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:

Photos From Around The Farm

I had to find a bigger bin to use as a chick brooder:

The chicks were growing like weeds and feathering out nicely:

Outdoors, the Lamium was spreading and blooming profusely:

The iris stopped blooming, but the Asiatic Lilies began. Notice the hen scratching beneath the flowers:

The chickens love grass clippings, and run to the lawn mower as soon as I shut if off:

I have a very old fanning mill in my barn's hay loft. I took a photo of it and sent an email to the Power and Equipment Museum, offering to donate it. They declined the offer, saying they already had several fanning mills:

And one morning, I walked into the bathroom and found Georgette harassing a bat. I shooed her out of the room, closed the door, opened the window screens and endeavored to get the bat out the window. At first it tried hiding under the bathroom scales:

And then it tried hanging from my Mexican moon:

It landed on a bath mat and I eventually got it out the window. With bats dying of white nose syndrome, it's more important than ever to be spare them and help them:

The wild elderberries which live in my old silo base began to bloom:

Their blossoms are really quite attractive and soon will be berries, feeding the wild birds:

I took a photo of the baby fantail pigeons at one week of age and was shocked that only one had lived. But it was growing at an astounding rate, its eyes were open and I think we're going to have a new fantail pigeon to share the barn: