Bell Cedar Swamp Post Rabbitat
Posted By auntie on July 7, 2019
4.2 miles; North Stonington, CT
I was curious to see the results of the “rabbitat” clearing that Avalonia had done on this nearby preserve, so I made a quick visit. They stayed pretty far away from the pond and the cemetery, so it’s not as shocking as I had frankly expected.
St. John’s Wort
This was along my driveway. St. John’s Wort is known to be a natural anti-depressant. I can’t say for sure one way or another, pharmacologically-speaking, but it is a very cheerful yellow flower to encounter on a summer morning. Made me happy.
Aggressive Groundhog
Walking down Boombridge Road to the preserve, I encountered this rather angry woodchuck. He didn’t back down, and with rabies always lurking in the back of my mind, I crossed the road rather than mess with him.
Road Lilies
The clear cutting certainly increased the sunlight on the property, and a big happy patch of road lilies benefited mightily from that.
Sparse
It sure does look bleak, though.
Cemetery
There is a very large cemetery on this preserve bordered by hemlocks and white pines. It’s a very sad place, too, because so very many of the graves are of children and infants.
Two-Year-Old’s Grave
This little girl was only 2 years old. The tiger lilies at her grave kind of made me happy, though.
Rudbeckia, or Black-Eyed Susans
It really was a pretty good wildflower day overall.
Spreading Dogbane, Apocynum androsaemifolium
This spreading dogbane was sweetly-scented as well as charming.
Map
Not posting the actual GPS track for this hike, since it starts in my driveway, but as you can see, there’s a short loop trail that takes in the cemetery. It’s not marked and actually kind of hard to follow, especially since the rabbitat work. And though it shows access to the preserve from Stillman Road, there really isn’t any access there or any trailhead—it’s mostly swamp on that end. At this point I usually tell you where you can find out more about this preserve, but there’s really nothing out there. It’s not listed on Avalonia’s website, for example, and a Google search only results in articles about the property’s acquisition and about EEE-infected mosquitoes (that was from October 2018). But you can find a trailhead for it at 62 Boombridge Road. There’s a gate you have to squeeze around, and then you come to a sign which still says it’s owned by the Nature Conservancy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Note that across the stone wall to the north, Peterles have also had am New England Cottontail habitat clearing done.
Thanks, Pat, I did notice that. Wondered if they were just clearing it for another purpose or if, it, too, was “rabbitat.”