Forest and Park Association http://www.ctwoodlands.org

Geoffrey Meissner – [email protected] Please reach out to me if you have questions or need assistance!! References to CT Walk Books (East or West Edition) WB-E or WB-W.

Cub Scouts:  Easier with activities interesting to younger scouts including nature or history.  Activities: . World Water Monitoring Day (Sept 18, but year round water activities). . Picnics - Bring camp stoves – cook up noodles or hot dogs for lunch. . Scavenger hunts, especially in state parks . , letter boxing, or map and compass activities . Museums – Goodwin Conservation Ctr (Hampton, CT – Natchaug WB-E p185 & Airline trail), American Legion St Park (WB-E p6), Sessions Woods (WB-E p319) . Combine a hike / swim (Gay City, Cockaponset, Scofield, AT) . Beaver houses – – White Memorial  Possible Hikes: . Sleeping Giant (WB-W p257) is wonderful (castle, originally a volcano) - for cubs avoid blue/white trails, favor green, yellow, violet . Regicides trail (WB-E p239) – Entrance across the street from Camp Whiting OR in New Haven by West Rock up to view, Judges cave and air ducts for Wilber Cross Parkway. . North Regicides / Quinnipiac intersection (York Mtn) is beautiful spot for viewing large birds (Coopers Hawks, turkey vultures) (WB-W p248) . (Mt Sanford Loop – WB-W p237) – loop with great views, streams. . (WB-E p19) – Caves, lakes, trail loops

Boy Scouts:  Hikes and Activities: o CT National Guard camp in Lyme CT has a land navigation course (Nayantaquit trail –WB-E P97). Orienteering MB. o Orienteering at . o to Heublein tower, or Castle Craig, or Plainville to Pinnacle Rock (Nike Missile base). o Deer Lake - Chatfield Trail (WB-E p83) passes through – Fatman’s squeeze. o Eagle Scout Projects – Numerous opportunities – Contact CFPA to get in touch with trail maintainers.  Merit Badge Options: o Lone Pine Trail (WB-W p96) 10 loop trail o Sleeping Giant loops (WB-W p257). Many cross trails and opportunities for loops. o American Legion St Forest (WB-W p15) – Many loop trails, views, camping opportunities o (WB-E p107) 10 or 20 miles – Connect to Gay City trails, and Case Mtn  Youth Camping opportunities in CT at many state parks and forests o Sleeping Giant (Cascade Trail area) o Mohawk trail area (above the ski area - lean-tos) o Cheshire lean-tos on Quinnipiac trail (near YMCA camp)  Caves: o Rattlesnake Mountain, Farmington – Will Warton’s cave o Tory’s Cave on Tunxis and Natchaug trails. o Leatherman’s cave off the Mattatuck Trail near o Judges Cave on Regicide’s

Tyler Mill Conservation Area

Interpretive Trail Guide

Prepared for the Town of Wallingford Conservation Commission By M. Kasinskas, Ferrucci & Walicki, LLC 2011

SPECIAL NOTE

This guide makes extensive use of text by Lisa M. Toman’s 1999 “Tyler Mill Trails: A Guide and Natural History”, available at the Wallingford Public Library and the Environmental Planning Office, Town Hall. Ms. Toman wished that her work might one day be used as part of a guidebook for Tyler Mill.

Red Maple

Swamp

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How to Use This Interpretive Trail Guide

The Tyler Mill Interpretive Trail is a 1.25 mile walk through the southern portion of the Town of Wallingford’s Tyler Mill Conservation Area. The Interpretive Trail follows portions of the Red, Blue, and Green Trails, and an unblazed portion of Tyler Mill Road. Numbered items within this guide correspond with numbers along the trail.

Different items are best viewed at different times of the year, so be sure to come back and hike the trail again in every season!

Introduction

The Tyler Mill Conservation Area, sun, wind, and precipitation, and by approximately 900 acres, contains a human land use. variety of terrain and habitats. It is an area of rugged topographic features, The animals most frequently seen in the with elevations of valleys, hills, and forest depend on its food resources. ridges varying from 130 feet to 380 feet These include deer, wild turkey, flying above sea level. Much of the area squirrels, gray squirrels, and chipmunks contains second growth forest, and that feed on seeds, acorns, and nuts. there are about 260 acres of various Many songbirds feed on the insects that types of inland wetlands. The Muddy live in the forest canopy. Predatory River, a tributary of the Quinnipiac birds like hawks and owls hunt as River, flows south through Tyler Mill. effectively in the forest as they do in the fields and brushy area. The Tyler Mill area is a cross section of the Muddy River drainage basin, Approximately 575 acres of Tyler Mill is including the river itself, floodplains, woodland, with trees ranging in age valley bottom, and uplands. Keeping from seedlings and saplings to mature undeveloped open space along the river specimens over eighty years old. This is crucial to the protection of the river area was forested when English settlers and its watershed. arrived in the 1600's, but was soon cleared for fields and pastures. When Tyler Mill is valuable for its diverse the farms at Tyler Mill were purchased habitats, including forest, traprock by the New Haven Water Company in ridges, agricultural fields, wetlands, the late 1800s, the fields soon reverted watercourses, and the ecotones, or to shrubs and saplings, then later to margins, between them. Different plant larger trees. Some portions of this and animal groups are adapted to second growth forest have been logged particular habitats that are suitable for in the last hundred years, resulting in them. Habitats are shaped by geological areas of third growth forest. history, the environmental influences of

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1. Old Tyler Mill Road that makes a lasting wall. Nor did they enclose all fields with stone walls Tyler Mill Road was originally a main because it was all they knew how to do. road to Tyler's Mill. Note the stone walls Stone walls were constructed because on each side of this road. There were stone was a good choice of material. once several houses along Tyler Mill Wood was often scarce after the Road south of the Interpretive Trail, as original clearing of the land, and a evidenced by a profusion of myrtle, now wooden fence would eventually rot and seen as invasive, growing in several have to be replaced. Although a stone patches. It was originally planted and wall was labor intensive, once complete has since run wild. it would have been practically permanent, and it made use of The road was paved in the 1980s and materials all too available. Occasional closed to traffic in the 1990s. Some old strands of barbed wire can be found paved areas are still visible. sticking out of large, old trees. Barbed wire indicates that land was still farmed after 1870. Bark can grow right over a 2. Wire & Walls wire strung to a young tree, and years later the wire will seem to coming out Wire fences and stonewalls are of the middle of the tree itself. commonly found throughout Connecticut’s woodlands. Farmers built Chipmunks become very active in these remnants of ’s March and are often seen in the vicinity agricultural past during an era when the of stone walls or brush piles. These land was almost completely cleared of lively little rodents scamper around forest and used to grow crops or checking out last autumn's food caches. pasture livestock. The stones were left Their chattering call can be mistaken for by retreating glacial ice that covered that of a bird. Connecticut about 18,000 years ago. As temperatures rose and the ice sheet melted, stones that had been pushed or picked up by the ice were deposited along with soil in a layer known as “till”.

The English colonists who began to farm here over 300 years ago built stone walls to divide their fields from those of their neighbors and to keep livestock out of crops. They did not do it just to remove the stones they found, for making a simple pile would have been easier than the proper balancing act

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Keep a count of wire fences and stone use history can also play a role – walls as you walk. especially in New England. It is common to find different forest types on different sides of a stone wall, which 3. Corduroy suggests the land was abandoned at different times or was used for different The road of parallel sticks in this area is purposes (such as pasture vs. woodlot). called corduroy, which is commonly One side of this wall is cedar forest, used by loggers to protect wet soils while the other is brushy understory. As during timber harvests. This corduroy you walk through Tyler Mill, keep an was built to improve the trail, but it eye out for changes in the forest serves the same purpose of keeping whenever you see a wall! feet and wheels out of the mud. The reasons why particular trees grow where they do are many and complex. 4. Old Red Cedar One reason has to do with each place's unique micro-climate (elevation, The forest in this area contains many exposure to precipitation, sun, and dead and dying eastern red cedar trees wind). Another reason has to do with that can not survive in the shade that the soil type and the kind of bedrock has been created by the taller oaks and underneath. Wetness or dryness of the maples. After an agricultural field or soil and proximity to water are pasture is abandoned, fast-growing important factors, as is the presence of cedar trees will often take hold first. seed bearing trees. Previous use of the Such tree species are called “pioneers”. land whether it was cultivated, hayfield, or pasture, also figures in the equation. Hardwood trees such as maples and oaks are slower to become established, 6. Intermittent Stream but grow taller than the cedars. The sun-loving cedars begin to die once they Streams that flow all year, such as the are in the shade. This process is called Muddy River, are called “perennial”. “forest succession”. Each stage of Tyler Mill also contains many forest succession will attract different “intermittent streams” which flow wildlife species. during the wet seasons of the winter, spring, and early summer when the Cedar wood is quite durable and rot water table is high. They are usually dry resistant, so it is prized for fence posts. in summer and in autumn. Observing such differences is one reason why it is interesting to walk the same paths in 5. Opposite Sides of Wall different seasons. The trees found in a forest can be a result of the soils or climate, but land The Muddy River, its tributaries, and the

3 intermittent streams of Tyler Mill are hornbeam, and hop hornbeam form the important habitat because they provide elements of the understory. In the a strong food chain foundation for middle of the slope, where there is less invertebrates like flies, beetles, and available moisture, there will be scarlet crustaceans that feed larger animals oak, black oak, white oak, pignut such as salamanders, frogs, toads, hickory, red maple, and sweet birch. snakes, turtles, birds, muskrats, Maple-leaved viburnum will again be in raccoons, and river otters. Scientists the shrub layer. At the top of the hill will often study intermittent streams for where soils are thin and wind early signs of water pollution in a river evaporates moisture, there is a system. predominance of chestnut oak, scarlet oak, black oak, and some red maple.

7. Wolf Tree This slope also contains seasonally moist areas that are loved by both On the downhill side of the trail is a Christmas fern (with its leathery- large sugar maple tree called a “wolf looking, stocking-shaped dark green tree.” Throughout the Tyler Mill forest, fronds) and more feathery hayscented there are scattered wolf trees, which fern. are mature, tall trees with broad crowns. These trees grew up in open pastures, were left by the farmers to 9. Ecotones shade their farm animals, and are now surrounded by smaller, younger trees The old farm road that runs along a growing on the formerly open lands. portion of Tyler Mill’s Blue and Green They are the “lone wolf” trees of the Trails runs along the borders of several forest. Wolf trees are often black oak, different habitat types. white oak, red oak, and sugar maple.

8. Slope With Ferns

Which trees grow where depends on several conditions. Location on a slope and the availability of soil moisture are significant. Low on the slope where moisture is retained and readily available, red maple, sweet birch, white ash, and red oak predominate, and the trees here are likely to reach their greatest size. Maple-leaved viburnum, flowering dogwood, witch hazel,

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These marginal areas (between various Fragrant Dutchmen's breeches habitat types) are call “ecotones”. proliferate on the rocky slopes of Roadsides, hedgerows, shrubby edges traprock ridges. These white pantaloon- of fields, thickets, wetlands, and stream shaped flowers hang on an arching borders all combine elements of leafless stem like tiny bloomers set out different habitats. Such places provide to dry on a miniature clothesline. This attractive aspects of color and food wildflower is in the same family as the sources for various species, so they are familiar pink garden favorite, bleeding likely to be used by a variety of animals heart. Their feathery leaves are quite and their predators. similar. Bloodroot is a white flower of April. It is a low-growing small flower Ecotones tend to be richer than a single with eight to ten petals arranged habitat by itself. For example, a hayfield around an orange center. If picked, the or a forest contains particular plants, so stem and roots yield a reddish juice it provides protection and food to used by Native Americans as a dye and specific animals. The shrubby margin insect repellent. Its scientific name, between fields and forest attracts more Sanguinaria canadensis, comes from the species of animals than either of the Latin word for "bleeding". other habitats alone. This idea also applies to other habitats, such as Also found on rocky ridges and slopes is wetlands. the beautiful red and yellow flower of the wild columbine, with its striking spurred and curving petals and colored 10. Traprock Ridges sepals. The nodding, bell-like flowers attract long-tongued insects. Wild Evidence of the ancient geological past ginger, with a dark red flower blooming is still visible in bedrock outcrops to the close to the base of the plant, and colt's south of the Interpretive Trail. foot, with a dandelion-like flower, are other common spring blooms. The Tyler Mill Blue Trail follows a kind of traprock ridge that is the eroded remnant of a volcanic dike, a stream of hot magma that intruded across planes of sedimentary rock and then hardened into huge traprock lumps. Other ridges formed this way include Sleeping Giant, East Rock, and West Rock. These traprock ridges are similar in appearance to the , which consists of basalt layers formed on the surface.

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If you hike quietly, and are very lucky, beauty they provide and are crucial you may see an owl in Tyler Mill, biologically for the diversity of plant and especially in late January or early animal species they support. February. Wetlands are also the preferred habitat of many amphibians and some reptiles. 11. Complex Forest Diversity Toads, frogs, newts, and salamanders are either primarily aquatic or depend The forest on the north side of the trail on an aquatic environment for part of contains a complex mix of deciduous their life cycle. Turtles and snakes also and coniferous tree species in a small need access to wetlands. Near the end area, including eastern hemlock, red of March, turtles begin to emerge from oak, sugar maple, hickory, black birch, hibernation. On warm days they can be and American beech. Several of the seen sunning themselves on floating dead or dying large hemlock trees logs or on rocks near wetlands. A wide contain cavities, providing roosts and variety of waterfowl, wading birds, and habitat for bird species to occupy next songbirds are associated with wetlands. to the large adjacent wetland. While Some spend their lives in wetland small in size, this area in between the environments, while others use trail and the wetland gives a glimpse of wetlands primarily for breeding or the complex mixture of species that feeding. would have been present across much of Tyler Mill’s forest prior to European Tyler Mill contains three wetland types: settlement. swamp, floodplain, and bog. In all, there are approximately 260 acres of inland wetlands at Tyler Mill. 12. Wetlands

Wetlands abound in New England, and they have several functions important to environmental quality, including flood control, water table recharge, pollution filtration, oxygen production, and reduction of harmful nitrogen compounds. The presence of wetlands at Tyler Mill has limited past agricultural use in certain places and is part of the reason (along with the presence of the Muddy River) that the area is considered a potential site for a public water supply reservoir. Wetlands are important aesthetically for the scenic

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13. Homestead & Autumn Colors wolf tree has strands of old barbed wire imbedded in it, so you know that it once The cluster of large sugar maple trees in served as the boundary of a pasture. this area is a clue that there are old stone foundations nearby. Sugar Like all trees, this one will eventually maples were commonly planted around die. But even old, dead trees, called colonial homes and barns to provide snags, have an important function in the shade and sap for springtime syrup forest: They provide insect food for making. The stone walls that you’ve woodpeckers, and the woodpecker been seeing as you hike the trail marked holes serve as nesting cavities for some the boundaries that were once a part of birds and for flying squirrels. this farm. 15. Wetland Seep New England’s hardwood forests have a different look in autumn as the trees A wetland seep crosses the trail in this begin their annual color changes. If you location, appearing as a wetland to the walk in successive weeks, you will note east and a small watercourse to the which trees first exchange their green west. These areas and the small leaves for more showy colors. Reds, seasonally ponded area next to the trail oranges, and yellows predominate. are all attractive to many amphibians. Most oak leaves turn reddish with bronze or brown tones, but the scarlet Salamanders, frogs, newts and toads oak turns very scarlet. White oak, silver spend most of their lives in or near maple, and gray birch leaves turn water. Salamanders have streamlined orange, while shagbark hickory, sweet bodies and long tails, while frogs are birch and yellow birch, American beech, tail-less and have well-developed hind tulip poplar, and sassafras turn various legs for jumping. Salamanders may be shades of gold and yellow. The needles seen in ponds during the breeding of the tamarack turn yellow at this time season but may also be found under as well because, although it is a pine streamside logs or rocks. Toads breed in tree, the tamarack is deciduous, and its shallow water but spend their lives in needles drop. woodlands, where they eat earthworms and insects. Frogs found at Tyler Mill Sugar maple leaves turn shades of deep range from the tiny, one-inch spring red, yellow, and orange all on the same peeper to the six to eight inch bullfrog. tree. Be sure to come back to this part The spring peeper makes a well-known of Tyler Mill next autumn to see the cricket-like call. The bullfrog's call is colors! "jug-o-rum." A careful observer in the swamps may see pickerel frogs, wood 14. White Ash With Wire frogs, and green frogs, too. The green Notice the very large white ash tree frog makes a "gung" sound like a with large, wide-spreading limbs. This plucked rubber band.

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16. Oak Forest area bears silent witness that this area was once farmland, fields, and pastures. Summer is a good time to identify trees because the leaves are the most obvious clue. Trees can be identified by examining the shape of the tree, by autumn leaf color, by looking at acorns, by bark color and texture, or by analyzing twigs, but looking at the leaf shapes is far easier. With a good field guide to trees and shrubs, it is possible to learn the various species at Tyler Mill. Binoculars are useful for seeing the leaves of tall trees.

This area contains a deciduous forest dominated by oak trees. The forest floor under an oak is often rather bare 17. Mixed Hardwood Forest because it is covered with a thick carpet of decaying oak leaves. Oak leaves in This “mixed hardwood” stand contains a particular break down very slowly and diverse mix of sugar maple, red maple, prevent seeds from reaching the soil white oak, red oak, shagbark hickory, below and germinating. Oak leaves white ash, black cherry, and some red contain tannin and tend to make the cedar. Forest types such as this are soil underneath quite acidic. commonly home to the white-tailed deer, the largest animal at Tyler Mill. Among plants that do manage to establish themselves are such spring Deer browse on twigs, grass, shrubs, wildflowers as Solomon's seal, false apples, acorns, and bark, but they will Solomon's seal, wild oats, pink lady's also eat ornamental plantings in slipper, hepaticas and anemones. There residential areas and do damage to are also bunches of Indian pipes, apple orchards if populations are partridgeberry, and white wood aster. squeezed by development into ever- Non-flowering plants that survive this smaller parcels of remaining open habitat are club mosses and such ferns space. Deer feed at dusk, at night, and as bracken, Christmas fern, common at dawn, so look for them in hayfields polypody, marginal wood fern, hay and open areas. Deer also bed down at scented fern, and New York fern. night in tall grass, so you might see flattened spots in a pasture, their Like other areas along the Interpretive unmade beds. They spend their days in Trail, the network of stone walls in this dense thickets. You may occasionally frighten a hidden deer into flight as you

8 walk down the trail. You will be even seasonal pools-dry up by summer, but more startled than the deer when you are a good place for amphibian eggs hear the sudden commotion of because they have fewer predators than snapping branches. Probably all you will ponds and streams. see is the trademark white tail raised in alarm as the elegant animal bounds away. 19. Duck Box

The large wooden box hung on a tree by 18. Vernal Pools the river has been installed to attract wood ducks. Look for ducks and other The small wet areas in the vicinity of the boxes as you walk along the river, but trail exhibit some characteristics of please, DO NOT DISTURB! “vernal pools”. These are wetland areas that are most evident in the spring and Tyler Mill’s wetlands and watercourses will oftentimes dry up during other are also host to many other bird times of the year. Vernal pools are species. essential habitat for many species of amphibians and invertebrates. Some of Keep your ears and eyes open as you these species breed only in these pools, hike through , as there are and/or may be rare, threatened or many species of woodpecker living endangered species, such as the wood here. You will often here their loud frog. pecking as they hunt for insects, try to attract mates, or excavate cavities in Following a New England winter, Tyler tree trunks for homes. Mill begins to come alive in March. Clouds of newly hatched insects are visible in the air and in the water, 20. Pillow & Cradle making a convenient and abundant food source for returning songbirds as well as A large sugar maple tree was uprooted for emerging reptiles and amphibians. by the wind in 2011 to create a "pillow Near wetlands, spring peepers and and cradle". The pillow is the dirt that other frogs can be heard beginning the was hauled up with the tree's roots; the chorus of spring sounds. Wood frogs cradle is the shallow depression where emerge early and make a characteristic the tree stood. The pillow and cradle "quack" call. Salamanders can be found will be visible long after the wood from under rocks and woody debris near the tree and its roots have rotted and water. disappeared. Numerous pillows and cradles in an area suggest historic On warm nights these amphibians travel windstorms or hurricanes. to breed in vernal ponds. Such small

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21. Riffles & Insects floods. The Muddy River’s main channel flows further to the west. Walking along the Muddy River, many Different wetlands contain different areas with riffles are visible, especially habitats and species. during times of low flow. These are areas where the water tends to be Wetland trees such as red maple shallow, fast moving, and somewhat predominate, along with such shrubs as turbulent. Alternating shallow and spicebush, sweet pepperbush, highbush deep areas within a stream can provide blueberry, alders, willows, and valuable insect habitat. buttonbush. Tussock sedge and skunk cabbage are typical plants of wooded Whirligigs seem to spin over the surface swamps. Wildflowers that bloom here of ponds and streams, while water include marsh marigold, jewelweed, and striders literally walk on water. Other cardinal flower. insects are more elusive, but overturning an occasional rock or log can reveal an opportunity for 23. Floodplain Forest interesting observations. Often the area underneath may be seething with the Floodplains are the flat lowlands just activities of such creatures as ants, above the edges of watercourses. There earwigs, pillbugs, millipedes, are floodplains along much of the centipedes, and beetles. Muddy River where it overflows during heavy spring rains. The floodplains The Muddy River collects water from a handle the overflow volume of water, 21.7 square mile “watershed”. It flows and the plants that live there can into the , which runs to survive periodic inundation. Sound. The portion of the Muddy River that flows through Tyler Red maple, silver maple, elm, ash, and Mill is stocked with trout each spring sycamore are adapted to this habitat. and is a popular fishing spot. Understory plants found here include Virginia creeper, poison ivy, silky dogwood, false hellebore, and skunk 22. Three Wetland Features cabbage, jack-in-the-pulpit, and Solomon seal. Spicebush blooms with This area contains three types of such a profusion of tiny yellow flowers wetland features. The wet area right at that it is often called "wild forsythia". the base of the steep slope is fed by wet Twigs of this plant give off a pleasant seeps coming from the tall rocks. The spicy aroma when crushed. Wildflowers wet area just to the west of the trail is that bloom here in the floodplain isolated during parts of the year, but is include marsh marigold, jewelweed, and connected to the Muddy River during cardinal flower.

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24. Muddy River & Bridge widens just south of the bridge. The State Department of Energy and The Muddy River is a predominant Environmental Protection stocks the natural feature of Tyler Mill. It wanders river with trout but the spring fishing from one end of the open space to the season removes most of them before other, entering from the north near the hot weather. intersection of Northford Road and Tyler Mill Road and flowing south When you need a rest from your hike, through the eastern side of the area. At take a few minutes to watch the small the bridge, the river runs under Tyler fish in the Muddy River. They are visible Mill Road and continues its meandering in the pool at the bridge or you can sit south to where it passes under on a shaded rock and look in the river. Woodhouse Avenue and on through Bertini Park. It eventually empties into the Quinnipiac River in North Haven. 25. Mill & Raceway

On some maps from the early 1900's, Stretching upstream from the Muddy the Muddy River is called the Pine River, River bridge are old mill foundation and but this attempt to improve its image by mill race of Tyler’s Mill, the mill from a name change did not last. However, which Tyler Mill Road and the area the Muddy River is not muddy at all obtained its name. The mill’s raceway is except after severe rainstorms when directly in front of you, and both the runoff brings silt from upland areas. dam and mill foundation are about 125 Normally it is a clean, clear stream. feet to the east. The dam across the Muddy River was constructed to store Bass, perch, and minnows are still to be water and channel it into the raceway, found in the small pond where the river forcing it to turn a wheel that powered the mill. The stone blocks are local sandstone and conglomerates trimmed to fit tightly.

Further upstream is the old millpond, which now resembles a swampy wetland more than a pond due to sedimentation over time. The dam created the millpond by backing up the river and providing storage capacity. Old maps list the millpond site, and the extent of the man-made pond can still be seen.

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TREES AT TYLER MILL

eastern white pine tall evergreen conifer with long needles in bundles of five eastern hemlock evergreen seen in several areas, threatened by woolly adelgid, a non-native insect pest eastern red cedar evergreen with aromatic wood, found along roads and trails, also a pioneer in unused fields tamarack a deciduous tree with needles which drop in winter pignut hickory common hickory with a thick-shelled nut shagbark hickory shaggy bark is in long, loosely attached, curving strips, edible nut yellow birch slightly aromatic twigs black birch aromatic, with odor of wintergreen from crushed leaves or twigs, birch beer made from sap gray birch small tree, pioneer on abandoned fields

American hornbeam small tree with smooth, gray, muscle-like bark hop hornbeam small tree with shaggy bark in long, narrow, loose strips

American beech large tree with smooth gray bark reminiscent of elephant legs found in stands because it sprouts from roots swamp white oak deeply furrowed bark white oak light colored bark, leaves light green with rounded lobes scarlet oak large tree with leaves shiny, dark green above and pale below, leaves brilliant red in fall pin oak pin-like twigs, drooping lower branches chestnut oak oval leaf with many rounded teeth

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northern red oak dark gray bark has long ridges black oak rough, blackish bark, leaves fuzzy, often found on ridges and near tops of slopes

American elm tall, graceful tree formerly abundant until advent of Dutch elm disease tulip tree (yellow poplar) leaves have a broad tip and look like a tulip tall, straight trunk, bears tulip-like orange and green flowers sassafras aromatic roots used to make root beer, some lobed leaves resemble mittens eastern dogwood small deciduous tree, pioneer species, white flower clusters in spring chokecherry white flowers in late spring, dark red to black berries eaten by birds but toxic to ruminants sycamore bark mottled and peeling, grows along stream banks basswood large, heart-shaped leaves

American chestnut exists as saplings only, mature trees have been killed by chestnut blight

VINES AT TYLER MILL

wild grape long, woody vines twining around trees or hanging on shrubs, old stems quite stout dark purple fruits woodbine (Virginia creeper) a clinging vine sometimes mistaken for poison ivy but having five leaves bittersweet a twining, woody vine that produces orange fruits which open to expose red interior in autumn

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poison ivy mostly climbing, but also masquerades as low plant or shrub has flowers and berry-like fruits, all parts of plant cause skin inflammation, red foliage in autumn, fruits are a food source for birds, which spread the seeds, vine is brown and hairy

Oriental bittersweet (Asiatic bittersweet) a non-native species similar to climbing bittersweet, invasive, berries red with yellow caps

Japanese honeysuckle fragrant, white, tubular flowers that become yellowish as they age non-native, invasive

SHRUBS AT TYLER MILL common juniper attractive powder blue berries small, sharp needles highbush blueberry common tall shrub with sweet, blue-black berry pussy willow many-stemmed shrub or small tree with gray, furry catkins in late winter/early spring, grows near streams and in swamps speckled alder low shrub that grows in a clump shape near water or in wet soil, female flowers develop into small cones, wildlife cover and food source mountain laurel Connecticut's state flower, an evergreen shrub with clusters of pink buds that become white flowers in early summer spicebush blooms in early spring with dense clusters of small, yellow flowers, called "wild forsythia", tea can be made from its aromatic twigs and leaves witch hazel tall shrub of the woods which blooms in autumn with spidery, yellow flowers whose petals curl back into a bud if temperature drops and reopen when it rises, bark and leaves used in the manufacture of an astringent, branches sometimes used as dowsing wands to locate water

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sweet pepperbush blooms in summer with long upright spikes of fragrant flowers, grows on wet ground or in swamps, common along streams buttonbush balls of narrow, tubular, white flowers bloom in summer, fruit forms in autumn as rough, brown balls like buttons, grows in wet soils elderberry flat-topped clusters of white flowers in summer develop into sweet, purplish-black berries; edible, good wildlife food source

Russian olive Invasive non-native shrub or small tree with spiny twigs, masses of tiny yellow flowers in late spring, yellowish, berry- like fruits; edible, food source for birds multiflora rose invasive non-native, profuse fragrant white flowers in late spring, arching stems with many thorns, wildlife cover and food source burning bush shrub with purple, berry-like fruit, twigs and branches are winged with corky ridges, invasive non-native black alder (winter berry holly ), white flowers in late spring, birds feed on berries in winter, unlike true holly, leaves drop serviceberry silvery buds in spring, birds and mammals eat berries in early summer, thick canopy provides good nesting area for small birds autumn olive invasive shrub or small tree, leaves are green above and gray underneath, white/yellow flower clusters, birds eat pink berries and spread the seeds

Japanese knotweed large bushy plant with hollow jointed stems responsible for its other name- Japanese bamboo, flowers in long white clusters in late summer, invasive non-native maple-leaved viburnum common shrub in moist woods, maple shaped leaves are purple in fall, small white flowers in flat-topped clusters

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WILDFLOWERS & FLOWERING SHRUBS AT TYLER MILL

Spring Wildflowers yellow star grass Canada Mayflower wild columbine periwinkle smooth Solomon's seal marsh marigold myrtle purple trillium round-lobed hepatica Jack-in-the-pulpit wake robin common strawberry smaller pussytoes wild oats bluets common dandelion sessile bellwort pussywillow blue cohosh false hellebore common blue violet May apple wild flax cinqfoil highbush blueberry pink lady's slipper Gill-over-the-ground wild geranium Dutchmen's breeches bladder campion blue flag bloodroot coltsfoot spicebush wood anemone wild ginger trout lily rue anemone white starflower baneberry early saxafrage

Summer Wildflowers bunchberry chicory Indian pipe mountain laurel bull thistle pokeweed crown vetch daisy common buttercup blue vetch leabane bladder campion false Solomon's seal black-eyed Susan meadowsweet yellow star grass false hellebore steeplebush New England aster wild flax buttonbush New York aster viper's bugloss blue toadflax smaller pussytoes black mustard butter-and-eggs common dandelion harebell monkey flower white wood aster cardinal flower common tansy tickseed sunflower sweet pepperbush common barberry spotted Joe Pye weed wild columbine Japanese honeysuckle spotted knapweed Asiatic dayflower elderberry blue flag hedge bindweed maple-leaved viburnum evening lychnis red clover climbing bittersweet oxeye daisy white clover milkweed wintergreen wild leek

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Late Summer, Early Fall Wildflowers

New England aster daisy common buttercup New York aster fleabane meadowsweet tall goldenrod black-eyed Susan steeplebush jewelweed viper's bugloss buttonbush white wood aster black mustard blue toadflax tickseed sunflower harebell butter-and-eggs spotted Joe Pye weed cardinal flower selfheal rough-stemmed sweet pepperbush monkey flower goldenrod Asiatic dayflower Summer multiflora rose witch hazel hedge bindweed rugosa rose evening lychnis red clover partridgeberry New York ironweed white clover daylily Chicory Indian pipe yellow star grass bull thistle pokeweed

For more information on any of the plants listed in this guide, visit the Wallingford Public Library, or go online to: www.ct-botanical-society.org

Please help us protect the trees, plants, wildlife, wetlands and watercourses of the Tyler Mill Preserve  Park Closes at Sunset  NO Motorized Vehicles  Camping & Campfires Are Not Allowed  Please Carry Out Trash & Pet Waste  No Trail Work Is To Be Done Without the Authorization of the Wallingford Conservation Commission

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HIKING SAFELY WITH CHILDREN

Being prepared is the key to a safe and enjoyable hike.

elect a hike that is appropriate in length to the age of your children. Plan on hiking 1 to 1.5 miles per hour, depending on the age of the children and the terrain. Before you go, look at a map and understand where you are going and how far you will be hiking. Wear sturdy shoes for hiking, and thick socks to protect feet from blisters. For very young children, a backpack type carrier is a great way to introduce them to the woods at an early age. Bring layers of clothing (it is better to have a sweater and rain jacket that you don’t need than to be wet and miserable). Bring a regular backpack with:  Plenty of drinking water for everyone (in unbreakable containers)  Snacks for energy (such as fruit, power bars and trail mix)  Map and compass  Insect repellant, first aid kit and sun screen  Flashlight (with fresh batteries)  Tissue (for toileting needs)  Bag (for carrying out any trash you generate and any you find along the trail)  Cell phone (adds to your security when hiking with children) Plan to be off the Trail well before sunset. Check the weather before you head out and consider a change of plans if extreme weather is predicted. DO NOT HIKE if thunderstorms are predicted Pay attention to your body. (If you feel cold, add a layer. If you are thirsty, drink. Too hot? Remove a layer or get out of the sun.) Plan on stopping frequently to admire a view, watch a lizard, or listen to a bird. (There are many, many things to see in the woods, and it is exciting to let children discover them in a leisurely manner.) Be respectful of animals and other hikers. Carry out of the woods anything that you carry in. Check everyone for ticks after leaving the trail. Enjoy sharing nature with your family!

A note on trail blazes: Keep an eye on trail blazes so that you don’t get lost. If you haven’t seen a blaze in a while, go back to where you last saw one. Different trails use different markings and colors, but they are consistent on each trail. When you see two blazes on top of one another, the top blaze will be a bit to the left or right of the lower blaze. This indicates that the trail turns. If the top blaze is to the left of the lower blaze, the trail will turn left. If it is to the right, the trail turns right. Two equal length blazes, one on top of the other, indicate the end of a trail. Please do not pick flowers or plants, do not injure or disturb wildlife, and do not damage stone walls or foundations.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION Small game hunting is allowed in designated areas in the Preserve on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays & Thanksgiving Day from October through February. For safety reasons, the Interpretive Trail should not be used on these days.

To report any illegal activities or violations of park regulations, please call:

Wallingford Police Department 203 294-2800

Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection 1 800 842-4357

This booklet was funded in part by a grant from The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

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4/15/2014

Please Help Us Protect the trees, plants, wildlife, wetlands & watercourses! Trails No dumping or littering/Carry out what you color length* carry in Tyler Mill North No Camping or campfires lilac 0.2 Leash your dog and bag and remove pet waste yellow 0.15 Use trails for hiking, horseback riding or green 0.17 biking orange 0.5 No motorized vehicle use off road white 0.5 No ATVs aqua 0.09 No trail blazing north red loop 1.2 No digging mustard 0.2 No removal of plants, trees, rocks or historic Tyler Mill South objects pink 1.3 Fishing by permit only south red loop 2.4 CAUTION: Yield to horses north red side trail 0.4 PLEASE STAY ON BLAZED TRAILS! south red side trail 0.2 purple 1.4 PUBLIC SAFETY NOTICE yellow 0.7 Small game hunting by permit only in green loop 1.2 designated areas: blue loop 1.3 October – February east black trail 0.09 Monday, Wednesday, Saturday & west black trail 0.2 Thanksgiving Day south white trail 0.3 Other Uses Bertini Park Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Sunday blue loop 1.1 during hunting season green loop 0.8 Do not use on hunting days for safety reasons. yellow loop 0.3 Total 14.7 *length in miles PARK CLOSES AT SUNSET!

Hunting violations: Call Wallingford Police 203 294-2800 or DEEP 800 842-4357

Other Problems: Call Wallingford Parks & Recreation Department 203 294-2121