Chestnuts roasting on an open fire conjures up all kinds of iconic images—warming fires, wintry scenes, and home-cooked holiday meals.
Connecticut River Critters: The Spotted Turtle
The spotted turtle is spending the winter in our wetlands and streams tucked under a meandering riverbank or in a wetland submerged under woody debris.
Below the Surface: Alone at the Top—Fish in the Headwaters
The collection of fish in a particular stretch of river can be considered a “community.” The community includes a number of different fish species, all sharing the same habitat and therefore all having similar habitat preferences.
Context is Everything for Nautilus Architects
On a steep hill above the Connecticut River, Greystone shines in the morning sun. The texture of the natural stone contrasts with the clean modernist lines of wood and glass.
Casting About: The Terrestrial Hatch
In the short, dark days of winter, we find ourselves thinking back to the angling season just past, fondly remembering our time on the water.
Nipmuc Mishoon
When Andre Strongbearheart Gaines-Roberson, Jr., came to the phone, he couldn’t help sounding a bit tired, having worked around the clock over the previous ten days, catching an hour or two of sleep in his tent at various times while supervising the “burn” of a mishoon, or canoe, hollowed out from a tree, in the Nipmuc tradition.
Estuary for Young Readers #20
Me and Ray are expert ferrymen, it’s true, but we’re experts with small ferries that shuttle people, animals, and the mail across the Connecticut River between Saybrook and Lyme.
Gardening for Good: Waste Not, Want Not
Before you turn the page, give me a second. Yes, this is still “Gardening for Good,” and yes, the topic is urine—ours. But it’s also about how we can rethink the way things have always been done in favor of better alternatives for the long run.
Wildlife Wonders: Maggie Jones on Barred Owls
Barred owls may look lovable, but don’t be fooled. “Don’t let their adorable puffy heads and big, dark, watery eyes fool you,” Maggie Jones said, “Barred owls are badass. They are fierce.”
Covering Ground: Falling Water and Industrial Ghosts
Welcome Christine Woodside and her new column, Covering Ground.
Tracking Quabbin Reservoir’s Winter Wildlife
On a brisk February afternoon last winter, I set out to look for animal tracks at the northern end of Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts.
Look Again
This article appears in the Winter 2025 issueWilliam Earle William’s ethereal photographs transport us back in time and to another place—familiar, and yet layered with new meaning. Through a two-year residency with the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, culminating in a special exhibition there last year, and now a catalog, Their Kindred Earth, Williams explored the eastern …
Let’s Go
News from our River Partners…
Third Annual Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism Award
On behalf of Estuary magazine and its parent The Watershed Fund, we are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism Award.
On My Mind…
First-time novelist Michael Hutton-Woodland reached out to me about his new book, which chronicles the deliberations of an aging farmer faced with a choice between selling his farm to a developer or selling it to a conservation organization at a much lower price, but with the promise that the land would remain as farmland into perpetuity.
The Scourge of Hydrilla
This is the second in a series of stories about hydrilla. For an introduction, see “Hydrilla: The Nine-Headed Serpent in our Estuary Waters,” by Judy Preston, Fall 2020, and at https://www.estuarymagazine.com/2020/11/hydrilla/.
Announcing Connecticut River Watershed Seminar Series
Estuary magazine and its parent The Watershed Fund, and the Old Lyme Conservation Commission are excited to announce a seminar series
Third Annual Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism Award
Third Annual Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism Award We are pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Early Career Achievement in Environmentalism Award. You are invited to meet the winners and learn more about their work at a reception, with thanks to our host The Rockfall Foundation, to be held: November 6, 2025 5:30 – 7 p.m. deKoven House …
Connecticut River Quiz Answers
ANSWERS: 1 a; 2 c; 3 a; 4 d; 5 a & b (c is found down south, and d is not a real mussel, but we think it would be a good name for a mussel); 6 a (Historically, most of the islands of the Connecticut River in CT were also named by river mile—e.g., Six Mile Island, Eight …
Estuary for Young Readers #19
The Union camp and our ferry assignment—a steamboat on the Rappahannock River—was just a few hundred yards from where Ray and I jumped off the train.