Well, if it’s May or June, it’s fresh shad! Indigenous to the East Coast from Newfoundland to Florida, American shad migrate from the salty Atlantic to fresh river waters to spawn. Its Latin name, Alosa Sapidissima, translates to “most savory shad” or “delicious herring,” which indeed it is. Shad’s unique flavor is both an acquired and sought after taste.
A dreamed of trip becomes a reality— paddling down our Connecticut River
One of us visited the heart of the Soviet Union during
its latter days and was struck by the absence of
birds in general, and certainly the absence of avian
variety. Among the major differences between the USSR
and North America was the lack of proven, sensible
environmental laws and regulations governing such
things as pesticides, hedgerow preservation, and land use
in the Soviet Union.
As black bear populations continue to grow in the Connecticut River Valley and beyond, now more than ever there’s a need for people and public officials to work together to sustain a healthy bear population.
♦ Ferry Landing State Park
♦ Great Island Boat Launch
During the month of March, the onset of spring in New England is revealed by the arrival of a conspicuous coastal and estuarine raptor—the Osprey. It may be blowing hard on Connecticut salt marshes with temperatures hovering in the 40s, but for Osprey, this time is ripe for reproduction.
♦ Ferry Landing State Park
♦ Great Island Boat Launch
A thoughtful interview in a boat with Dr. Andrew Fisk, executive director of the Connecticut River Conservancy.
As black bear populations continue to grow in the Connecticut River Valley and beyond, now more than ever there’s a need for people and public officials to work together to sustain a healthy bear population.
Alongside the Connecticut River, just a few miles south of Springfield, Massachusetts, is a 371-acre environmental success story, a jewel of a refuge, called the Fannie Stebbins Memorial Wildlife Refuge that will be a safe-haven for wildlife for generations to come.
One of us visited the heart of the Soviet Union during
its latter days and was struck by the absence of
birds in general, and certainly the absence of avian
variety. Among the major differences between the USSR
and North America was the lack of proven, sensible
environmental laws and regulations governing such
things as pesticides, hedgerow preservation, and land use
in the Soviet Union.
estuary…A Magazine about Life of the Connecticut River
If you are reading this, there is an excellent chance you love the River as much as we do. The more we speak with readers like you, the more we hear new and interesting stories about the River. This is an invitation to submit those stories to us so that we might share them with other readers. We have a process for doing this. Go to estuarymagazine.com/submissions and read the detailed instructions on how to submit story ideas. You can also submit letters to the editor.
The word “Connecticut” stems from a French corruption of the Mohegan word “Quinetucket,” which means “beside the long tidal river.” Adriaen
Block, the Dutch explorer and first European to chart the River in 1614, called it the Fresh River. The English first settled the area in the 1630s and referred to it as the Great River.
The Connecticut River connects us up and downstream. It also separates us from bank to bank. For thousands of years, indigenous people used dugout canoes to get from one shore to the other. The dugout could easily carry the people, meat, plants, tools, and fish around which their foraging lifestyle revolved. Trees transformed into boats were powered by paddle, wind, current, and tide. These organic craft were totally sustainable.
This dramatic photo was taken by Frank Dinardi an amateur wildlife photographer from Connecticut.
On a hot weekend in July, we headed out on the Connecticut River for a wildlife safari. We weren’t aiming to see osprey, swallows, bald eagles, or turtles, though we saw plenty of those. Instead, we were on the hunt for the River’s smallest inhabitants… its microbial wildlife. The presence of such wildlife can be an indicator of the health of a river.
When people wore gas masks to protect from the man-made stench of the Connecticut River
Just about a mile as the crow (or cardinal, or chickadee) flies from the Connecticut River’s western bank in Norwich, Vermont, sits a nondescript building that houses one of the most effective wildlife conservation organizations in the Northeast that
you’ve probably never heard of: the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (VCE).
The aquatic plant known as Trapa natans has the unfortunate common name of water chestnut, leading people who are first hearing about it to think that it may well be a bonus source of that good appetizer, with a strip of bacon wrapped around it.