CT Audubon Sanctuaries (6/16)

On Saturday, June 16th, Shannon and I got together to visit a couple of the Connecticut Audubon Sanctuaries that I'd never been to before. We started by driving south from my house to the Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield.

This was actually a really nice facility. We started inside looking thru the simple displays. There were the obligatory stuffed specimens of several common birds but they had some live animals as well. The Red-eared Slider was nice but my favorite was the Blue-tongue Skink. He was so fun to watch.

The sanctuary also had a Bird of Prey compound on its ground. All the birds in the facility had been seriously hurt and couldn't be returned to the wild. All the common raptors were represented including Barn Owl, Barred Owl, Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Peregrin Falcon, Turkey Vulture, etc. It was so sad to see these beautiful birds cooped up in there cages but at least they are well fed and cared for.

Next we decided to take a nice hike thru the Roy and Margot Larsen Wildlife Sanctuary that abuts the Connecticut Audubon property. We started by heading towards the largest pond on the map. Tree Swallows were swooping back and forth over the water and a Veery called to us from his perch on the fence. We walked down several trails stopping ever so often to admire a mushroom or watch the Water Striders "skate" back and forth over the water. The trails were very nice with several small ponds that supported turtles, Wood Ducks, and the ever-present Red-wing Blackbirds. There was even a special Fragrance Trail at the end of the walk. Unfortunately there wasn't much in bloom during our visit so we had to admire the view instead.

My plan for our next stop was to head over to Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point. But, as we made our way back the skies began to seriously darken. Just as we pulled up in the sanctuary's parking lot the rain started. We scampered in a small covered kiosk and watched the lightening in the distance. It really was incredible to watch the rain as it advanced over the bay.

After about a half hour of rain, the skies finally cleared enough for us to take a quick look around the area. The office was already closed but we did look over the bay from the observation platform before taking a walk along the beach. This is definitely a place that I'd like to try again but we probably won't ever have the place to ourselves again.