 gathered on the beach of the Lake
Mauweehoo Clubhouse to see and hear about birds of prey and celebrate Naromi's
accomplishments during the past year. James Eyring of Pace Environmental
 Center was a master of his enthusiastic audience of toddlers to octogenarians,
answering questions and keeping them all engaged for almost two hours with
facts and tales about his birds.
The birds were confronted with
unfamiliar territory. James said that they had never seen a sandy beach
and would ordinarily not look for prey over water. Letting them fly
would be a test of their loyalty to him.
 The
Gyr falcon gave a dramatic performance, soaring high over people, trees and
water with several passes over our heads before coming back to James and his
lure. The reward was a feast of a day-old chick. The Harris hawk was happy to come out from under his hood, but he took a look at all of the
crowd, the beach and the water, and for quite some minutes perched on the roof
of the clubhouse deciding whether it was a good idea to come back to sit on the
glove. Neither of these birds is native to our area so it was real treat
to see them close up.
 The
Kestrel and its dramatic markings used to be a common sight around here when
the land was open and the fields held its preferred prey of small
rodents, grasshoppers and other yummy insects. The last bird of the evening was a fluffy Barred owl; its
hooting is often heard in our woods. We learned that people find owls
cute because, like us, they have flat  faces and forward facing eyes that close
from the top down. We find eyes that close from the bottom up to be too
reptilian. James decided not to allow the Peregrine Falcon to fly. He just was too unsure about whether it would return to him.
If
you missed the evening with the birds, you may have other chances at events at Green Chimneys or with FrOGS at one of their meetings when James Eyring is
featured.
After
the bird presentation, Naromi Land Trust held its
Annual Business meeting with a summary of activities during the past
year. Elected to three year terms on the Board of Directors were Bill
Garrison, Michael Hertzberg, Margery Josephson, and Stephanie Warren.
Naromi
thanked our dedicated core of volunteers for all the work that they do. In particular Naromi would like to thank Chris Jellen for his work on the new
trail in the Mallory Preserve; Ian Gribble and Robin Zitter for their work
planting trees at Babbling Brook Farm; Pete Lescynski for his work installing
fencing at Babbling Brook Farm; Gay Wethered for painting the mural at Babbling
Brook Farm; John Allen, Pat Bailey, Dan Leary, Dan Larkin, and Dave Rogers for
their work clearing invasives at the Hadlow preserve; Robin Zitter, Louisa Yap,
and Mary Ann Vandenberg for organizing Sherman Grows Together; Sam &
Libby Edelman, Liz Mard, Roberta Linkletter, Catharine Cooke, Ian Gribble and
the rest of the Naromi Board for organizing the Fall Gala; and Angela
Dimmitt for organizing the annual Bird-a-thon.
 
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Hike at Pootatuck State Forest
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Pootatuck State Forest runs along the boundary of Sherman and New Fairfield. The hike will explore the network of trails that lead to a view of Squantz Pond and Lake Candlewood. This is a joint venture with New Fairfield Land Trust on Sunday morning August 15. A detailed reminder email will be sent a few days before. It will also be in the Citizen News on August 11.
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Butterflies in Sherman
Photos by Dennis Larkin
| All the photos below were taken this year, between May and July in Sherman. These butterflies can be seen in fields, woods or gardens. Have you seen them on your own property? Have you ever tried to identify the ones you have seen? The common names are included below each image and you can click on the image for more information.
American Lady
Appalachian Brown
Cabbage White
Great Spangled Fritillary
Hummingbird Moth
Little Wood Satyr
Monarch
Northern Pearly-eye
Painted Lady
Pearl Crescent
Question Mark
Red Admiral
Red Spotted Purple
Spicebush Swallowtail
Tiger Swallowtail
Wood Nymph
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WHIP Grant funds clearing at Strauss
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Naromi was awarded a Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) Program Grant that provides funding for work at the Strauss Preserve. Naromi is has been using the funds to clear trees and invasives from the expanded section of the Preserve (a portion the old Rhodes Farm, donated to Naromi by Iroquois Gas & Pipeline Co. in 2008). Much work has been done there, but much remains. There are opportunities for trail construction and installation after the clearing is done. Please contact the office, if you would like to volunteer to help with the clearing or on the trail work.
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Workdays: Towner Hill August 4 &11
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Naromi has two workdays planned at Towner Hill, August 4 and 11. Land Manager Hunter Brawley and Board member Chris Jellen will lead volunteers in cutting a trail in Naromi's newest preserve from 9 am-12 pm. Meet in the White Silo parking area. Please leave a message at the Naromi office (860-354-0260) so Hunter and Chris know to expect you.
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Available at Babbling Brook Farm...
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Fresh locally grown corn, tomatoes, garlic, cucumber, squash, and fresh eggs are all available at the Babbling Brook Farm stand!
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