Audubon Community Nature Center | The Beauty Around Us

Posts tagged ‘Audubon Community Nature Center’

A Morning’s Walk

Stacey and I took the girls for a walk this morning at the Audubon Center in Jamestown, NY. We followed the yellow trail around Big Pond and through the woods. We walked a little over 2 miles. Shortly after our arrival, we stopped at the Big Pond Overlook, where we fed the girls. Harper and June slept throughout our walk around Big Pond and through the woods.

Stacey, June and Harper crossing one of several boardwalks

This was Stacey’s first visit to the Audubon Center, whereas I have been there numerous times. Stacey really liked walking there. We plan to make a return trip.

I Have a Bug, Part 2

My husband and I went for a walk at the local Audubon Center. We didn’t do much walking, as I spent approximately 1 1/4 hours watching two tree sparrows fly in and out of their nesting box birdhouse. See? I really do have the bird photography bug. It appeared the two birds were building a nest.

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow Entering Bird House

An Early Spring Walk

Bob and I visited the Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Jamestown, New York. We walked the Yellow Trail, which is 2 miles long. Here are a few pictures of what we saw along the trail.

We saw this heron within minutes of beginning our walk.

We saw several deer twice during our walk. They kept their distance, with trees between us and them. I wasn’t able to capture a good picture of the deer. It was cool to see the deer though!

Yellow Trail Scene at Audubon Center and Sanctuary

This was one of a few boardwalks that we crossed.

The trail was in pretty good shape, although it was snow-covered and icy in places. The trail was not too muddy, which was the reason I picked today to make this walk. It has been cold the past few days, with little precipitation. The ground was harder than it would have been had the temperatures been warmer.

I feel as though I accomplished something today. I haven’t walked much in months. I probably should have opted for a shorter route, as my knee is really bothering me. I am happy, however, that I finished the 2-mile loop!

Early Summer Visit to the Audubon Center and Sanctuary

My friend Susan and I visited the Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Jamestown, New York. I have visited the Audubon Center numerous times. You may view other blog posts that I have written about visits to the Audubon Center and Sanctuary by clicking on the tag “Audubon Center and Sanctuary” found at the top of this blog post.

This was Susan’s first visit to the Audubon Center. It was a good day for a visit because the cool temperature and light breeze kept the bugs away.

Big Pond
It was a sunny day, with blue skies and white puffy clouds.

One of several small ponds

Sun-bathing Turtle

My friend Susan

A trip to the Audubon Center is not complete without visiting Liberty.

Liberty

This photograph was taken shortly after Liberty had flown here from another perch. One day I hope to capture a good photograph of Liberty in flight. Liberty’s shelter is not large, so I would have to be real quick on the trigger!

There is so much more of the Audubon Center that I would like to share with Susan. I hope that we make a return visit in the near future.

Springtime Nature Walk

On Wednesday, April 7th, Valerie C. and I visited the Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Jamestown, New York. We arrived shortly before 10:00 AM and didn’t leave until around 1:00 PM. There are three trails at the Audubon Center. We walked part of each trail. We saw geese, an eagle (too far away for a good picture), ducks, various birds, reptiles and amphibians. Valerie saw a deer. She caught a glimpse of its white tail, as it passed in front of us a good ways down one of the trails that we were walking.

These are two of the many geese that we saw on our nature walk.

Snake!

This snake was lying curled up on top of a low bush. We wondered if it was dead. We passed by it again towards the end of our walk. The snake was still lying on top of this bush; however, it had changed its position. No, it wasn’t dead! After seeing this snake the first go-around, we saw three more snakes!

My friend Valerie

We were walking on this boardwalk a short time after taking this picture. At the same time that I noticed on my right what appeared to be a long snake curled up on top of a low bush, Valerie saw a snake in the water to her left. These snakes were much closer to where we were walking, and I raised my camera to take a picture of the one closest to me. The plan was to take the picture and get the heck out of there! As I raised my camera, the snake uncurled. It wasn’t one snake; it was two snakes! They looked as though they were slithering, quickly, towards me ONTO the boardwalk! I didn’t give it a second thought. I touched Valerie’s shoulder, said emphatically “they’re coming!”, and pushed my hand gently on Valerie’s shoulder. It didn’t take much to get Valerie moving. We both made quick steps forward, all the while watching behind us. The snakes didn’t go on the boardwalk; they slithered into the water. Seeing four snakes during one nature walk was more than enough for me! I really wasn’t that pleased when we saw that first snake. At least that one was farther away, and it wasn’t moving!

Toad ?

I think this is a toad, as it appears to have a bumpy skin. This was the only amphibian that we saw. We heard lots of them singing or as they jumped into the pond when we walked by. We didn’t see any turtles. We kept looking for turtles because I had hoped to take a picture of several of them sunbathing on top of a log or a rock.

This bridge caught my attention. I loved the reflection of the bridge in the pond.

Reflecting Bridge

While we walked through the forest, I smelled Spring … an earthy fragrance.

I tried to capture the smell of Spring in this photograph.
Can you smell the earth?

Before leaving the Audubon Center we visited the eagle called Liberty. I took a picture of her screeching. Neither Valerie nor I had heard an eagle’s cry before. That was so cool!

Liberty

Another Visit to the Audubon Center and Sanctuary

The Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Jamestown, NY, has got to be my most favorite place to visit. I have visited the center on four separate occasions this year alone.

I visited the Audubon Center with my friend, Linda H., this morning. Linda has visited the Audubon Center with her grandchildren; however, she had never walked any of the trails. We followed the blue trail a short distance to a photo blind overlooking Big Pond. It was a lovely morning. The temperature had the feel of autumn about it, cool but not cold. The sky was a pretty blue color with streaks of white clouds tossed about. The sun shone brilliantly, basking the earth in its warm glow. The colors of the changing leaves were gorgeous.

Big Pond

Linda and I at Big Pond

Before leaving the Audubon Center we paid a visit to Liberty, the resident eagle. It was Liberty’s lunch time.

Liberty, eating lunch

Liberty looks like she is asking us what we are looking at!

It was time for OUR lunch when we left the Audubon Center. Linda and I ate lunch at Perkins Restaurant. Our lunches were inexpensive. Linda had a coupon for buy one entree get one free. To use the coupon we had to order a beverage, other than water. We each ordered from a special offer menu — lunch entrees for $5.99 each. Linda ordered a chicken salad sandwich with french fries, a petite salad, and a large homemade chocolate chip cookie. I ordered a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich with a petite salad, fruit cup and a chocolate chip cookie. Both of our sandwiches were half sandwiches, and the salads were tiny. When the menu says “petite”, it means petite. Our lunches were scrumptious and well worth the cost.

Nature Walk with a Friend

I spent 6 hours (10:00AM-4:00PM) this past Wednesday with my friend Lynn B. We went on a nature walk at the Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Jamestown, NY.

The Audubon Center includes over 5 miles of well-maintained trails: the Blue Trail, the Orange Trail and the Yellow Trail. Our nature walk took us on all three trails. We walked well over 2 miles!

We began our walk on the Orange trail. The Orange trail makes a big loop around Spatterdock Pond, which is the Audubon Center’s second-largest pond. Within a couple minutes of starting our walk we saw a deer! It crossed right in front of us. Neither of us captured a photograph of the deer, though, as we hadn’t yet removed the lens cap from our cameras! We stopped at a photo blind that looks across Spatterdock Pond. The blind had cut-out holes of varying heights, allowing small, regular and tall people a comfortable place from which to view.

Spatterdock Pond Photo Blind

After leaving the photo blind, we crossed a boardwalk into a wooded area.

Boardwalk trail

Lynn on the boardwalk

We saw this lily pad as we crossed over the boardwalk.

Somewhere along the way we got off the Orange trail and started following the Yellow trail. The Yellow trail leads all the way around Big Pond, which is the Audubon Center’s largest pond. There are two photo blinds and a tower that overlook Big Pond. We passed by the first photo blind because the bugs were bothering us so much that we were hurrying back to the car.

Lynn wore the hat and jacket in an attempt to keep the bugs at bay. Note in this photograph that the hood of Lynn’s jacket is up. Lynn’s attire didn’t help. The bugs were bad!

We did apply bug spray before beginning our walk. Apparently the effectiveness of the bug spray diminishes with time. Next time we will carry the bug spray with us.

We made our way to the parking lot. After reapplying bug spray we followed the Blue trail to the photo blind nearest the nature center. This photo blind is the second blind that overlooks Big Pond. We stayed at this blind quite a while, snapping pictures of geese and blue herons. The photographs didn’t turn out, as the geese and blue herons were too far out on the pond.

Before leaving the Audubon Center we followed the Orange trail once again to the tower. The tower is two levels and looks out on Big Pond.

Tower

Some geese took off, while at the tower.

A visit to the Audubon Center would not be complete without a stop to see an eagle named Liberty.

Liberty

Lynn and I enjoyed our day immensely. I hope we make a return trip. Lynn suggested bringing picnic lunches next time. I think that is a good idea!