The story of Smith Richardson on Zoom, Tuesday, March 22

Red-tailed Hawks are frequent visitors to Smith Richardson. Photo by Richard Stone.

March 16, 2022 — Connecticut Audubon’s Smith Richardson preserve in Westport is one of the few places in Connecticut where visitors can see a significant habitat restoration project while it is in progress.

It’s well worth a trip. But whether you go or not, you can learn about the project first-hand from the volunteer who spearheaded much of the work.

On Tuesday, March 22, at noon, Charles Stebbins will tell the Smith Richardson story, during a Lunch and Learn program on Zoom hosted by the Apsetuck Land Trust.

Sign up here, and then come back and learn more about the preserve, here.

The H. Smith Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary and Christmas Tree Farm actually encompasses three parcels of Sasco Creek Road.

Until roughly 2016, the 34-acre section furthest south 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 two-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.

So sign up for Lunch and Learn. The invaluable Charlie Stebbins has been involved in every aspect of it and will have some great stories to tell.