The yellow buildings of our astronomical observatory are on top of a knoll in our back pastures. Visitors are offered a very expansive, relatively unobstructed, 360-degree night sky view. (Skies are as dark as one can get in Fairfield County!) We are fortunate to have an enthusiastic and knowledgeable team of amateur astronomers that offers monthly programs for viewing the constellations and the moon, planets, nebulae, and other deep-sky objects through our telescopes.
Our physical facility has a roll-off building that permits the telescopes to be readily available for observation, as well as a platform for observers to stand on to keep their feet off of dewy grass in the summer and cold ground in the winter. There is a small classroom building where we typically have short presentations on the objects that are being viewed. In the winter months, the classroom also serves as a welcomed place to warm up and to enjoy cups of farm-fresh hot chocolate!
We have 11 and 9.25-inch Celestron Edge HD SCT telescopes on go-to equatorial mounts. With the go-to capability, the scopes can hop amongst objects very quickly.
The equipment will allow us to expand into astrophotography, variable star observing, and supernova hunting. Educational research could be performed by the volunteers and used while mentoring high school students.
Our founder, Carmen Mathews, originally built the observatory for Western Connecticut State University students. Now, it is enjoyed by members of New Pond Farm Education Center, members of the public, and students from astronomy programs offered at Redding’s Joel Barlow High School and at Ridgefield High School.
Welcome
IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER AND WOULD LIKE TO COME FOR A VISIT, PLEASE CALL US AT 203-938-2117 OR STOP BY THE OFFICE IN THE LEARNING CENTER. OUR STAFF WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO GIVE YOU A TOUR AND SHARE THE MANY BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP!
Eastern Bluebirds
An Avian Success Story: In the early 1900s European Starlings and English Sparrows were introduced into the northeast. For decades, these aggressive cavity nesters out-competed the more docile bluebirds for nest sites, so their populations were in serious decline. Environmental groups and individuals came to the rescue. Wooden nesting boxes were installed throughout the area and thankfully the Bluebirds proved to be quite adaptable, successfully raising their families in these new homes.
As you walk through our lower pastures and wildflower meadow, you may be fortunate enough to see bluebirds sitting on our nesting boxes. The males have brilliant blue plumage on their wings and back, a rusty colored breast and sides, and white undersides. The wings and back of the females are a more subtle grayish blue.
Once you learn the warbling vocalizations of these members of the thrush family, you will hear them frequently throughout your walk.
In addition to the many insects that make up their summer diet, our bluebirds feast on the berries of native shrubs throughout the fall and winter. We have planted stands of native winterberries (Ilex verticillate) and flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) to add to our native staghorn sumacs (Rhus typina), and elderberries (Sambucus nigra).
Purple Martin
Another bird that DEEP considers a species of special concern is the Purple Martin. Once commonly seen flying over open agricultural lands across the State, these aerial acrobats have been in decline for decades due to lack of open fields and pastures, lack of suitable nesting sites, and competition from aggressive non-native European starlings and house sparrows
For several decades, conservation efforts have been in place across the State to bring back the Purple Martins, and efforts are paying off! Arrangements of specially-sized, artificial hollow gourds have been hung from tall poles in appropriate habitats. Groups like the CT Audubon Society have well established banding programs, and DEEP reports that the Martin populations are on the rise.
New Pond Farm’s pastures seem like a perfect habitat, so during the nesting season, we too have positioned an arrangement of hanging gourds near the white fenceline along the pasture. If you venture over here during the early morning hours in the spring, you may hear the loop of pre-recorded twittering calls that we play in an attempt to attract any migrants. So far, we have just attracted a few scouting birds. Hopefully the spring of 2024 may be our lucky year
American Kestrel
Back in the 1980s, a pair of kestrels nested reliably in a box positioned in the large sugar maple along our Farm Road. These exquisite, robin-sized, falcons were an absolute joy to behold as they would soar, hover, and plunge over the pastures and lawns searching for insects, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.
For many years we have been without a nesting pair, and for the past several decades DEEP has listed American Kestrels as a species of special concern.
Working with Art Gingert, who is well known in the State for his decades of d devotion to reestablishing nesting pairs of kestrels, we have installed a kestrel box on the eastern side of our pasture. No takers yet, but the box will be back up early in the spring of 2024, and we are hopeful.
