Newsletter of the West Rock Ridge Park Association Spring 2020

From the President: This year marks the 45th anniversary of the 1975 legislation creating the West Rock Ridge State Park and the Conservation Area. We are grateful to all whose foresight, hard work, and perseverance led to the creation of West Rock Ridge State Park, preserving this wilderness park for all of Connecticut's citizens to enjoy. In particular, we express our deep gratitude to Peter Cooper, Bill Doheny, and Barrie and Steve Collins for spearheading these efforts! We are grateful to the state parks staff and the volunteer trail workers who maintain the park for all of us to enjoy (see articles on pages 3 and 7). So many people enjoy the fruits of those labors: schoolchildren, university scientists and researchers, bikers, hikers, and fishermen and women, residents of the four neighboring towns: Bethany, Hamden, New Haven, and Woodbridge, and residents from across the state and the country. The park's trails offer many beautiful vistas (see article page 5), and the park is home to a wide variety of birds and other wildlife (see article page 4). We are grateful for the state legislators who recognize the value and importance of Connecticut’s parks, and of West Rock Ridge in particular, and have accepted the challenge from CFPA (CT Forest & Park Assn) and FCSP (Friends of CT State Parks) and have adopted West Rock Ridge State Park: State Reps. Themis Klarides and Lezlye Zupkus, and State Sen. George Logan. In these days of social distancing due to the COVID virus, the park provides a welcome respite, a place to enjoy solace, exercise, and fresh air while adhering to social-distancing protocols. The parking lot near Lake Wintergreen is full most days, with cars parking on the adjacent roads. Several Hamden residents living near the park enjoyed - from within the safety of their homes -- a late afternoon visit from a bear in April, seen here checking out one family's chicken coop. We hope you are staying safe, and that you're finding time to get out and enjoy the park. --Ted (Theodore B.) Lynn Ticks and Lyme Disease Found Less at West Rock By Tom Ebersold

West Rock Ridge State Park is one of the areas the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) surveyed for the prevalence of the deer tick, or black-legged tick, which can carry assorted diseases, most famously Lyme Disease, and less commonly anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Powassan virus. Scott C. Williams, Ph.D., is an environmental scientist who works at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) in New Haven, and who has been studying Lyme Disease, ticks, and their animal hosts. As part of his research, Williams did tick sampling in various locations across the state and reported these results from 2019. He said at West Rock, he sampled by Regicide Drive and the Red Trail near the southbound entrance to the West Rock Tunnel. He said he sampled there eight times in 2019, and only picked up 15 adult and 10 nymphal deer ticks. In an email to him, I mentioned that I continually pull and cut invasive plants at West Rock. In a December 2019 email response, Williams wrote, "On average, we sampled 3.1 deer ticks/visit at West Rock and 7.6 deer ticks/visit at our other locations within New Haven County. Our highest was Tolland County with 9.0/visit and lowest was Middlesex County with 2.4/visit. We are finding that forested habitats in good health, like West Rock, have fewer ticks than areas in poor health like with lots of deer and lots of invasives. So please! Keep on pulling and killing the invasives. It does make a difference." In his research, Williams discovered a connection between the prevalence of the invasive shrub Japanese barberry and black-legged or deer ticks. On the CAES website, he writes, "It was found that the growth form of barberry retains humidity throughout the day providing an ideal microclimate for tick survival reproduction and that controlling barberry creates a more hostile environment for ticks." At a lecture where he presented these findings, he explained that the moisture-loving ticks in barberry can spend more time higher off the ground looking for a host to grab than in an area lacking barberry that is less humid. This means that people have a greater likelihood of picking up a tick in a barberry-infested area. Barberry-lined trails is a serious problem in Fairfield County and other hiking areas in Connecticut, but thankfully not at West Rock. West Rock is fortunate that it has only a limited amount of the invasive Japanese barberry plant because CAES studies have shown that there are far more ticks in area with barberry than in areas without it. Most of the barberry I have seen is located along the fence at edge of Baldwin Drive where people are not hiking anyway. According to Williams, in a healthy forest, there are 10 Borrelia infected ticks per acre, as compared to an unhealthy forest where there are 130 Borrelia infected ticks per acre. With fewer ticks in the woods, people are less likely to pick them up, and therefore less likely to be bitten with the potential for becoming infected. In my view, barberry also causes problems because it tends to grow quickly and grow over trails, so in infested areas, it is difficult to avoid brushing up against this prickly shrub. The most likely time for people to get bitten is starting in the spring as the temperatures warm up and the tiny nymphs are active and through the summer as the adults are seeking a meal so they can breed more ticks. Ticks cannot bit you unless you brush against a plant on which they are resting, waiting to latch on to an unsuspecting host. West Rock is helpful in this regard for a couple of reasons. First, many of the trails are wide, so the chance of brushing up against something is low. This is particularly true of the loop around Lake Wintergreen. There are also few trail sections that pass through grassy areas. There are problem areas where the invasive plants crowd the trail, and narrow them, which is an important reason why I clear them wherever and whenever I can. I have also gotten bit by ticks while doing this work, usually because I was not careful enough to do a thorough tick check as soon as I got home. My personal protection involves always wearing long pants with socks tucked into my pants, and spraying either picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus on my clothing. These are both effective, natural repellents, as compared to DEET, which is a neurotoxin, and permethrin, which is an insecticide. Neither can be used on skin for that reason. For people who use these chemicals, think about how they probably end up on other clothing when you put them in the washing machine. Before getting into my car, I check for ticks on my clothing. At times I find a tick crawling around my car the next day. Due to trail work, I am more likely to pick up ticks than hikers and cyclists because I am pushing my way into brushy areas to prune them back or clear them, typically invasive plants. When I get home, I remove the clothing by my washing machine, and not my bedroom, in case there are any stray ticks I missed. Then I shower and do a tick check. I never wear shorts in the woods since a time when I was in the woods for three hours doing trail work and came out and found a tick embedded in the skin on the back of my leg behind my knee. At times when I have not followed these procedures, I have gotten bit and sometimes have gotten Lyme Disease. 2 CAES Tick Testing is Free

If you do get bitten by a tick, remove it and place it into a dry container, and then bring it to your local health department, which will submit it to CAES for testing at no charge to you. CAES tests for Lyme, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. The station will not test dog ticks or lone star ticks because these ticks do not carry these particular diseases. In a few weeks after submitting the tick, you will receive a report back detailing what type of tick you submitted. If it is a deer tick, then they will let you know whether it was engorged and by how much. If it was engorged, they will let you know if it carried any of these three diseases, and the potential for infection. According to CAES, unengorged ticks are not tested because it presumed that they did not have the opportunity to transmit any diseases. Larval ticks are not tested because they have not had the opportunity to become infected with any of these diseases. The key for effective treatment of Lyme is prompt treatment. Catch it and treat it early, and it should clear completely. If you are bit, after removing the tick, monitor for any symptoms and if you start to feel tired and achy, seek medical attention. The closer to the time of the bite, the more effective the treatment, so don't wait for the results of the tick test if you are not feeling well. CAES publishes an annual summary of the tick testing program. In 2019, it tested 56 deer ticks from Hamden with no specific information as to where in town these were found. Of these ticks, 29 percent tested positive for Lyme, 14 percent for anaplasmosis, and 4 percent for babesiosis. The results in 2018 were similar. This compares to statewide results of 39 percent for Lyme, 9 percent for anaplasmosis, and 9 percent for babesiosis. For more information on CAES and its tick program, visit the website: https://portal.ct.gov/CAES/Tick-Office/Tick-Office/Tick-Related-Information The tick presentation by Williams is entitled "The Links Between Forests and Public Health" and may be found at this website: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/CAES/DOCUMENTS/Plant_Science_Day/2019/Williams-PSD-2019.pdf?la=en

PARK UPDATE By Jill Scheibenpflug, Park Supervisor

We are getting ready for the 2020 season. Our park budget is in good shape. I will be hiring some seasonal staff soon. This winter was pretty mild, and we had no damage to the park. We had some nice weather on the weekends, and Lake Wintergreen was very busy. Visitors are also using the main entrance to go into the park and hike. When I originally started writing this, Covid19 had not been an issue. Due to the increase in park usage, because we are the only game in town, we opened the park gates early to allow the public to drive into the park. There have been some parking issues at the main entrance to the park. Visitors are parking on the road and up on the grassy knoll in front of the stone entrance sign. We may have to move the boulders closer to the road to block it off. The ROTC has been using the park for training purposes. State Parks have always supported these training sessions in our parks. I have been coordinating with the ROTC leaders in the area and making sure that they notify the proper authorities. They have been doing a better job of this. If you see them, don't be alarmed. I have instructed them to put up proper signage so visitors know that it is a training exercise. Law Enforcement: State Environmental Conservation Police officers (EnCon) did respond to a fatality on the Woodbridge side near Konold's Pond. Woodbridge police and the State Police responded also. Someone fell from the Blue Trail on the summit. EnCon has had to let people out of the park that Park Patrol have locked in because they had to lock the gates. The park road closes at 6:00 pm. There is a big sign on the ticket booth with this information. Maintenance: - We will be fixing the patio at the shelter, replacing the missing field stone and redoing the mortar joints. - We are hoping to get DOT to pave the area by the front entrance. - We are in the process of cutting vistas at the South Overlook. I hope everyone has a great and safe summer in the park.

PLEASE KEEP DOGS ON LEASH WHILE HIKING IN THE PARK!!

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 40 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 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.”

4 West Rock Offers Visitors Many Vistas By Tom Ebersold

There are various features of natural areas that can make them more interesting than just a walk in the woods, and vistas are one of those features. Broadly defined, a vista is a viewpoint towards something enjoyable to see and a place worthy of stopping to take an extended look. With a six-mile long ridge, West Rock Ridge State Park certainly has an abundance of vistas, primarily in the form of overlooks over the surrounding area. There are also views along the four bodies of water in the park: Lake Wintergreen, Farm Brook Reservoir, Belden Brook Diversion Pond, and the West River. Most of these views are found along the Blue-Blazed Regicides Trail, which extends the length of the park on the west side, and the Red Trail, which aligns with the eastern edge of the park. One other trail vista in the park is located on the Purple Trail, just north of the junction with the Purple-Orange Trail. This spot has a view to the east looking down the ridge and over into Hamden. There are views of New Haven from the two pull-offs on Regicides Drive, and, of course, from the South Overlook. Along both sides of Baldwin Drive, there are screened views of Woodbridge and Bethany to the west, New Haven to the south and Hamden to the east. These views are better in the winter after the trees have dropped their leaves.

Red Trail Views South to North The Red Trail's southern trailhead starts at the South Overlook where the trail meets Regicide Drive, the paved road that connects to Wintergreen Avenue. The South Overlook provides a panoramic view that encompasses from east to west: Sleeping Giant, East Rock Park, Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), New Haven and the Harbor, Yale Bowl, the West River, and West Haven. Descending from the ridge, the Red Trail takes a sharp turn and by that curve is a rock outcropping with views of Sleeping Giant and Pine Rock, a smaller trap rock ridge with the Hamden transfer station at its base. Where the Red Trail crosses a short, steep rock face is a view to the west of New Haven, the Harbor, and SCSU.

View from the Red Trail overlook of Farm Brook Reservoir, looking to New Haven and the south end of the ridge, taken November 2016. 5 The next vista along the Red Trail does not come until a couple of miles later when the trail ascends from the dip by the Lake Wintergreen spillway. Along the top of the dam is an excellent view of both the lake and the ridge. A more limited view of the lake may be seen near the Lake Wintergreen parking lot where Wintergreen Brook enters the lake. There are brief glimpses of the lake through the trees on the White Trail and on the rocky part of the Red-White Trail. The best views on the Red-White Trail are from the bridge over the spillway north to where it ends at the Red Trail near a railing popular with people who are fishing. Another lake view is just off the Red Trail by the Lake Wintergreen parking lot, which is the most popular way to access this trail. From the lake to the southern crossing of Mountain Road, the Red Trail parallels Wintergreen Brook. The brook is not particularly interesting to view because at some point in the past the water company channeled it into a canal. After crossing Mountain Road, there is a brief view of the pastoral Belden Brook Diversion Pond by the brick building and metal bridge just before the trail reenters the woods. When the Red Trail reaches Farm Brook Reservoir, there are glimpses this flood control pond. The best pond view is along the top of the dam at the southern end of the lake. The final view along the Red Trail may be found just before its northern terminus with the Regicides Trail. This rocky area has an impressive vista down the length of the entire ridge, all the way down to the South Overlook. There are views of Farm Brook Reservoir, East Rock, New Haven and the Harbor. Regicides Trail Features Multiple Viewpoints The Regicides Trail has frequent glimpses through the trees of views off the ridge, primarily to the water company property to the west and periodically has a clear view from a rocky outcrop. As a forested area with lakes, the water company land creates a rural feeling. At its southern end, there are views of New Haven along the fence line. When hiking from south to north, the first major view is where the Regicides Trail briefly overlaps the Orange Trail as it ends at the overlook of Konolds Pond in Woodbridge, with views to the south of New Haven and the Harbor, and to the west towards West Haven. Caution is advised in this area as it is the only place at West Rock near a marked trail with the high potential for falling off the edge. South of this area along an unmarked footpath, there are additional views of the New Haven, the cliffs, and Konolds Pond, again fairly close to the edge of the cliff. Continuing north along the Regicides Trail, there is a rock outcropping slightly off-trail just south of the base of Lake Dawson with an excellent view of the lake. As a way of describing this location, a bit farther north past this spot is a large boulder on the left and Baldwin Drive is on the right only a few feet away. The Regicides Trail meets the junction of the Purple Trail and the Blue-Yellow Dot North Summit Trail at a wide pull-off of Baldwin Drive with a limited view to Glen Lake in Woodbridge. Farther north, another excellent viewpoint is on the north side of Lake Chamberlain with a view to the south over the lake and to the west into Woodbridge. From this vista, hardly a house may be seen. The Regicides Trail crosses Baldwin Drive to the east and this leads past a modest view over Farm Brook Reservoir. A bit farther along on the Red Trail, there is an impressive view to be found, as described above. The final Regicides Trail view may be found just before the junction with the Quinnipiac Trail where there is a respectable view west toward Bethany. For those continuing along the Quinnipiac Trail to the west, there is an excellent view from a rock outcropping, slightly off-trail with screened views to East Rock, New Haven and the harbor on one side of the ridge and a clear view to the northern end of Lake Chamberlain and other water company property in Bethany. For those headed east along York Mountain on the Quinnipiac Trail, there are limited views of the golf course below the mountain, and over Hamden into New Haven. As compared to a high peak area in other states, enjoying the views at West Rock takes only a bit of work because the climb to the top of the ridge is only about a 15-minute walk. Cyclists can follow the winding curves of Regicide Drive or Baldwin Drive to enjoy those views, and can lock their bike to a tree for a short walk to see the views from some of the Regicides Trail. From Memorial Day weekend to the last Saturday in October, motorists can drive Regicide Drive to the top at the South Overlook with no more exertion required than pressing down on the gas pedal. Both roads are accessed from Wintergreen Avenue in New Haven, just south of the Wilbur Cross Parkway bridge over the road.

6 Productive Trail Work Parties by Tom Ebersold, Volunteer Trails Manager December 7, 2019 Thanks to Dave Backeberg, James Linscheid, Andrew Orefice, and Bob Stobierski, and Lee Pelosi for their help! We cut lots and lots of invasive plants that are crowding out and killing the native flora. We collected many old bottles and cans that had been tossed over the fence into the woods back in the 1970s when Baldwin Drive was still open to traffic. This has been a multi-visit project that hopefully can be completed within another visit or two. Lee and I dragged, carried, and tossed dryer parts up the ravine by Wintergreen Falls and left it in the parking lot of the West Rock Nature Center for collection by the city of New Haven. In the climbing wall area, I continue to cut the privet and other invasives to restore the forest to its natural state. February 16, 2020 Thanks to Bob Stobierski, Keith Wright, Mike Melanson, Peter Sagnella, and Jeff Heath for their help on the trails! Jeff helped on Friday with continuing to push back against the invasives by the climbing wall. Bob, Keith, Mike and Peter helped on Saturday with moving limbs and rocks to better define the Regicides Trail on the switchback up to the Quinnipiac Trail. We got a lot done and hopefully on a future work party can finish off this project. We were delayed at the start by having to clear this large tree that fell across the trail at the top of the stone steps. Bob and Keith did most of the sawing with a fresh blade in my pruning saw, as my arms were toast from two days of clearing invasives this week. Mike showed up in time to help roll the trunk out of the way. March 7, 2020 Five of us -- Bob Stobierski, Steve LaBranche, John Fitzpatrick, and Christoph Geiss --cleared lots of invasives from along the guardrail, mostly the prickly multi-flora rose, plus we removed 6 more buckets worth of trash, mostly old bottles and cans. Christoph found a sealed bottle of beer from the 1970s. I passed on his dare to drink it and poured it out. With more invasives to clear and more trash to collect, we will return to this project in the fall, probably November. A good thing about removing this trash is that it has been there for 40 or more years from when Baldwin Drive was a party spot, so since the road is now closed to traffic, the trash will not return. 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.

7 WEST ROCK RIDGE PARK ASSOCIATION NEW MEMBERS Address: 648 Mountain Road, We warmly welcome the following new members to Hamden, CT 06514 the West Rock Ridge Park Association: http://westrockpark.wordpress.com State Senator George Logan, Ansonia, CT [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 Annual dues: $10, Supporting: $20, Life: $150. Theodore B. Lynn, Hamden Make checks payable to: Steven Massey, Bethany West Rock Ridge Park Association Donald Menzies, Woodbridge 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 * Your membership helps improve the park! * President: Theodore B. Lynn Secretary: Nancy Specht We welcome volunteers, on any committee! Treasurer: David Taddei Membership: Amy Lynn Photo Credits: 1: Ted Lynn; 5,7: Tom Ebersold; 8 Stephen Program: Nancy Specht Broker Trails: Tom Ebersold Newsletter: Barrie Collins & Amy Lynn

WEST ROCK RIDGE PARK ASSOCIATION 648 Mountain Road Hamden, CT 06514

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