Tag: Beardsley Zoo

Written by NutmegTrout21705Apr, 2018

Casting clinic, cleanup, celebration Saturday

Whether you can volunteer for an hour, the day, or just want to check out the events, join Nutmeg TU at the Pequonnock River Fest at Beardsley Park in Bridgeport on World Fish Migration Day, Saturday, April 21, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. We just really want people to see the grounds, the fish ladder, the river and the environment we’re working on, and learn to cast and fish a little.

 

Nutmeg TU President Rich Rosen outlined events in a letter:

Hi all,

On Saturday April  21, Nutmeg Trout Unlimited and Beardsley Zoo are holding a Pequonnock River Festival in celebration of World Fish Migration Day.

Volunteers are needed to make this day a great success.

At 9:00 am we will meet at Beardsley Zoo’s Hanson Pavilion and fan out from there to start the cleanup. (Tree planters will be starting at 8:00). Hanson Pavilion is inside and to the right of Beardsley Zoo’s parking area.

Nutmeg TU activities include a Pequonnock River Cleanup, Nature Walk/Insect Discovery, Fly Casting Clinic and Fishing. The Zoo’s activities include Tree Planting, Fish Ladder Tours and a Birds of Prey Encounter.We need your help to volunteer. If we have enough volunteers we can add additional kid-friendly activities. If you can volunteer for the day, or part of it, please email me with your contact information and when you can volunteer.

Here is our World Fish Migration Day schedule of activities:

    • 8-10:30 a.m.: Tree Planting: Led by Zoo volunteers (CDC) & GroundWorks Bridgeport.
    • 9-10:30 a.m.: Pequonnock River clean-up: Led by Nutmeg TU
          • Beardsley Park (starting at the island and moving north).
    • 9:30 (or 10), 10:30, 11:30: Tours of Fish Ladder in small groups, led by the Zoo. 
    • 10:30-11:00 AM: Pequonnock River Nature Walk – led by TU
            • Includes Study of River Macroinvertebrates & how they relate to River Health & Fishing
            • (Macroinvertebrates are flatworms, crayfish, snails, clams and insects & more)
    • 11-11:15 AM: Birds of prey Animal Encounter – led by the Zoo.
    • 11:15-12 PM:
      • Fly Casting workshop (or straight to fishing for the experts) – led by TU.
      • Backyard Bass (CDC volunteers)
    • 12-1 PM: Fishing (fishing can continue after 1 but TU volunteers may leave) – led by TU.

 

 

If you are interested in volunteering please email me at rhrosen@aol.com and let me know which activity you want to help with.  We also need volunteers to tie some Wooly Buggers for the fishing session.  Wooly Buggers can be brought on the 21st or to our next chapter meeting on April 17th.

This is a day for fun and learning. Bring your spouses and kids and to celebrate and enjoy the Pequonnock River.

Regards,

Rich Rosen

President

Nutmeg Trout Unlimited

 

Written by NutmegTrout21707Apr, 2014

Cleanup along the Mill River April 12

Knotweed cutting along Congress Street in Fairfield is ahead of schedule after a major turnout Saturday, April 5.

That effort will allow the pickup of trash along the Mill River Saturday, April 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those who can volunteer should leave a comment indicating what time on this story.

“Saturday’s cutting of the standing dead Japanese Knotweed stalks was a smashing success,” Nutmeg TU President Chuck Petrucceli said. “With the help of 9 members of the chapter and 4 members of the Beardley Zoo Conservation Corps, all the knotweed stalks were cut down.  There was also some river clean up and several bags of garbage collected. We over achieved.”

Nutmeg members Dave Edgeworth, Bill Field, Phil Jacques, Gary Anderson, Chris Smith and his son Nick, Ed Grzedna, and Chuck MacMath and his son Jeromy, were joined by Thomas J. Altieri, Chavious Hall, Savannah Lewis, and Jamie Castro of the Beardley Zoo Conservation Corps.

“To the youths who joined us Saturday, Jeromy, Chavious, Savannah, and Jamie, it was a pleasure to meet you,” Petruccelli said. “It is good to see you feel strongly enough about conservation to get involved. Now and in the future we need conservationist minded people like you to continue the stewardship of what we preserve, protect and restore today.”

Written by NutmegTrout21708Jan, 2014

Beardsley Zoo seeking young naturalists

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo is looking for high school students who deeply love nature for the Conservation Discovery Corps.

Students who are accepted will have the opportunity to work side by side with field biologists, study the role of zoos in conservation, help educate the zoo’s visitors and more. The program usually includes two or three day-long trips, visits to other zoos and aquariums, etc.

Click HERE to watch a video about the Conservation Discovery Corps.

A one-time processing fee of $65 is assessed for students who are accepted for the grant-supported program.

Applications should be filed as soon as possible. Click HERE for information and to download an application.

Weekend classes start in February; the opportunity for greatest involvement is during the summer.

Written by NutmegTrout21707Oct, 2013

Nutmeg TIC featured in column

Fishing columnist Martin Armstrong recently shared an account of a Trout in the Classroom event at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo.

“This is fun! I caught six fish,” boasted a very happy Danielle Nichols as she reeled in her last fish from Bunnells Pond in Bridgeport. 

Danielle, age 13, and 15 other students from Bridgeport’s Park City Prep and Bridge Academy are participants in the Beardsley Zoo’s Trout In The Classroom (TIC) program. Recently the students teamed up with the Connecticut Aquatic Resources Education (CARE) program for a day of hands on learning and some fishing.

Click here to read Armstrong’s column.

Written by NutmegTrout21723May, 2013

Beardsley Zoo trout release May 31

Nutmeg members are invited to the Pequannock River in Beardsley Park Friday, May 31, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. for the second annual trout release by Trout in the Classroom students at Interdistrict Discovery Magnet School.

Interdistrict Discovery Magnet School sixth graders have hooked up with Trout in the Classroom, an environmental education program, to connect students with Connecticut’s watersheds. The students raised trout from eggs to fingerlings, monitored and controlled tank water quality, engaged in stream habitat study and ecosystem understanding, learned to appreciate water resources, and have begun to foster a conservation ethic.

The program includes the trout release; macroinvertebrate collection and identification (if weather permits); and a celebration at Beardsley Zoo.

Written by NutmegTrout21701Apr, 2013

Share the joy of fishing with at-risk children

Bridgeport Police have raised enough funds to give 300, 10- and 11-year-old at-risk inner city Bridgeport youths a Shakespeare spinning fishing kit (rod, reel, line, bobber and bait). The idea is to give these children a healthy, affordable form of recreation which will enrich their lives and also hopefully keep them away from trouble when school is not in session.

April 20, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. – meet near where the Pequonnock River meets Bunnell’s Pond at Beardsley Park (see beardsleyzoo.org for directions). Volunteers are very much needed to help the 300 kids fish safely and enjoy their first fishing experience. (Rods will have been set up ahead of time and some instruction will already have been provided).

After small trophies are awarded at noon, there will be food and refreshments. Participating children will then receive a free pass to Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo!

 Folks, we could really use your help here. R.S.V.P. to admin@nutmegtrout.org  or call John at 203-763-4015 . Updates will be at nutmegtrout.org

Written by NutmegTrout21714Mar, 2013

Nutmeg volunteers needed for Operation Fishing Pole

Bridgeport Police have raised enough funds to give 300 10- and 11-year-old at-risk inner city Bridgeport youths a Shakespeare spinning fishing kit (rod, reel, line, bobber and bait). The idea is to give these children a healthy form of recreation to keep them away from trouble, especially when school is not in session.

On Saturday, April 13, from 9 a.m. to noon, Bridgeport Police, in collaboration with the Connecticut DEEP’s CARE volunteers, Beardsley Zoo and Nutmeg TU, will hold a rapid fishing class at the Hanson Exploration Station at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. A minimum of nine volunteers are needed; no prior knowledge is required except for some very basic fishing know-how. Volunteers are asked to arrive at 8 a.m. to help assemble a few rods and to review the lessons (casting, a basic knot tying, fish ID, as well as a very quick overview of basic safety and what the Angler’s Guide is) for the day.

Volunteers will assemble the remaining 280 fishing rod and reel kits after training on April 13.

On April 20, 15 to 20 Nutmeg volunteers are needed when the kids get to go fishing from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The group will fish near where the Pequonnock River meets Bunnell Pond at Beardsley Park. For safety, there must be one instructor for every three children.

Children will begin to arrive between 8 and 9 a.m., and will fish from 10 a.m. to noon. After trophies are awarded at noon, there will be a barbeque.

Children will receive a free pass to Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo.

Information can be obtained by emailing admin@nutmegtrout.org. Updates will be at nutmegtrout.org.