Audubon Community Nature Center | The Beauty Around Us

Audubon Community Nature Center Visit

Bob and I drove to our local Audubon Center, located in Jamestown NY, yesterday afternoon. We walked a little more than 2 miles. I surprised Bob when I chose to walk as far as we did. I surprised myself too!

If you click here, you will find a map of the trails at the Audubon Center. We began our walk on the blue Overlook Trail.

We saw a Canada Goose, shortly after beginning our walk on the Overlook Trail.

We stopped at the Blue Heron Overlook that overlooks Big Pond.

We saw two Red-Winged Blackbirds from the Blue Heron Overlook.

We saw a Canada goose from the Blue Heron Overlook. We think the goose was sitting on a nest.

Leaving the Blue Heron Overlook we took a connecting trail to the yellow Big Pond Trail.

Along the connecting trail we saw a Pine Warbler.

We saw a Green Heron, too, while on the connecting trail.

We saw one more warbler, while on the connecting trail. This is a Yellow-Rumped Warbler.

We took the yellow Big Pond Trail alongside the Bluebird Field.

We saw a Northern Flicker, while walking alongside the Bluebird Field.

We also saw a Tree Swallow, while walking alongside the Bluebird Field.

What we didn’t see that I had hoped to see was a bluebird in the Bluebird Field.

We took a break here, with this beautiful view of Big Pond.
We were about opposite the Blue Heron Overlook at this point.

This is the Rosanne Stark Memorial Swing, located along the Big Pond Trail.
A nearby plaque stated that “Rosanne Stark volunteered at Audubon Community Nature Center for many years. She initiated several projects here including a native plant garden. She was especially fond of crows and enjoyed feeding and observing their activities from her Ashville home.
Rose was also a passionate teacher. She was instrumental in inviting Audubon’s Naturlists into classrooms at Chautauqua Lake School, where she was fondly knows as “The Frog Lady”. Rose loved history. Her dedication, humor, and creativity captivated students and brought historical characters and scenarios to life.
Rose’s warmth and enthusiasm endeared her to family and friends. She will always be remembered as a creatively thoughtful person who made friends easily.
She loved to laugh. She loved to learn.”

Near the swing was a tree with a large hole.
Bob took a picture of me and the tree.

I took a close-up picture of the tree bottom.

Soon we came to a bridge.

We were still on Big Pond Trail, when we crossed over Hemlock Bridge.

Soon after crossing over Hemlock Bridge, we walked the orange Spatterdock Trail that circles Spatterdock Pond. We made our way to a tower that looks out on Big Pond via Spatterdock and a connecting trail. We walked along the top end of Spatterdock Pond.

Hugh’s Tower overlooks Big Pond.
We have climbed this tower on past visits to the Audubon Center. We didn’t climb the tower yesterday, as I didn’t feel like doing steps.

Leaving the tower we used a connecting trail, Spatterdock Trail, and a small part of the Overlook Trail to make our way back to the parking lot.

We saw this Canada Goose family along the way.

No trip to the Audubon Center would be complete without visiting Liberty. So, we visited her enclosure on our way back to the parking lot.

Liberty was found in the state of Washington, with an infected cut on her left wing. She cannot be released because the muscle damage in her wing prevents her from flying well enough to hunt in the wild.
Liberty can fly short distances inside her habitat.

Liberty has lived at the Audubon Center since June 2002.
A group of volunteers take good care of her.

PLEASE NOTE: All photographs in this blog post may be viewed larger by visiting Flickr, for as long as I have Flickr. Please click here to view larger-size images for this blog post.

Nature Play Area

I have had this blog post in mind for almost two weeks, ever since my granddaughters and I visited our local Audubon Center. I wanted to share a few photographs of my granddaughters, as it has been a while since I did so in this blog. Also, I wanted to showcase the Nature Play Area at the Audubon Center.

According to its website the Audubon Community Nature Center “is a 600-acre wetland preserve that includes over five miles of trails, a native tree arboretum, picnic areas, a natural play space, and educational gardens for you to explore daily from dawn until dusk. … The Nature Center itself is home to the Blue Heron Gift Shop and three floors of interactive exhibits, including live animals, which inform and engage visitors of all ages. … You can visit Liberty, a non-releasable Bald Eagle, in her enclosure near the [Nature Center] building.”

The Audubon Center is located approximately 12 miles from our house at 1600 Riverside Road in Jamestown, NY. We walk the trails and visit Liberty frequently. We have visited the Nature Center building, as well, but just a few times. This blog post, though, is about the nature play area only.

The nature play area is located near the Nature Center building.

In Mar 2016 the nature play area had a tunnel made out of a tree and stepping “stones” made out of trees.

Mar 2016
Our granddaughters climbed through and on the tree tunnel.

Mar 2016
Bob and our granddaughters check out the stepping “stones” made out of trees.

I can’t recall if there was anything else to play on in the nature play area during our visit in March 2016.

During our visit to the Audubon Center on October 7th the girls found three new additions to the nature play area.

The girls had fun pretending they were stuck in this shelter.

The girls are sitting on Tank, a 12-foot and 1,500 pound concrete turtle.

Last fall, Tank the Turtle was created and donated to the Audubon Nature Center by Mike Whitmire of Whitmire Block and Outdoor Living, Starbrick, PA.

Spotted Salamander

The most recent addition to the Nature Play Area is this spotted salamander, which was also created and donated to the Audubon Center by Mike Whitmire of Whitmire Block and Outdoor Living. The spotted salamander measures roughly 14 feet from its nose to the tip of its tail. The spotted salamander had not yet been named.

An Eagle Called “Liberty”

This morning I finished sorting through, editing and uploading photographs from Deborah and Brian’s wedding. Now it is time for me to catch up on my blog writing. I have much to share with you. This is the first of at least seven catch-up blog posts!

On Sunday, June 25, needing a break from reviewing the wedding photographs, Bob and I went for a drive. We ended up at the Audubon Community Nature Center, located in Jamestown NY, where we went for a short walk. At the end of our walk we visited with Liberty, the resident eagle, for a few minutes.

Liberty, just before she flew to a nearby perch in a tree.

Liberty was found in the state of Washington, with an infected cut on her left wing. Liberty cannot be released because the muscle damage in her wing prevents her from flying well enough to hunt in the wild. Liberty can fly short distances inside her habitat. Liberty has lived at the Audubon Community Nature Center since June 2002. A group of volunteers take good care of Liberty.

An Afternoon Walk at A Nature Center

More walking is in our future, with BOTH of us now owning a Fitbit. My Fitbit Flex arrived from Amazon on Tuesday, and Bob purchased a Fitbit Charge HR at Walmart on Wednesday.

We went for a walk at the Audubon Center & Sanctuary in Jamestown, NY yesterday afternoon, soon after Bob came home from work. We walked for approximately 2 miles (1 1/2 hours), following mainly the Yellow and Orange Trails. What a beautiful afternoon for a walk!

One of several small ponds at Audubon Center & Sanctuary

We walked around Big Pond and Spatterdock Pond.

This is Big Pond.
Water used to fill the pond.

A pair of Geese on Spatterdock Pond.

Spatterdock Pond

I spotted this butterfly, while walking around Spatterdock Pond.

Spatterdock Boardwalk
and Photo Blind overlooking Spatterdock Pond
This boardwalk is one of my favorite features at Audubon.

The highlight of our walk was seeing a muskrat toward the end of our walk.

a muskrat!
I had never personally seen a muskrat.

Bob and I each have a goal of 10,000 steps each day. Since Tuesday afternoon I have walked 24,283 steps. Since Wednesday afternoon Bob has walked 27,065 steps. Yesterday, I *almost* reached my goal with 9,754 steps!

Susan and Chance Visit the Audubon Center

My friend Susan’s 11-year-old grandson spent the week of July 20th at his grandmother’s house. On July 25th I met Susan and her grandson, Chance, at the Audubon Center & Sanctuary in Jamestown NY. Chance wanted to see a snake. Susan knew there was a good possibility that he would see a snake at the Audubon Center, as she had seen a photograph of the snake that I had seen there earlier in the week. Susan preferred to not go to the Audubon Center alone (she does not like snakes!), so I agreed to meet the two of them at the nature center.

Susan and Chance near entrance to Nature Center Building

Susan and Chance at entrance to Bob’s Garden —
an herb, kitchen, and butterfly garden
named in honor of one of the Audubon Center’s
early founders, Bob Hallquist.

Susan and Chance

Chance sees a snake.

Chance wanted to see a snake. He saw two snakes! This is the first snake that Chance saw. I enlarged the hole and the snake so that you can actually SEE the snake. The second snake that Chance saw was a short distance from here. It was lying in the weeds.

Nature Center Visit

I spent a couple hours the morning of July 22 at the Audubon Center & Sanctuary, located in Jamestown NY. The Audubon Center is less than a 1/2 hour drive from my home and is one of my favorite local destinations. I enjoy walking along the nature trails and photographing whatever happens to catch my eye.

Audubon Center & Sanctuary

Snake!

Snake’s Head!

Geese

“Liberty”

No visit to the Audubon is complete without seeing “Liberty”.

I happened to be at the Audubon Center, when Liberty was given her lunch.

I hope that you enjoyed looking at photographs of what caught my eye during this visit.

Snowy Owl and a Visit to the Jamestown Audubon Center & Sanctuary

I drove to Riverside Road, near the Jamestown Audubon Center & Sanctuary, hoping to see a snowy owl. I saw a snowy owl there on Tuesday afternoon.

My first snowy owl sighting!

A snowy owl has been seen there or at other nearby locations all this week. I didn’t see the owl this morning.

I made a return trip to Riverside Road early in the afternoon. Other people were there, hoping to see a snowy owl. Once again, I did not see the owl. I don’t know if anyone was fortunate enough to see the owl today. Someone should have sent an invitation to the owl to be in the field between such and such hours! All was not lost for me, though. I drove to the Audubon Center & Sanctuary and went for a walk.

I was the only one walking the trail to Big Pond; so peaceful! The walk would have been perfect had it not been so cold. The bright sunshine did very little to keep me warm!

While on my walk, I saw and heard lots of sparrows. The sparrows, in mass, were flitting back and forth between brush and trees.

This little guy stayed still for a second, long enough for me to get his picture!

I mentioned the bright sunshine. My eyes feasted on the beauty looking across Big Pond.

It was a picture-perfect day.

Before leaving the Audubon Center I visited with the eagle, Liberty.

An eagle called Liberty

Liberty was found in the state of Washington, with an infected cut on her left wing. She cannot be released because the muscle damage in her wing prevents her from flying well enough to hunt in the wild. Liberty can fly short distances inside her habitat.