Best Ecological Park Stamford Near Me

4worldlovers: Join Friends for our monthly hikes. Our hikes are on the first Monday of every month. We call these hikes Plikes as we borrow the term from the Swedes who combine jogging and plocka upp (to pick up) to obtain plogging. Thus Hiking plus plocka upp, gets us Pliking.

Our Plikes run about 2 hours and are to the less used areas of the park. This allows us the opportunity to explore, check on the status of less used trails, and tidy up as we go.

We meet at 9:00 am at the bridge on Merribrooke Lane in Stamford. Please bring gloves and a small trash bag. We hope that you can join us.

Bald eagles continue to do well on the Mianus River. Keep an eye for their epic nests.

The below link has more information plus a great chart about their breeding timeline.

Https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Wildlife/Learn-About-Wildlife/Bald-Eagles-in-Connecticut?fbclid=IwAR2HTF-TShA_9lR-r4LNdzhiE20RWmMYPIvFW4f7Kr-Qen0bu9qyjBDKAOc

Scroll down the page to see recent photos taken of the eagles about a mile down the river from the park.

As an affiliate of Classy Groudcovers, Friends earns a percentage of every purchase made using the link below. The website is comprehensive and provides the necessary detail to ensure you select the correct plants for your yard. To assist new gardeners, they have also provided a Garden Guide written by Sarah Oliver.

Use the below link to access the Classy Groundcover website and ensure that Friend is properly credited: https://classygroundcovers.com/?affl=Mianus.

4worldlovers:
Habitats: 10% deciduous forest, 10% shrub, 5% field, 10% grassland, 5% non-tidal freshwater marsh, 10% salt marsh, 20% pond/lake, 30% estuary

Site Description: The 83-acre park is owned by the City of Stamford. The park offers swimming, boating, walking, biking, roller-blading, picnicking, ice skating, birding, photography, and fishing. The remarkable thing about Cove Island Park is the diversity of habitats within the park. These include, sandy and rocky beaches, salt marsh, mud flats, estuary, a large pond (Holly Pond), the last undeveloped sand dune in Stamford, woods, cut lawn, fresh water wetlands, meadows, brushy areas, and a planned butterfly garden (29 species of butterflies have been identified here).

IBA Criteria: Rare, Unique, or Representative Habitat; Exceptional Concentrations of Migratory Landbirds.

Birds: The Park is not only unique in its number of habitats, but also its rareness in the Stamford area. There are no similar local habitats. Similar but not as diverse habitat may be found at Greenwich Point Park (5 miles to the southwest), Sherwood Island in Westport (20 miles to the northeast) and Pelham Bay, New York (30 miles to the south). These long distances are critical after a night of migration for migratory songbirds. Flying longer distances could mean death for numerous birds. Many species return year after year during the spring and fall migrations since the park is situated on the coastal migration paths. This is readily evident looking at the checklist, which lists 287 species documented over the last 15 years. Holly Pond provides foraging habitat for wading birds in the nesting, and post-nesting seasons, it also provides habitat for many waterfowl and gulls in the winter and migration seasons.

Non-avian Resources: Over 50 species of butterflies have been recorded in the park. The park is an important recreational resource for Stamford and southwestern Connecticut. There is a nonprofit environmental education center in the park operated by SoundWaters.

Existing Conservation Measures: A 10-acre undeveloped area of the park is being proposed to the City of Stamford as a bird or nature sanctuary. Audubon has teamed up with GE Elfun Volunteers for several conservation and education projects in the park.

4worldlovers: The park has it all, including recreation facilities such as a one-mile walk/run trail, a playground, a rollerblade/cycling path, an expansive lawn area, BBQ grills, two softball fields, a tennis court, a basketball court, a picnic shelter, and two sandy beaches.