By Phil LeMontagne

Butterflies like Monarchs and Swallowtails are awesome to see in the garden. It’s even more exciting when a less common species like the Great Spangled Fritillary shows up! For nectar the adults like native flowers such as Purple Coneflower, Joe Pye Weed, and Common Milkweed. Great Spangled Fritillaries can live as adults for three months—at least three times longer than most butterflies! To attract them, grow native violets in the garden. These are the only plants their caterpillars will eat. Click here or on the image above to view.

Beau Doherty of Portland is an avid wildlife observer and excellent photographer. Below, he shares with us some photos of species you might spot during winter. Be on the lookout for them on your walks, especially those listed as endangered, threatened, or species of concern. Several of these photos were taken at the Helen Carlson Wildlife Sanctuary on South Road in Portland, a Preserve of Mattabeseck Audubon Society, designated an “eBird hotspot.“

The beautiful Hooded Merganser is seen often in winter at the Helen Carlson Preserve, in the Connecticut River, or in Great Hill Pond. This one surfaced with a small fish in its mouth. They nest in tree cavities.

Drone Video: Future Midden Lookout Park, approach from downtown Middletown over the North End neighborhood. Courtesy of Matthew Stauble, staublemedia.com.

On December 1st, Middletown’s Common Council unanimously supported a resolution granting permission for the Jonah Center to develop the city’s closed landfill (aka “midden”) into an environmental education and wildlife viewing area. The site overlooks a large marshland — the Floating Meadows — populated by herons, egrets, cormorants, osprey, eagles, ducks, beaver, muskrats, and deer. Continue reading →

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We advocate for multi-use trails, safer roads for pedestrians and bicycles, clean energy and energy efficiency, protecting our natural environment, reducing pollutants and toxic chemicals, removing invasive plants, supporting parks, planting and protecting trees, environmental education, and sustainable living in the greater Middletown, Connecticut area. (Video credit: John Shafer.)

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