Spring Pond Park
Rosebrook Drive, Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

Merritt Parkway north to exit 53; turn right onto River Road; turn right onto Main Street Putney; pass by Boothe Memorial Park on the left (west); turn right onto Whipporwill Lane; turn right onto Rosebrook Drive.  At the curve there is an unmarked natural area on the left (north) side of the Drive (before reaching Butternut Lane). 

Trails:

11/29/2005.  On a cool but nice afternoon, Ceferino Santana and dog Sonar waited in the car while I took a short walk into the Park (?).  I could not get far because I was blocked by the waters associated with the Phragmites marsh surrounding Pumpkin Ground Brook.

Before I was finished I heard and then saw a police officer (R. Miller) talking with my brother-in-law.  When I approached the car, still another police car arrived.  So now we have two cars and two officers (the other officer was Schuler or something like that).  They were both very pleasant, but not so deep down I resent that natural areas that should be open to the public and have trails are informally closed by the lack of any facilities.  Any one treading into these areas are going to have the cops called out to talk with them.  (In the town literature on the web, the place is called a Park.  That seems to be a real misnomer and very misleading.)  In places like Stratford that do not have that much natural area, these places should be open and inviting to residents, as well as any other interested persons.

I find that secrecy is not a good strategy for natural areas.  If they are so secret, they are used by youths and others for various nefarious purposes, such as beer keg parties, ATV use, dumping or building illegal structures.  The places should be open to the public so they can be somewhat monitored by nature lovers.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, * = plant blooming on date of field trip,  11/29/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple))
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera sp.  (honeysuckle)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
(boxwood)     planted

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Epilobium sp. (willowherb)
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Solidago sp. (goldenrod)

Sedges:
Carex intumescens (bladder sedge)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)

Grasses:
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)

Ferns:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)

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