Nicandri Nature Center - Part 2

I was touring the new nature center on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Massena, New York (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). I fondly remembered this giant hollow log from my previous visit. It was made of concrete but looked entirely real:

I walked up to it and entered, this time knowing what to expect. When someone enters, a red light comes on and these imitation bats begin chirping. I saw a woman scream the last time:

All along the wall of this room was a diorama with birds and mammals common to the area:

This Wild Turkey was one of the most realistic and one of the most commonly seen:

 A Cottontail Rabbit and Red Fox:

The last time I was at the nature center, their bees had not yet arrived. But they had taken up residence over the summer and built a large, thriving colony. They were crowded and difficult to see, though, but that was solved by the lighted, enlarging camera which could be positioned wherever you wanted a better view:

And whatever you focused it on was displayed, giant sized, on the adjacent screen:

Honeybees are an important part of our natural world and of our agriculture:

A third room contained a Blandings Turtle, a familiar species to me because I had one as a boy. If I had lived within bicycling range of a place like this when I was young, I'd have been there every day and made a pest of myself:

They also had a Wood Turtle, a species I've rescued from the roads several times around here:

I'd seen most everything, so I thanked the naturalist and exited to the first, main room on my way out:

Outdoors, I saw that they had planted a garden which was designed specifically for the bees:

It doesn't look like it here, but many of those plants were still flowering, even this late in the year:

New Nature Center in Massena, New York - Part 2

I was touring the brand new Robert Moses State Park Nature Center near Massena, NY (see also Part 1, posted yesterday). I entered another large room and was immediately drawn to a glass fronted display of taxidermy forest animals,:

A Mallard, a Beaver and a pair of Wood Ducks:

A pair of Ringneck Pheasants:


A Porcupine and a Turkey. There were many more specimens, including a pied deer, but you get the idea:


Tree rings, and their meaning. See the bear on the left? The naturalist took my picture with the bear, but there were none on the camera when I got home. He must have pushed the wrong buttons:

The bee colony had not yet arrived, but one was on the way and they were ready for it, with a transparent indoor display which will allow people to watch the bees' activities:

A huge, old hollow log (made of concrete, I think - I forgot to check). Children were drawn to it as if it were a magnet:

And inside the log, at the very ceiling, were realistic looking, fake bats which began squeaking suddenly and loudly as soon as someone entered. As you might guess, there were a lot of sudden reactions from the people (the adults more than the kids):

Beavers, the species which shaped our landscape and drew settlers westward when our nation was young:

A Wood Turtle, named for the wood grain type pattern on its carapace (top shell). I know they live around here because last year I rescued two of them from roads:

A Blandings Turtle. I didn't know they lived around here but I know they lived in Ohio, where I grew up, because I kept one once as a boy. The poor turtle had had his feet chewed off but it lived quite awhile in our washtub:

They had two baby Snapping Turtles who were not yet eating well, though they were tempting them by jiggling fish parts. This was an exceptional nature center and the two naturalists on duty were terrific. One of them I recognized from church, along with several of the visitors. I plan to return soon: