Newsletter of the West Rock Ridge Park Association Fall 2020
From the President: In this COVID pandemic time, West Rock Ridge State Park, and all of Connecticut’s other parks, have been important places of respite for Connecticut’s citizens. Once again, we have reason to be deeply grateful to those before us who had the foresight to create these parks. At the recent annual meeting of the Friends of CT State Parks, DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes noted that park usage was up at all parks across the state this year, much of that in response to the pandemic, and the resulting need to interact in socially-distanced ways. As she noted, one of Connecticut’s main attractions is excellent quality of life; our state parks are an important component of that quality of life that we all enjoy. Deputy Commissioner Mason Trumble noted that in response to the pandemic, the parks stepped up and stayed open; attendance was up 300% in some parks. This is a clear illustration of how essential Connecticut’s state parks are. The pandemic is causing budget crunches across the country; Connecticut will be no exception. It will be important for all of us to remain vigilant and politically active to ensure that the Passport to the Parks funding is not diverted. The Passport to the Parks program ensures essential funding for our state parks; our state parks are essential to Connecticut citizens’ well-being, particularly in this pandemic time, but also in “ordinary” times. As Jill notes in her Update (below), the parking area at the Wintergreen entrance to West Rock Ridge State Park has been overfull this past summer. Decisions on how to solve this problem will involve a robust process reviewing all options and the potential impacts of different choices, with input from all stakeholders, including the West Rock Ridge Advisory Council, to ensure that essential wildlife areas are not impacted – such as the Woodcock display area. We are grateful for our park staff, for our volunteer trail maintainers (see articles pages 2 and 6), and for the naturalists who research in this beautiful park and share their knowledge and expertise (see article page 4). --Ted (Theodore B.) Lynn
PARK UPDATE By Jill Scheibenpflug, Park Supervisor
The park was busy this year. Lake Wintergreen had its usual busy season and we had wonderful weather, not much rain. Visitors were hiking, biking and kayaking. The parking lot is full most weekends. We are looking to solve this problem. We do have some ideas; one is to utilize the field where the old house is after it is torn down, hopefully this winter. We did a vista cut on the South Overlook to improve the view, especially the view of Sleeping Giant. We recently blew out Judges Cave with the leaf blower, hopefully it will stay clean. We cut the dead trees at Judges Cave. We had two big wind storms come through this summer. We had to close the park for two days so we could cut and blow the debris off the road. No major damage was done. We are hoping to work on fixing the patio before it gets too cold.
We did have some vandalism issues: Graffiti on the wall at South Overlook. Someone put dead headless chickens and Porgies (fish) on the roof of the shelter. This was a first for us. It is definitely a strange thing to do. Individuals hanging out in the parking lot at Lake Wintergreen at night are leaving interesting trash behind.
I hope everyone enjoys the fall, the best time to hike!
PLEASE KEEP DOGS ON LEASH WHILE HIKING IN THE PARK!! IT’S NOT JUST A SUGGESTION; IT’S THE LAW! August Storms Bring Down Trees and Tree Crowns
By Tom Ebersold, Volunteer Trails Manager After two years of relative quiet, West Rock experienced damage as a result of two storms in August: Tropical Storm Isaias on Aug. 4 and a strong thunderstorm that spawned a tornado on Aug. 27. The tropical storm mostly resulted in snapped tree crowns across the park, but did not bring down many trees. By contrast, the tornado cut a swath across the northern part of West Rock, uprooting rows of oak trees that completely blocked the Regicides Trail, the Sanford Feeder Trail, and Baldwin Drive. Through the efforts of volunteers and state park staff, these trees were cleared within a few weeks. The last storms to have a significant effect on West Rock took place in 2018 in the form of a March 7 northeaster and a May 15 thunderstorm. The thunderstorm also triggered the tornado that devastated Sleeping Giant State Park, and also cut across the northern part of West Rock, bringing down rows of pine and oak trees. These weather systems were the first significant storms to affect the trails since Super Storm Sandy in 2012.
Tropical Storm Brings Down Tree Crowns Tropical Storm Isaias brought down occasional tree crowns, plus many small branches, and left carpets of leaves along the trails in some locations. The worst damage was along the Teal Trail. I cleared about four blowdowns that were partially blocking the trail, mostly oak crowns, including one blowdown behind Common Ground High School that was completely blocking the trail. Someone had cleared a couple of blowdowns along the Red Trail south of the main entrance. North of Lake Wintergreen up to Mountain Road, there was minimal to moderate damage. Thanks to Tom Parlapiano and Bob Stobierski for helping me to survey and clear damage along those trails. State workers cleared Regicide Drive to the South Overlook and Judges Cave. The state had also cleared Baldwin Drive as far north as the gravel road to the antennas. Thanks to Paul Wetmore for his work in clearing blowdowns on the Yellow Trail off Mountain Road, and on the Red Trail and Red-White Trails north of Mountain Road to Hill Street.
Tornado Affects the Northern Section of West Rock A strong thunderstorm passed through Connecticut on Aug. 27, one that spawned a tornado from Bethany to North Haven, and a microburst from North Haven to Guilford. The northern end of West Rock was hit hard by this storm. Others parts of the park were minimally affected by those winds. On Aug. 28, I decided to walk the Sanford Feeder Trail after work and I chose well. There were multiple oak tree crowns blocking the trail, all of which I cleared. There were three oak trees across the trail, ranging in diameter from 12 to 15 inches. One was located midway along the trail just north of the open area with the culvert and remains as a stepover. The other two were located near the Regicides Trail, where the trail levels off. The one at the Regicides Trail was a double trunked tree that was also blocking that trail. I cut away enough branches from one of the trees that people could slide over it. I cleared enough branches from the double trunked tree, so people could stoop between the trunks. Trail maintainer John Rek was the major force in clearing the large trees that came down from this storm. John used his chainsaw on Aug. 29 to cut through the many downed trees on West Shepard Avenue north of the gate, which we needed to do to even reach the Regicides Trail. John also cut through the trees at the Sanford Feeder and Regicides Trails, cutting them narrow enough to discourage any potential ATV use. Eli Cleary helped with the clearing of West Shepard Avenue. The two of us used hand saws to cut medium-sized branches and rolled away the tree trunks that John had cut. Eli and I also cleared multiple blowdowns on the Regicides Trail heading up to the Regicides Trail. We used the brush to line the trail to keep people on the trail and to discourage them from cutting across the switchbacks. As we left I looked at the Regicides Trail by Baldwin Drive and saw a line of trees down heading north, which clearly defined the tornado path.
Ridgelines, Fall 2020 2 John Rek, Gordon Daniell, Bob S. and I returned on Aug. 31 and cleared the multi-tree blowdown blocking the Regicides Trail north of Baldwin Drive. Gordon and I cleared tree crowns along the Regicides Trail heading south, some of which I used to mark the boundaries of the trail. On Baldwin Drive, we cut open a path through the tree crowns and cleared some of the small to medium-sized limbs on the trees. Driving to West Rock on Aug. 31, I drove on Hatfield Hill Road in Bethany, which sustained noticeable tree damage from the storm. This road is on a direct line pointing toward West Rock. My next visit was Sept. 4 when I did work on the Red-White and Red Trails starting from the Hill Street parking area. The Red Trail is clear from the Red-White junction near the field to its northern end at the Regicides Trail. Someone had cleared a tree crown on the Red Trail along the climb to the top. I cut the top part of oak trunk at the Regicides Trail junction, leaving a log on the ground that is easy to step over. John and I returned on Sept. 9. We saw that the state had cut most of the oak trunks across the northern end of Baldwin Drive. I cut the tree crowns from three other trees to open up the road, while John cut open the oaks blocking the Regicides Trail in that area. I moved the trunks and branches to the side and cut lots of small to medium sized branches to further open up the trail, which is now open at least to the crossing of Baldwin Drive. As of this writing in early October, I have yet to survey the Regicides Trail between the Purple Trail and the final crossing of Baldwin Drive, a section that is about three miles long. I would expect to find some damaged tree crowns from Isaias, but the tornado damage is unlikely to have extended further south than the area we cleared. On a related note, the Regional Water Authority's Lake Bethany property, located on the north and south sides of Hatfield Hill Road, is closed to hikers. The property was so damaged by the storm that the RWA is hiring a contractor to clear the trails. The RWA's Lake Saltonstall property in Branford also had damage, but is still open to those who are RWA passholders. Many storm pictures may be viewed on my West Rock website at https://westrocktrails.blogspot.com/p/storm-damage-at-west-rock.html
RRiiddggeelliinneess,, FFaallll 2002200 3 The Connecticut Bird Atlas - Preliminary Report on the Winter Season, West Rock
by Stephen P. Broker The Connecticut Bird Atlas is a five-year study of the birds that breed, winter, and migrate into and through the 5,544 square miles of our statewide land and waters. The Atlas project (2017-2021) is led by Min Huang, wildlife biologist with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Chris Elphick, Associate Professor in the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology at the University of Connecticut, Craig Repasz, Volunteer Coordinator for the Atlas, and several others. Atlas field work is carried out by 750 volunteer birders who enjoy the challenges and delights of locating and identifying birds in all seasons of the year. Eight Regional Coordinators are responsible for recruiting and assigning field observers to the topographic map-based 600 Atlas Blocks that cover the State. These eight regions correspond fairly closely with the eight counties in Connecticut. I serve as regional coordinator for Territory South-Central/New Haven. I provide oversight and assistance to the adopters of Greater New Haven’s 77 Atlas Blocks, and I have direct responsibility for conducting field work in two of these Atlas Blocks, designated 80E Mount Carmel and 95A New Haven. Block 80E includes the northern portion of West Rock Ridge and surrounding lowlands, and Block 95A includes the southern portions of the ridge and its lowlands. The second year of winter atlasing now is completed. Field observers have collected the most recent data on their blocks’ early winter (November/December 2019) birds and late winter (January/February 2020) birds and have shared that information with the Atlas Project. West Rock Ridge has among the greatest species diversities of any non-coastal block in Connecticut, and the preliminary winter results for Block 80E and Block 95A stand out nicely. Block 80E now shows 59 early winter bird species and 49 late winter bird species that use a broad range of habitats for surviving and thriving in our southern New England winter months. Block 95A has tallied 74 early winter species and 69 late winter species. These numbers are exceeded in Territory New Haven by just a few blocks that include Long Island Sound waters and the many saltwater birds that winter there. Other birders have contributed their sightings to the bird species I have found in Blocks 80E and 95A. In the forty years that I have studied the natural history of West Rock Ridge, I have compiled (with input from others) a list of some 250 bird species found in the park. Many of these species are neotropical migrants (from South America, Central America, and Mexico) that breed in summer at the ridge or drop in briefly before flying
Two nestling Turkey Vultures that Steve Collins and I found in a cave at High Rock. We photographed the young birds and then returned them to the nest cave. Later, we photographed one of the fledglings, still flightless RRiiddggeelliinneess,, FFaallll 2002200 4 further on to northern New England and Canada, the heart of their breeding range. My experience has been that the West Rock ridge top becomes an avian semi-desert during the winter, due to the harsh conditions of wind and cold that prevail 400 to 500 feet above the surrounding lowlands of New Haven, Hamden, Woodbridge, and Bethany. The Atlas Project work continues to confirm this reality. Greatly reduced numbers of birds are found in winter along Baldwin Drive and the upper woodlands of the ridge. Woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches, wintering sparrows, and few other bird species comprise the wintering avifauna of the ridge, able to survive on insects found in tree wood, bark, and leaf litter. Most other species have moved down to more protected lowlands and water bodies to make it through late fall and winter. How is it that the blocks that include West Rock still produce high species diversity in winter? The answer is that the lower elevations provide far greater habitat diversity than does the fairly uniform mixed coniferous-deciduous forest found on West Rock Ridge. This landscape mosaic of lakes, ponds, marshes, grasslands, and scrublands consists of “clusters of local communities repeated over a wide area.” The study of these patterns on the landscape is called landscape ecology. My winter birding has taken me to Konold’s Pond and to Lakes Dawson, Watrous, Chamberlain, and Bethany to the west and to Lake Wintergreen to the east. I’ve walked many trails around these water bodies and have sought out a number of new birding spots for geese and ducks, vultures, hawks, and eagles, woodpeckers, crow family members, kinglets, wrens, thrushes, sparrows, and blackbirds. Many common winter birds make up my lists, but a few less common finds have made this period of birding an exciting time for me. Highlights include Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, and Belted Kingfisher on lakes, American Woodcock, Wilson’s Snipe, Winter Wren, Swamp Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird in patches of swampland, Bald Eagle, Great Horned and Barred owls, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Common Raven, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned kinglets, and Brown Creeper in forested environments, and Brown Thrasher, Field Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow in fields and forest edges. We turn now to the third year of the breeding component of the Atlas and to a very different kind of birding - the slow-down plan, where we look for evidence of breeding birds, including singing males, male-female pairs, territorial behavior, nest building, nests with eggs or young, and feeding nestlings or recently fledged young. Preliminary statewide results for the Connecticut Bird Atlas can be found at the Atlas website, http://www.ctbirdatlas.org As the late all-around naturalist Noble Proctor, mentor to many of us, used to say, “Always something to see.”
Turkey Vulture Nest Cave Area, High Rock. RRiiddggeelliinneess,, FFaallll 2002200 5 Blue-White Replaces Gold on Water Tank Trail By Tom Ebersold, Volunteer Trails Manager
The trail color on the trail from Lake Wintergreen to the water tank and up the ridge to Baldwin Drive and the Blue-Blazed Regicides Trail changed to Blue-White from Gold on Aug. 18, 2020. I placed signs at the junction with the Regicides Trail and the White Trail to explain the change. I had permission from the state to make the change. Why the change? When I first blazed the trail in 2010, I needed to select a color because the trail had never been blazed. There are only so many basic colors that it is a challenge to find a color to use at a park like West Rock with so many trails. I chose Gold because it seemed distinct enough from other colors and was not being used at the park. Over the years, I heard enough people refer to the trail as Yellow that I knew I had to make a change. There is already a Yellow Trail at the park, which connects Mountain Road to Baldwin Drive and the Regicides Trail. For someone hiking on Baldwin Drive or the Regicides Trail, this creates potential confusion. The solution? Use a different color. Why Blue-White? It's simple. The water tank trail connects the Blue-Blazed Regicides Trail to the White Trail at the base of the ridge. The Blue-White Trail is the most direct connection to the Regicides Trail and Baldwin Drive from Lake Wintergreen, which is the main parking area at West Rock. As part of the color change, I submitted a request to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to update the map with the new color. I also included a series of other suggestions and corrections. One update that I recommend is adding the Teal and Teal-White Trails to the list of multi-use trails. The Teal Trail was one of the original carriage roads from West Rock Park and is well suited to a multi-use function. Another improvement would be showing the Quinnipiac Trail along the entire length of the map, as that trail has portions within the map area beyond West Rock that are not shown. Other suggestions relate to bodies of water within the park. There is a small body of water by the farm north of Mountain Road, which should be labeled as Belden Brook Diversion Pond, a name I discovered while doing historical research. The map should also show Wintergreen Brook more clearly, as the blue line for the brook is under the line for the Red Trail, and should also include the name Wintergreen Brook. With regard to the state website, I always found the current park description limited and it also had an inaccuracy, saying the ridge rises to 627 feet. The highest point on the ridge is High Rock or York Mountain, which is about 715 feet in elevation. This is my suggested wording for the website: West Rock Ridge rises from 400 feet of elevation at the South Summit in New Haven to 715 feet of elevation at High Rock in Bethany on the Hamden border. The 6-mile long ridge is traversed by the 7-mile long Blue-Blazed Regicides Trail, which connects to the Quinnipiac Trail at High Rock. There are impressive vistas along the ridge, with estimates that a person can see approximately 200 square miles from various locations. At the South Overlook, views include New Haven and the Harbor, Long Island Sound, East Rock Park, and the Sleeping Giant. Along the Regicides Trail, one can see forested water company lands to the west of the ridge, including Lake Dawson and Lake Watrous. Baldwin Drive, constructed in the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, extends 5.6 miles along the ridge, and offers walkers and bicyclists a car-free experience. The 1.6 mile long Regicide Drive offers seasonal motor vehicle access to the South Overlook and Judges Cave. The Regicides Edward Whalley and William Goffe sought refuge at the cave in 1661 and 1664 from agents of King Charles II of England, who was seeking their capture and execution.
I have been getting out 1 to 2 days a week to continue clearing the invasives by the climbing wall. Jeff Heath and Mike Melanson have both helped a couple of times on this project. I estimate that with 100 hours of work, I have cleared about an acre with another acre to clear in this area, not counting the area on the street side of the trail, and not counting the upper trail, or the invasives along the West River. I have removed 17 buckets worth of trash, mostly old bottles and cans, plus the shattered screen to an old TV. With working at home on the computer all day as a teacher, I am especially glad to get out and do something physical to clear my mind. [Ed. Note: We are grateful for Tom’s long dedication to the trail system!]
R i d g e l i n e s , F a l l 2 0 2 0 6 THE MAGIC RIDGE By Stephen Collins
What makes West Rock Ridge a magnet for botanists, ornithologists, lepidopterists and other naturalist types? The answer is: biodiversity. And what makes for biodiversity of life on the ridge? Paradoxically, perhaps, it is disturbance by both man and nature. Ridges do not allow for multi-gradients of many factors that don't exist on a simple plain. They gain their relief from the greater hardness of their rocks and resistance to the erosion compared to the softer rocks of adjacent valleys. They are rock-controlled. Varied terrain, relief and orientation are inherent in ridges. In addition, there is apt to be a variety of microclimates and fire-protected rocky islands amid flammable litter. The different elevations can also provide gradients in soil depths, moisture and exposure to light. At the same time, the isolation from human settlement of a ridge summit minimizes daily impacts from humans. Of course, fire and drought and herbivores can also influence the flora of the ridges. The flora is a complicated response to a wide range of environmental variables. West Rock is what geologists call a "sill," an underground intrusive flow of molten rock into pre-existing strata that were horizontal at the time of the intrusion. The tunnels through West Rock pass under a break in the ridge called a fault. The sill dips to the east and its edge comprises the westward-facing cliffs. The last warming rays of the sun warm the cliffs before sunset. And prevailing northwest winds can suddenly chill those same cliffs. Ridges are forested islands in the sky. Their natural vegetation gives way to suburban development on the slopes and in the valleys adjacent to the ridge. Seen from the air or noted on a map, West Rock Ridge crudely resembles the letter "C" with the top end of the "C" north-facing and hence cooler and moister, and the bottom end of the "C" receiving more sunlight. This explains why the post oak (Quercus stellata) and the chinquapin oak (Q. prinoides) as well as the eastern prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa) are found at the southern end of the ridge. North of the notch over the tunnels, the pitch pine (Pinus rigida) disappears but the more northerly striped maple (Acer pensylavnicum) is not encountered until we reach the northern end of the park. Since the ridge is elevated (and, therefore, well-drained except for some vernal pools), it is no surprise that the park is more likely to support southern floral and faunal members that reach the northern ends of their range here. The cliffs represent a habitat for stunted red cedar junipers (Juniperus virginiana). It might be instructive to study the annual growth rings of this tree for evidence of climatic changes. Could the biogeographic changes in floral and faunal composition or the vitality of various species offer us any clues that might hint at long-term climate change or do the change in land use and protection from wildfire explain the dynamic changes that have taken place in their skyline sanctuary for people, plants and animals? The eastern prickly pear appears to be in decline. Did shade of overhead vegetation cause its decline? This seems doubtful, or was the death of an adjacent bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia), apparently girdled by hungry voles, the result of a long period of snow protection for those rodents? Or is human interference a factor? Deer, too, consume the flattened green stem pads of the prickly pear. Further observation will be useful. The skyline road that follows the ridge line north is being engulfed by advancing roadside vegetation. That explains why a bladdernut site noted in the past has vanished. Paradoxically, rare species may owe their presence to human disturbance. This assures that many stages of succession are more likely, for nature plays her game, a version of musical chairs. As a natural sanctuary with a unique variety of biodiversity, the West Rock Ridge provides a never-ending source of curiosity and wonderment for all visitors.
R i d g e l i n e s , F a l l 2 0 2 0 7 WEST ROCK RIDGE PARK ASSOCIATION NEW MEMBERS
Address: 648 Mountain Road, We warmly welcome the following new member to the Hamden, CT 06514 West Rock Ridge Park Association: http://westrockpark.wordpress.com Bart Piccirillo, Bethany [email protected] HOW TO JOIN OR RENEW Board of Directors Send your name, address, phone number, and email address, Stephen Broker, New Haven along with your dues to: Barrie T. Collins, Bethany WRRPA Membership, William Doheny, Hamden 648 Mountain Road, Hamden, CT 06514 Tom Ebersold, Milford Amy H. Lynn, Hamden Theodore B. Lynn, Hamden Annual dues: $10, Supporting: $20, Life: $150. Steven Massey, Bethany Make checks payable to: Donald Menzies, Woodbridge West Rock Ridge Park Association Joanne Sciulli, New Haven Nancy Specht, Hamden Please include your interests. We always need help!: David Taddei, Hamden Programs, Trail Work, Newsletter, Paul Wetmore, Hamden Legislative/Political Action, Membership. Executive Board & Committees President: Theodore B. Lynn * Your membership helps improve the park! * Secretary: Nancy Specht We welcome volunteers, on any committee! Treasurer: David Taddei Membership: Amy Lynn Program: Nancy Specht Photo Credits: 3,6: Tom Ebersold; 4,5,7 Stephen Broker Trails: Tom Ebersold Newsletter: Barrie Collins & Amy Lynn
WEST ROCK RIDGE PARK ASSOCIATION
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Two nesting turkey vultures 8