[CT Birds] connecticut river birding access

[Noah Reid]

Hello all,

This spring I've been seeing lots of nice checklists from the ebird
hotspots "Glastonbury Meadows (restricted access)"
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L453000 and "Station 43"
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L109160 along the Connecticut River and I was
wondering if anyone could clear up questions about access to one or both of
them.

The Glastonbury Meadows hotspot says restricted access, but it seems like
lots of different folks have been visiting, so I was wondering, is there
actually public access, or is it genuinely restricted/private? If there is
public access, could anyone point me in the right direction?

Hartford Audubon has a page about Station 43 (
https://www.hartfordaudubon.org/sanctuaries/station-43-wildlife-sanctuary/)
but judging by google streetview, it seems to be suggesting that you park
on the side of main street (which has no shoulder or apparent parking
areas) and then walk down somebody's driveway opposite Newberry Rd to
access it? Is that really correct?

Thanks for any guidance!

Noah Reid
Mansfield

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[SARAH FAULKNER]

Station 43 is indeed a Hartford Audubon Society preserve -- one of four that we own and steward (if that is a verb). To get to it, you follow a trail across a driveway -- it is our legal easement to the property. You had the directions right: park on Main Street but don't block anything, and enter the driveway directly opposite Newbury Street, then follow the trail that goes straight from the driveway to the preserve. We own the pond and some non-wet land along the trail up to and including the viewing station. It's often very wet, so wearing boots or shoes that can get wet are a good idea.

But get ready to see birds! Especially in the morning it is an awesome place to go birding. Watch the wetlands as you walk out to the pond -- we've seen bitterns and rails in there, and then just about anything can be seen once the trail opens up. Enjoy!

https://www.hartfordaudubon.org/sanctuaries/station-43-wildlife-sanctuary

Sarah Faulkner
HAS Board Past-President

[Noah Reid]

Hello Sarah,

Thank you so much for the directions. I visited and really enjoyed it. The
boots were an A+ recommendation!

Noah

On Sat, May 22, 2021 at 5:59 PM SARAH FAULKNER <sffau...@comcast.net>
wrote:

--
Noah Reid <https://sites.google.com/site/noahmreid/>
Assistant Research Professor
Institute for Systems Genomics
University of Connecticut

noah...@uconn.edu
noah...@gmail.com