So I’m back from a day of “testing” our geospatial predictor hypothesis on Chestnut locations. I drove around the western part of Litchfield County near Segar Mountain Road and Skiff Mountain Road in hopes of finding some potential pollinators. Unfortunately, I did not find any reproductive trees, but I certainly found several sprouts! After a day of strenuous hunting, I have some advice on helpful methodology…
Segar Mountain Road (rt 341) with potential "hotspots"
Skiff Mountain Road with potential "hotspots"
For starters, I highly recommend recruiting an assistant Chestnut hunter. It is far easier to drive and search with two sets of eyes. By doing so, you might not have to drive quite as slow, therefore decreasingthe number of angry Connecticutians that may be behind you…Sorry! Either way, if you’ve found a potential route that straddles a larger, well-trafficked road, I would advise ignoring the map and pulling off on the first side street. For starters, small shoulders on busy roads would be difficult for a pollination team to deal with, and it’s probably not too safe to be traipsing up and down them anyway. For example, my first mission was to explore the Segar Mountain Road area (rt. 341). This, as many of you may know, is a rather busy road and attempting to study the roadsides was nearly impossible. Slightly frustrated at my inability to spot Chestnut trees (let alone identify the species of any tree), I immediately pulled off onto a small side street to get out my map and regroup. As soon as I pulled over and shut down my car, I noticed a little Chestnut sprout staring straight up at me (almost mockingly, really). I jumped out of my car to investigate further and noticed this roadside (maybe 30 yards from rt 341) was covered in Chestnut sprouts! None of them had any signs of male catkins, but many of them were a decent size in a fairly sunny location–indicating they may be ready in a year or two! Actually, one sprout did have an old nut hanging on for dear life, suggesting that perhaps last year was the peak year for that particular tree. I took a few samples for Validation, but I would certainly keep this spot in mind!
An old nut, probably from last year. This dying sprout is one of many on this road (Heading west on rt 341 from Warren take a right on Cemetery Road, less than 1/4 mile)
After exploring Cemetery Road for a while, I eventually chose to turn down another, larger side street that had several “hotpots” on it as well. Turning right on Kenico, I made a huge loop through Gorham to end up back on Segar Mountain. Where the loop turns into Gorham is most definitely Chestnut territory. It’s a previously disturbed area in very early succession stages–prime Chestnut location. I saw several sprouts on this street as well; although, again, none were reproductively active. I did see one sprout with male catkins, but they were oddly small, indicating that this plant may be a hybrid. Farther behind this individual were several large sprouts (probably the largest I saw all day) that really look promising–just not this year. Sigh.
Sprout with small catkins off of Gorham Road
I eventually made it to Skiff Mountain Road which leads me to my next bit of advice. The potential hotspots displayed on the map certainly do not take all aspects of Chestnut ecology into account. Skiff Mountain Road is a fairly narrow, relatively undisturbed road with mature growth and very dense stands. There is not a lot of light coming through and large hemlock forests seem to shade out the possibility of Chestnut. I, therefore, did not find very many sprouts on this road. My advice is to keep in mind those important facts about Chestnut ecology when using this map. Especially when time is off the essence, I might advise X-ing a shady, narrow road off your list.
In addition, if you are cruising along solo, keep in mind those facts that might make your life a little easier: key in on sunny spots (Chestnuts thrive off of release), choose sidestreets that may be less traveled, and don’t be afraid to pull over and park if you’ve spotted a single sprout (chances are, there’s probably a few more around too).
Just one last piece of advice: make sure to have your favorite CD available. It was scientifically proven today that whenever your favorite song on a certain CD began to play (in my case, Ray Charles’ Georgia), a Chestnut sprout always appeared. Like I said before, it’s as if they’re mocking us. 
It can't hurt to see a Chinese Chestnut for comparison. Notice the shiny leaves and shallow dentations...Can't be an American!
Just a few more fun pictures from a beautiful New England Countryside.
I know we've all seen wild turkeys, but this guy was almost turkey dinner AND I was driving ridiculously slow.
Covered bridge in West Cornwall
This bridge cross the Housatonic River, popular among many flyfisherman.
This photo I just thought was particularly amusing because it's my brother-in-law's surname! What's his southern family doing all the way up here?
