Trolley Trail, Branford

My arrival to the Connecticut/Rhode Island area coincided with a drastic reduction in the days my friend Alex was working so we ended up getting to spend more time together than originally thought. I had a dozen or so activities tentatively planned for the weekdays when I figured my friends would be working but it was nice that Alex had some time off and that he got to do something fun.

I got to Connecticut just in time to watch the second World Cup semifinal, and we got to also watch the bronze medal match two days later. The Sunday morning of the final we headed out to do a short walk through the wetlands along the Branford Trolley Trail, named for the trolley rail bridge that was converted for pedestrian use and incorporated into the larger Shoreline Greenway Trail. The mile-long trek follows the shore, cutting across wetlands rich with bird life and which provide spectacular views to small residential islands in the Long Island Sound. We sat for an hour at a point along the way, just observing the birds in flight and the occasional splash in the water. Although there were a few other people on the trail that morning it was exceptionally peaceful and both Alex and I would have been happy to stay longer than we did had we not an appointment to watch the game at a friend’s house that afternoon. Although I can’t identify birds (or plants) to save my life I know for a fact that we saw Great Egrets, and there were definitely raised osprey nests as well. Both Alex and I really liked the place and enjoyed the solitude we found on a bench looking out over the marsh.