New Nature Center in Massena, New York - Part 1

I heard that a brand new nature center had opened over the weekend in the Robert Moses State Park, just northeast of Massena, NY on the St. Lawrence Seaway. I drove to it on Monday morning to have a look. The exterior was impressive, and crews were still working on the landscaping:

The interior was even more impressive, with a large aquarium front and center. If I remember correctly, I was told that it holds 2000 gallons of water:

There was a display at the top of the aquarium which showed how a muskrat lodge would look:

And down below, several Eastern Painted Turtles were swimming:

A few Green Frogs watched me from the weeds. I was told that they had gotten rather tame because the staff threw food to them. A friendly naturalist took me around, explaining things as we went:

Behind the big aquarium were a stuffed bear and beaver:

And lots of native fish swam in the waters below:

These were Yellow Perch:

Who needs wetlands? Every living thing on earth. This was, after all, right between the St. Lawrence and Grasse Rivers, with marshes and ponds and rivulets everywhere:

I was familiar with fresh water clams, but had no idea there were five species. I also learned that we have freshwater jellyfish (non-stinging), common to Adirondack lakes. They are clear, and about the size of a penny. They are a non-native species, introduced accidentally from China:

This aquarium had fish, turtles and crayfish:

 And most of the fish in it were Creek Chub. But I was just getting started and had much more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Chapter One - The Wild Center!

The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, New York is an Adirondack natural history museum which I'd long planned to visit - but never had. So one wintry Friday I drove down to pay a visit to The Wild Center:

The central building was large, modern and beautiful:

I paid for admission and began my tour. The first exhibit was a geological demonstration of the origins of the Adirondack region:

There was a traditional Adirondack lean-to, complete with socks drying on a clothesline. But what was in that aquarium?:

Inside that aquarium was an Eastern Garter Snake, a common Adirondack resident:

There were many large displays of local fish:

And local turtles. This was an Eastern Painted Turtle, but they also had Red-Eared Sliders, an introduced species which now makes itself a home in the Adirondacks. This turtle was close enough to touch and I was impressed by the clever sign which warned turtles that human touch might be dangerous. I thought that a far more effective way to handle the problem than a "Do Not Touch" sign:

A naturalist came out for an owl demonstration. She brought out Luna, a Screech Owl who had been so badly injured by a car that she would never again be able to live in the wild. The naturalist talked about all the local owls and, of course, Screech Owls. Luna was very calm and used to people, and she'd found a comfy, happy life at the Wild Center:

There were clusters of typical Adirondack scenes:

And more turtles in a pond which also had Wood Ducks:

Dragonflies:

And mushrooms, lots and lots of mushrooms. I encounter them frequently while hiking and have been fascinated by their colors and variety. You may recognize the one on the left as the subject of many photos in former blog posts. But there was still a lot more to see at the Wild Center and post Chapter Two tomorrow:

Part 1, St. Regis River Canoe Carry

The afternoon was hot and humid. The dogs and I had just hiked the Quebec Brook trail, but I knew of another short, easy, scenic hike just a couple of miles down the road. I let the dogs out of the car amidst wildflowers galore:

And then we followed the trail into the forest:

The "soil" looked like pure sand to me, but the Boreal forest grew on it. On the other hand, the trail was easy on my injured ankles and the dogs were ecstatic to be out in nature once again:

Clover and Madeline sniffed around in the mosses and lichens with a large pond nearby, just behind those trees:

The shores of this pond are so marshy that one can't get near it, but I got close enough to take a quick photo. This is just about as wild as a pond and forest can get:

The Pale Laurels were still in bloom here, weeks behind other places. We continued on down the trail toward the St. Regis River. This trail was intended as a canoe carry:

I stopped for a close-up of British Soldier Lichens, so tiny that the mosses were bigger and pine needles looked like sticks beside them:

Happy dogs, spectacular scenery, peace and quiet:

Fergus was very happy:

The Papillons tended to hang out together:

We finally arrived at the great clearing. Just ahead lay St. Regis Mountain and the St. Regis River:


And slowly moving across the sand was a very large Eastern Painted Turtle. I didn't want to disturb it by picking it up for a closer look, especially as I had the dogs with me. This was probably a female looking for a sandy spot to lay her eggs. We passed her by and she was gone when we returned. We were almost to the water's edge, but I'll post about that tomorrow: