Estuary for Young Readers #12

At the same instant the tree limb went crashing to the ground, the hot-air balloon broke loose and shot up so fast that in seconds I found myself clinging for dear life to the safe end of the limb and looking up at the bottom of the basket.

The Connecticut River Raft Race

With all the decorum of a college fraternity on house party weekend, the annual Connecticut River Raft Race will celebrate its 50th anniversary on July 20, 2024.

A Story of Restoration: Of a Car, Not Fish

This is a love story. An unusual one, perhaps. Nonetheless a tale of steadfast devotion and affection that has endured through good times and
bad for many, many decades.

The Pied Piper of Land Conservation

Connecticut, among other places, would not be the same without the vision and determination of Richard Hale Goodwin, the late Connecticut
College professor of botany and one of the nation’s pioneering preservationists.

One Photograph: Birds? Why BIRDS?

One day my younger brother put it to me. “How do you get interested in birds?” he asked. “Just how do you get interested in birds?”

The Deadliest War in the Connecticut River Valley

Odds are that most hikers who traverse Connecticut’s Metacomet Trail along a spectacular trap rock ridge west of the Connecticut River have little idea that both trail and ridge are named after the Native American chief who in 1675 started a resistance that—if it had been successful—could have emptied New England of English colonists.

Wildlife Wonders: Here Come the Monarchs

Each fall, as we all know, tens of thousands of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) fly from the Northeast to the central mountains of Mexico, where they huddle together and overwinter with other monarchs from across the country.

Casting About: The Salmon River

South of Marlborough, Connecticut, south and west, a river runs. It is not a large river, yet it holds a large place in many an angler’s heart. They know these bright waters, and wade its riffles and runs, dreaming of trout dancing on a fly line.

A Letter from the Editor:

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.

Send Us Your Best

This dramatic photo was taken by Frank Dinardi an amateur wildlife photographer from Connecticut.

An Editorial

When people wore gas masks to protect from the man-made stench of the Connecticut River