Naromi Land Trust

Forever. Sherman.
December 2014
Vol. 5, Issue 12

White-throated Sparrow - Photo by Dennis Larkin

In This Issue

Quick Links

Properties

Events

Coming Up...

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for details on the January trip to the Shepaug Dam to observe the bald eagles.

Members, Friends and Neighbors,

Naromi's annual membership drive is in full swing! Many thanks to everyone who has already contributed. If you haven't sent in your membership gift yet, click here to do it right now using naromi.org.

We have heard from several Members that the bitterns nesting in the Wimisink Wildlife Sanctuary are important to them and one of the many reasons they support Naromi's work: This summer we were delighted to learn that amongst the already bustling bird, amphibian, and waterfowl populations, a pair of nesting American Bitterns had fledged four offspring. Nesting Bitterns are unusual anywhere inland in Connecticut and are a sign of the robust health of this ecological area. Read more here.

Sending warm holiday greetings to you and your family from ours.

A few examples of your Membership Donation at work:

$5000 prints much needed trail maps for the many enthusiasts utilizing our trail system.

$1000 repairs and paints trail head kiosks at four preserves.

$500 helps Naromi clearly mark boundaries for one preserve.

$250 funds monitoring for one conservation easement.

$175 enables a Naromi hike for the community.

$100 takes care of an hour of field mowing and invasives eradication.

Weeds as Soil Indicators

Here is a new perspective on the weeds in your garden - they can tell you the type and conditions of the soil. Once you understand your soil, you can then amend problems with compost or other additives. For example if you have crabgrass, ground ivy, violets and/or jewel weed, you probably have wet soils. If you have sorrel, thistle or nettle, you probably have dry/sandy soils.

Here are a few websites for more info:
GardeningKnowHow.com, motherearthnews.com, homestead.org

Sparrows in Winter

With winter upon us, many people re-hang their bird feeders and begin the annual tradition of winter bird watching. Cardinals are the show-stealers at this time of year, but our "staff" photographer thought sparrows should get some attention this month. Thank you Dennis Larkin! Click on each photo for more information in each species.

Our area does an annual winter bird count on January 1st. Send an email to naromi@sbcglobal.net if you would like to participate and share your sightings.

Lyme Disease

Mice and other small mammals are the perfect creatures to carry the bacteria that cause Lyme Disease and other tick-borne diseases. They have short lives and therefore spend little energy building an immune system that could attack the bacteria that cause these diseases. Mice are easy for ticks to bite because they tend to have dense populations and they are active low to the ground where ticks lie in wait.

An indicator of future cases of Lyme is the acorn crop. If there are plentiful acorns, mice and the like will breed more and their off-spring will survive. This means the next year will be a good one for ticks, and the following year, there will be many, many nymphal ticks just waiting for a human to pass a tick-borne disease to. It looks like 2014 has been a great year for acorns, so we can assume that there will be a rise in Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in 2016. See more on this topic and other articles at the Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies.