Photo and article by Alec Linden – Lakeville Journal

CORNWALL — The Cornwall Conservation Trust (CCT) unveiled its new wildlife viewing platform at the Rattlesnake Preserve on Saturday, Oct. 19 with a reception of autumnal favorites such as mulled cider and homemade cider donuts.

The viewing platform, which is handicap accessible, overlooks an expanse of wetlands with woodlands at its fringe. A stream runs through the foreground of
the vista, with several jumbles of sticks and branches just visible above the cattails that fringe the water.

These jumbles, CCT President Bart Jones explains, are beaver dams. Addressing the group of 20 or so that assembled at the platform, Jones explained that the beavers are a vital component of the wetland ecosystem on the Preserve, and one of the reasons this specific site is unique.

“Without the beavers, the cattails would be gone,”, and when the cattails disappear, so too does the most of the ecosystem they support, Jones said.

Wildlife photographer and CCT Board Member Larry Master said that another unique aspect of this site is that the cattails have managed to thrive, where elsewhere wetlands have succumbed to invasive phragmites, whose dense growth leaves little room for other life. Efforts by the CCT to restrict phragmite spread have maintained this unique ecosystem, Master said.

Despite the relative lateness of the season, the wetland was still vibrant with life. Master said he had seen 21 different bird species at the site between 9:30 and 11
a.m. that morning. He predicts that visitors will be able to see “100 species by spring” without having to venture off the viewing platform.

Master will be speaking on Cornwall’s birds and their habitats at the Nov. 16 annual of the CCT. “It will be great preparation for spring,” Jones told the crowd.

Jones also emphasized his gratitude on behalf of the CCT to Joe and Barbara Ellis, who donated the funds to build the platform and were guests at the event. Jones affirmed how fundamental donors have been to the CCT’s work, explaining that the 100 acres of the Rattlesnake Preserve were entirely donated thanks to the generosity of five families. Out of the 2,500 acres the CCT manages, about have been donated, Jones said.

For his part, Joe Ellis was excited about the location of the platform and expressed his interest in the dynamic nature of the ecosystem. “These environments ebb
and flow,” he said. “It will be interesting to see what shows up.”