October 19 - Annual Open House

Join us for our annual OPEN HOUSE!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19th 10AM-4PM

Aton Forest Headquarters

(270 North Colebrook Rd. Norfolk, CT)

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

10:00 - Noon
Guided Trail Walk
Lead by John Anderson (Executive Director)

Noon - 12:30
Gathering & Refreshments

12:30-1:30
Introduction & Welcome / Aton Forest Year In Review
Lead by John Anderson & Mike Aurelia (President)

1:30 - 2:30
"Focusing on Forests: Identification and Stewardship of Connecticut's Important Forest Bird Habitat"
By Corrie Folsom-O'Keefe (Audubon CT)

2:30-4:00
"Mini Workshops" on Invasive Plants, Wildflowers, Mushrooms, and Birds

3:00-4:00
Field trip to recently washed out beaver pond and birding
Lead by Mike Aurelia

Speaker Bio:

Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe is the Important Bird Area Program Coordinator for Audubon CT. In this position she works with partners (including federal and state wildlife and forestry divisions as well as local conservation groups) on numerous projects with overarching the goals of identifying, protecting, and enhancing habitat important to bird species of conservation concern. She also coordinates, conducts and trains field technicians and volunteers in bird census techniques for a number of projects and oversees the development of conservation plans for IBAs that guide landowners and stakeholders in the management of bird habitat. Prior to joining Audubon, Corrie worked at the Yale School of Public Health, managing a lab and coordinated field research exploring the relationship between avian and mammalian diversity and vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease. Corrie completed her master’s degree at Connecticut College; her thesis examined the effects of surrounding landscape on the abundance and breeding success of shrubland birds in powerline corridors. She has participated in numerous field seasons working with birds in Belize, Nova Scotia, the Farallon Islands and CT; gained significant experience as an educator while employed at The Children’s Museum, and currently volunteers as Education Chair for both the New Haven Bird Club and the Quinnipiac Valley Audubon Society.

August 3 - The Fabulous Snakes of the Northeast

Herpetologist and professor Tom Tyning will be speaking at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival on Saturday August 3rd. The presentation will be on snakes that can be found in your own back yard and beyond - a fitting topic as 2013 has been declared the Year of the Snake.  Join us for an intriguing look at our reptilian friends.

Tom has decades of experience working with reptiles and amphibians within the region as well as world wide.  He is the author of the Stokes Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles and a professor at Berkshire Community College.

The event will take place at the Battell Recital Hall (Convergence of Rt. 44 & 272, Norfolk) from 4:00-5:00 and is free and open to the public.  Co-sponsored by Aton Forest and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

Click here to see the event poster.

"Division Street" Documentary on Earth Day, April 22 at Norfolk Library

Aton Forest and the Norfolk Conservation Commission are pleased to host a showing of the important documentary "Division Street." This film describes the tremendous impact roads have on the planet, resulting in habitat fragmentation and disrupting the movement of wildlife. Filmed throughout North America, the documentary takes us on a road-trip that includes some of our most exquisite National Parks, including Banff National Park, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, and the Everglades. Examples of the "greening" of our highway system are shown that hold promise for preserving wildlife corridors.

 

The event will be held at the Norfolk Library on Earth Day, April 22 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The film will be preceded by a short talk by Professor Tom Tyning, author of the "Stokes Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles." Professor Tyning will also answer questions after the documentary.

 

For more information, contact Aton Forest at (860) 542-5125, or contact@atonforest.org.

Aton Forest Annual Open House, Saturday, Oct. 20 from 12 to 3 p.m.

Something for everyone at the annual Open House! At 1 p.m., Eric Hammerling, executive director of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, will give a presentation about his work as chair of the state task force created to study the power outages that occured subsequent to Tropical Storm Irene and the October 2011 snowstorm. Come and learn what the task force recommended regarding roadside tree management.

Grand Opening: Be among the first to hike our new 10 station self-guided trail.

Observe native birds with expert bird guides at Aton Forest's Beaver Pond.

See our large Norfolk moth specimen collection and plant herbarium, and experiment with microscopes in our new laboratory classroom.

Browse and buy original paintings by naturalist Roland Clement.

Free and open to the public. Refreshments served. For directions, click on contact Aton Forest on the homepage.

"Mushroom Foray and Feast" on Saturday, September 8 from 2 to 5 p.m.

A Mushroom Foray and Feast will be led by mycologist Andrew Janjigian on the grounds of Aton Forest. This class will include classroom instruction, field work, and a wild mushroom tasting feast at the Aton Forest headquarters. If weather conditions continue normally and are not too dry, we are likely to see numerous species that appear in early autumn. The goal of this class is to identify safe and unsafe mushrooms, and to differentiate between them. In the event that there aren't many edible wild mushrooms to harvest that day, we will feast on pre-prepared (and possibly cultivated) wild mushrooms.

Instructor: Andrew Janjigian is a food writer for Cook's Illustrated magazine, and an author, chemist, and mycologist.

Date: Saturday, September 8 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Aton Forest Headquarters, 270 North Colebrook Road, Norfolk, CT. For more information, call (860) 542-5125 or email contact@atonforest.org.