Charlie Stebbins, CT Audubon Steward and Aspetuck Land Trust member
Join CT Audubon Steward and Aspetuck Land Trust member Charlie Stebbins as he shares the amazing story of Audubon’s Smith Richardson Preserve in Westport. This is one of the few places in Connecticut where visitors can see a significant habitat restoration project while it is in progress.
Until roughly 2016, a section of Smith Richardson was a thicket of weeds and invasive shrubs and vines such as barberry and Asiatic bittersweet. Connecticut Audubon envisioned an ecological overhaul that would transform it into a rich, coastal forest and shrubland.
Many acres of invasive plants and vines with little value to birds and insects were removed. Volunteers and staff replaced them with more than 3,000 native trees and shrubs that provide seeds, fruit, and nectar year-round for birds, butterflies, bees, and other wildlife. Two new 2-acre pollinator meadows buzz with insects. Small plots of seed-producing grasses ripen in fall, in time for songbird migration.
For anyone familiar with the sanctuary in its “before” stage, the results are a stark improvement. The impenetrable tangle of weedy plants is gone, replaced by a mixture of meadows, shrubs, thickets, conifers, and open woods. To hear more about this amazing transformation, join us for a walk with Charlie Stebbins on May 5th! (Rain date: May 9th)