Following Roots Back To New Hampshire

A few family members took an October day trip up to a small town in New Hamphire. Gilsum has a population of about 800 and you can tell by looking at this picture of the town mall that the town hasn't changed much over the years.

 We visited a small cemetery and were able to find several relatives dating back to the 1800's buried here with old-fashioned first names like Wendell, Kendell, and Bertha.

 I attended a big family reunion back in the early 70's  that took place on a big farm. The house on that farm is over 200 years old. It has been passed on to family members through the years. It was a thrill to go back and see this historic home which has so much character. It was so interesting to meet our relatives who now own this house and we were able to learn a lot about our family history.They even had a picture of the family tree with our names listed on one of the branches!

 There was a lot of swampy habitat in the area including that shown in the photo above. 

I found a Belted Kingfisher way off in the distance.

The hole in this tree looks like the work of a Pileated Woodpecker. 

There was one of those times when I put birding on the back burner for the day but it was well worth the sacrifice.

Over And Under The Bridge

 I recently watched a program on the History channel called "The Men Who Built America". One of the segments was a dramatization about the enormous challenge of building the Eads Bridge . The Eads bridge which was completed in 1874 was over a mile long and made almost entirely of steel. That was a huge accomplishment at the time!

  It gave me a new appreciation of our own bridge here in Portland. The Arrigoni Bridge (above photo) crosses over the Connecticut River connecting Portland with the city of Middletown. It was completed in 1938 and was voted as the most beautiful steel bridge that year. I'm guessing that I've crossed this bridge over 20,000 times in my lifetime so I can only imagine how many cars, bikes, and pedestrians have traveled across this bridge since it was built.

A walk across the bridge you walk across the bridge gives you views of areas that are otherwise hidden from view like this old railroad line which I believe is still used on occasion. I wonder what the trains and buildings in this area looked like when they were new?

This is a view of Saint John's cemetery and church from the other side of the bridge.

This is an old structure below the bridge in Middletown. I'm wondering what is it and what happened to it?

 I took a walk over to the site of the old Middletown landfill. I don't think we used the word landfill back then, it was just a dump. They would just bury trash under a mound of dirt. Since the dump was closed that mound of trash has reverted back to habitat which is appealing to some birds. I found this Red-tailed Hawk perched on a pole there the other day.

On the other side of the bridge there's a road that leads you past oil holding tanks and the old Brownstone Quarries.  A walk over and under the bridge is like a living museum with local examples of history and industry.

 There's a nice little park along the river in Portland not far from the bridge. That's where  I found a flock of  Dark-eyed Juncos. I  spent a few minutes trying to get a picture of one. I think they have a nice, clean look about them.

When I saw this ship sailing by I wondered if all my daydreaming about history might have caused me to time travel or if I was having some sort of hallucination. This ship looks like something from the 1600's.  I sent my photo to Mathew who has a blog called Soundbounder.  He has a lot of knowledge about Long Island Sound and the ships in the area. It turns out that it a replica of a ship sailed by Henry Hudson in 1609. You can read more about this ship in this article from the Soundbounder Blog.

Small Discoveries Along The Road To Spring

As Winter continues its hold on Connecticut, I continue to wander about the roads in my area looking for new places to explore. My most recent visit was to a place called Pine Brook Falls Preserve in East Hampton CT. I learned about this location recently from a weekly Hartford Courant column called Nature's Path by Peter Marteka. This is a great source of information if you are looking for new places to explore in Connecticut's woods.

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This waterfall is part of the remains of an old stone mill. There are 40 acres of land preserved at this particular location but it is only a portion of 762 acres of protected land along Pine Brook. There is more information about the overall project in the 19th edition of the Middlesex Land Trust Newsletter (pdf). The area is surrounded by a steep hillside, mountain laurel, and moss covered rocks. What impresses me about this area is that it only takes a two minute walk down a trail to reach an area that feels totally secluded. It would be a perfect place for a writer or photographer to spend some time. In fact, I passed two older gentleman heading into the area with their photography equipment as I was leaving. (preserve is on Sexton Hill Road in East Hampton-dirt road off of 151-park in front of small preserve sign).

There weren't many birds around during my visit but one little chickadee told me that if I came back in the May he would show me where all the warblers were hiding. He made me promise not to take his picture in order to protect his identity. I'm looking forward to sitting next to the stream on a warm, sunny, morning surround by colorful Spring migrants but I'll have to wait a bit longer before that moment comes.

As the temperature dropped and the wind picked up, I decided to do some birding by car. I made a stop along the Connecticut River where I spotted two Bald Eagles. One was an immature eagle that had been sitting next to a skating pond while the other was an adult which was perched in a tree. It flew off a few seconds after I arrived.

I noticed that it appeared to be carrying a stick in its talons. That's one less that our town workers need to take care of. I wonder where it's bringing it?

I took a drive through the Penfield Hill Road area of Portland. I believe that this tiny building is actually an old school. There is still an old water pump and a double outhouse made of brick located behind the school. After some searching, I found the following excerpts of information in an old historical record of Middlesex County:

• October 5th 1830, upon petition of Penfield Hill School District, a committee was appointed "to designate a spot in s'd district to remove or build a school house that will enable them to receive the donation given to s'd Dis't by Mr. John STEWART deceased;" they established the site for said school house on the east side of the highway, between the dwelling house of Zebulon PENFIELD and the dwelling house of Daniel SHEPARD Esq. This was the present school house, a substantial and handsome brick building.
• 
  District No. 4, Penfield Hill. This fine brick school house was built in 1830, partly with funds left by John STEWART, in his will. An addition was built in 1840. Miss Fannie STEWART is teacher.
• 
  Harrison WHITCOMB taught several winters at Penfield Hill, between 1830 and 1840. He came from Vermont, and he is now a physician in Rutland.

I like reading old historical records and find the style of language they used back then to be interesting as well. Often times I find remnants of the past while searching for birds of the present.

After my short visit to the school I came across a flock of turkeys in the woods and this Red-shouldered Hawks perched in a tree. From what I understand, Red-shouldered Hawks used to be rare in Connecticut during the winter. I've been seeing them fairly often this year, especially in the Haddam/East Haddam area. I found it interesting to learn that Red-shouldered hawks and Great-horned Owls are known for snatching nestlings from each other's nests.

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I 'm certainly eager for the departure of winter and looking forward to the arrival of Spring. In the mean time, I will continue to wander down roads and trails enjoying small discoveries along the way.