Naromi Land Trust
January 2011 - Vol 2, Issue 1
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Volunteer!
| | Are you looking for something to do indoors to benefit your favorite land trust? There are always opportunities for high schoolers and others to earn Community Service. Please call the office if you are interested! The office phone number is 860-354-0260. |
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Dear Friend of Naromi,
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The winter months can be a quiet time for land trusts in our area, while under a thick blanket of snow. Conditions make it difficult to carry out stewardship projects on our properties, but there are acquisition projects and issues that can be addressed any time of the year.
We hope to report on the details of some of those projects as they are resolved. In the meantime, we have included reports on the skiing/snowshoeing excursion, Kestrel boxes, and the plight of bats in the Northeast.
We are also hoping to organize another trek (or two) at Hadlow fields during February, so keep you eyes peeled for another notice with further details.
We would love to hear from you-what topics would you like us to focus on in this forum? What kinds of events would you like Naromi to organize when the weather is warmer?
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Expedition at Hadlow Fields
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 With well over 20 inches of snow on the ground a group of ten intrepid people gathered on Cozier Hill Road to enjoy the spectacular views atop Hadlow Fields. There were seven snowshoers and three cross-country skiers. Cocoa, cookies and popcorn were served nearby to warm everyone up after an hour and a half long trek. There are more photos in the News & Events section of our website. Thank you to David Hopkins for the wonderful photos!
We may organize another trek soon to capitalize on the current snow, but are tentatively planning another outing on Sunday, February 20, depending on the snow conditions. These will likely be rather short notice, so let us know if you want to be added to a list of interested persons so we can be sure to let you know the details.
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Kestrel Box at Hadlow Fields
|  This is a photo of a kestrel box at Hadlow fields. It was installed last summer by a volunteer. Here is an excerpt from BirdWatching-Bliss.com: American Kestrels are cavity nesters. They do not excavate their own nest cavities, but use natural cavities or old holes created by woodpeckers (mainly flickers). There are many places where natural cavities or old woodpecker holes are limited. Building a Kestrel nest box is a good way to help the local population. In most cases, if you build it, they will come.
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Membership Campaign Continues
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Thank you so much to all of you who have renewed your membership or become new members of Naromi Land Trust in the past few months. We are so grateful for the overwhelming response to our membership appeal. We continue to receive contributions, so please do renew today if you haven't already!
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Bats in Connecticut
|  Bats are an important part of a healthy ecosystem because of their insect control abilities (a single brown bats can eat 1200 mosquitoes in one hour). Here is a fact sheet from the CT DEP on bats.
Bats are having a hard time these days. Some of you may have heard about this issue, but many have not. During the past four years, bats in the Northeast have been devastated by white-nose syndrome or WNS, killing more than a million bats. Research is currently being done to determine the cause(s) of WNS and possible treatments. Here is a wealth of information on WNS from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Bats seen flying during the day or clinging to the sides of buildings during the winter could be signs of a WNS infected animal, whether or not the characteristic fungus on the nose is visible. If you see any bats outdoors during the winter months, try to record the date, location, what you saw and take digital photos if possible, then contact Naromi or Christina Kocer, DEP Wildlife Division Technician..
WNS has been confirmed throughout Litchfield and Hartford counties. Naromi has been in contact with the DEP about individual distressed bats in Sherman, but they have not been found to be suffering from WNS.
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Please share this Naromi newsletter with your friends by using the forward button below. We welcome comments from you about what you would like to see discussed here and what you think we are doing right, or wrong! We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
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