Arlene and I normally are going through Connecticut quickly on our way between Newton and New Jersey. We usually say something like, “it’s too bad we never have time to see anything in Connecticut.” We did have time on our way back from Mimi’s on July 31.
We stopped at the Danbury rest area off I-84 and picked up a thickish booklet about Connecticut attractions. The one that sounded most interesting, of the things that would still be open when we got there and that weren’t too far off the highway, was the National Audubon Society’s Bent of the River sanctuary in Southbury.
It felt good to be back to New England woods and architecture. Even more, it felt good to be back to colonial era, Revolutionary War history rather than Civil War history!
Bent of the River (and we don’t really know why it’s “benT” rather than “benD”, but it seems to have something to do with spelling and diction in the Colonial era) is known for butterflies. We already saw lots of them in the fields of wildflowers near the start of the trail. I remember lots and lots of butterflies at the national monument in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, but there were just about as many at Bent of the River.
We walked along the trail to the barn and visitor center. In the gardens behind the barn were bushes covered with tiger swallowtails. All right, not covered the way the butterfly trees that the monarchs migrate to get covered, but a half-dozen tiger swallowtails in one bush is pretty impressive.
It’s not just that we saw a lot of butterflies. The sanctuary has a brochure with a checklist of the butterflies that can be seen there. They consider themselves to be a prime location for butterflies. One species that’s seen there is Milbert’s Tortoiseshell, which is found in very few other locations in Connecticut (said the woman in the office).
We saw a couple of hummingbirds, which are no longer an event for us, but it’s always nice seeing them in flowers or trees rather than just at feeders, and a female rose-breasted grosbeak.
So, as you can see, we were pretty enthusiastic about that stop. I don’t know if we’ll get there again, but I hope so.