A Trip to the Debby and James Crowell Conservation Area

Trip Report by Micah Tilles and Jason Berard

We met Tom Crowell, his daughter Genna and her friend at 10am at Blain Road and spent about 3 hours on site. It was humid and sticky, after several days of rain, so the vegetation was wet. The purpose of our trip was twofold: to scope the route of a potential trail to the Town-owned Tansey lot (a landlocked parcel) and to record a video of our walk to share with Tom’s mother Debby.

We flagged a route that passes several interesting locations, including a Red oak-hophornbeam-Pennsylvania sedge natural community near the northwest property corner. Along the way, we were all struck by all of the amphibians we saw –a benefit of all the wet weather recently! We saw numerous red efts, two wood frogs, and two spring peepers. We marveled at how far the peepers could jump relative to their size! We also came across a small branch that had been “quilled” by a porcupine. None of us had ever seen such a thing and we wondered what the story was. Genna spotted a newly emerged luna moth.

We passed three vernal pools- each one different. All had lots of woody debris in the pool- important for amphibians. At the main wetland (on the Town-owned property) we encountered a heron and three heron nests. Also, round-leaved sundew and pitcher plants! When we returned to the log landing we snacked on wild strawberries. 

Debby Crowell is a wonderful botanist who once led wildflower walks with the Canaan Conservation Commission. Genna, too, is an extraordinarily observant naturalist. In a way, three generations of the Crowell family were with us that day: Genna, Tom, and Debby and James, represented through the land they had gifted.