Bent Of The River Audubon Center

Is Just Around The Bend From Newtown

By Nancy K. Crevier

Just as visitors turn into the entrance to Bent of the River Audubon Center from East Flat Hill Road in South Britain, the reason for the name becomes apparent. Here, the Pomperaug River takes a sharp 90-degree turn in its meandering route, coursing back through the heart of the 700-acre bird sanctuary and nature center.

One of only 19 designated Audubon Important Bird Areas in the state, Bent of the River is a migratory stopover, nesting area, and home to hundreds of shrub and grassland species of birds. Fifteen miles of hiking trails take visitors on boardwalks and lightly mowed paths along the river, through meadows, into cedar and hemlock forests, and down pathways that lead to woodland flower and butterfly gardens.

“Bent of the River Audubon Center has been a very well-kept secret for years, even in Southbury,” admitted director Leslie Kane Wednesday, April 21, as she gazed out over Althea’s Meadow, named for Althea Clark who in 1993 bequeathed more than 400 acres to the Audubon Society, willing that the grounds be kept with respect to history and with only as much intervention as is necessary to make the property accessible to the public for enjoying nature.

Since then, Audubon has purchased adjacent pieces of property, said Ms Kane, and in 2000 the Bent of the River Audubon Center opened to the public. Over the past decade, the center has built up its educational programs and hiking trail system, and now, she said, they are truly ready to be discovered by more people in the area.

One Newtown resident who discovered Bent of the River Audubon Center six years ago is Jeanne Foege. Ms Foege, a longtime nature lover and gardener, was introduced to the property by a friend one fall day in 2004. “We took a walk and it was just spectacular. I was so impressed that I volunteered that very afternoon, and that is just not something I usually do,” she said. “I couldn’t believe this beautiful place was so close and I hadn’t been here.”

The center is only 15 minutes from Newtown, either following Glen Road into Southbury and onto Route 172, or off of Exit 14 on I-84. The busy intersection of Southbury and the interstate disappear swiftly into the rural South Britain farmlands, and barely a half-mile off of Route 172, the entrance to the center and its natural refuge appears.

Like many of the 20 or so regular volunteers, Ms Foege began by helping out in the center’s office. “I wanted to be outside, though, so I became involved with the invasive plants group. Once every other week or so, March through November, we get together and dig up invasive plants on the property. We’ve resurrected quite a few native plants this way that would otherwise have been choked out,” Ms Foege said.

She helps care for the various gardens, has done public relations for the center, and has served as a board member. Currently, she is actively working to promote the upcoming May 22 Bent of the River Festival and Barn Dance, an afternoon of educational and fun programs for the whole family, a picnic dinner prepared by Hen of the Woods Café and Catering in Southbury, and a foot-stomping barn dance in the historic post-Civil War-era red barn. It is an event that Ms Foege, like Ms Kane and educational program manager Ken Elkins, hopes will draw in new members and nature lovers from the surrounding towns.

17 Trails

Free parking is located just past the entrance to the property and a welcome kiosk provides literature on flora, fauna, and birds. A white board in the covered bridge-style kiosk lists the birds a visitor will currently hear and see while hiking the trails, as well as wildflowers of the season. The 17 trails range from the easy and flat quarter-mile-long Beaver Trail, to the moderately difficult mile-long Howard’s Run, to the steep and rough 1½-mile Sachem’s Ridge Loop Trail. Maps of the entire trail system are available, and an honor system suggests a donation of $5 for adults and $1 for senior citizens and children be deposited in the lock box.

From there, a boardwalk trail leads to the river, or visitors can trek up the dirt road bordered by meadows and woodlands to the barn and homestead of Althea Clark. The historic red barn provides space for large programs — Mr Elkins leads more than 2,000 schoolchildren and scouts on tours each year — and houses a substantial library of environmental and birding books, as well as a collection of videos and cassettes. The barn also is where many of the slide shows and lectures given by center staff take place for adult groups. “We do a lot of programs for garden clubs,” Mr Elkins said.

Summer Day Camps run from June through August at Bent of the River, and this year have been expanded to cover more age groups. Young nature lovers in first to eighth grades can register for classes like “Creepers and Crawlers,” “Art of Nature,” “Junior Herpetologists,” or “Aquatic Ecosystems,” that utilize the sanctuary’s meadows, forests, wetlands, and facilities.

Enjoying The Show

Bird watchers can pull up a chair to the railing on the observation deck at the back of the barn, grab a pair of binoculars, and enjoy a show of “more birds than you’ll ever see in your own backyard,” said Ms Foege. Birdhouses and birdfeeders designed to attract the songbirds and grasslands birds of the region are erected across the lawn below the observation deck, and a large butterfly garden offers a display of color from native plants and the delicate Lepidoptera that visit.

“Bent of the River is a migratory stopover,” said Mr Elkins, “so for the next three weeks, bird watchers will be here looking especially for the warblers. More than 20 species of warblers were spotted last year.”

Where once the Clarks stabled their horses beneath the barn, office space for Audubon staff is now located. The space is shared with the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition, and office windows look out across the expansive grounds and to the antique outbuildings nearby.

Running past the barn and into the woodlands is a rustic, stone wall-bordered road of interest to anyone from the Sandy Hook or Newtown area, said Ms Kane. Pootatuck Road was once the main thoroughfare from South Britain to the Housatonic and Bennett’s Bridge, and it is the road French general Rochambeau marched his army over on his way through Southbury during the Revolutionary War.

The north side of the barn boasts an herb garden and is maintained by the Southbury Garden Club. Weary hikers can take a seat on the garden bench there and take in the surrounding scenery.

Dotted about the grounds are picnic tables and other benches, including one at the top Memorial Hill overlooking the meadows and marking the resting place of the ashes of Harold and Althea Clark. Picnickers are asked to carry out what they carry in, as no trash barrels are available.

Bent of the River Audubon Center is also a site for environmental research. Right now, one study is looking at the nesting preferences for shrubland birds and how apt they are to return to the site each year. Across East Flat Hill Road, the Yale School of Forestry keeps a flock of 40 sheep, said Ms Kane. “They are investigating how grazing can help manage invasive species and looking at the changes in the meadow environment,” she said.

“Althea Clark’s will stated that she wanted the property to be ‘A place of quiet solitude,’ which means that we try to preserve the historic aspects of the place and keep the size of the programs in check,” said Ms Foege. Nonetheless, the center is prepared to welcome groups and individuals who wish to explore the beauty of the river, its environs, and the creatures who call it home.

“I just love being here,” said Ms Foege. “It’s somewhere everyone should know about, and I think there are a lot of people in Newtown who are unaware of this beautiful place.”

For more information on Bent of the River Center and upcoming programs, visit bentoftheriver.audubon.org.

The center is still seeking donations for the silent auction that is part of the May 22 Festival and Barn Dance. Donations of original art work, handicrafts, gift certificates, vacation opportunities, and other auction items will be accepted through May 17. Contact Jennifer or Leslie at 203-264-5098.

Tickets for the May 22 event must be purchased in advance, and are available on-line or by calling 203-264-5098.

Bent of the River Audubon Center is open every day, from dawn until dusk. Dogs, bikes, and motorized vehicles are not allowed, in order that ground nesting birds are not disturbed and the sensitive ecosystem not disturbed. Horses are allowed only with permission.

Work will begin this summer on a universal trail leading from the parking lot to the river, thanks to funding from the Wheels in the Woods Foundation, said Ms Kane. It will be wheelchair accessible and provide Braille signage.