Nicandri Nature Center - Part 1

The nature center in Massena, New York opened this past spring and when I first visited there, I called it the Robert Moses (State Park) Nature Center. It does seem to be on state park land or at least adjacent to it, but the official name is Nicandri Nature Center:

There are trained interpretive naturalists on duty to take school kids on guided tours or to shoot the breeze with an old geezer like me who once studied these things but had to earn his living elsewhere. Pollywogs, weeds and wildlife have been my passion since I was a small boy, trying to catch minnows in the local creek. This gigantic, wrap-around aquarium is the first thing a visitor sees:

On an island inside the big aquarium were four frogs, probably Green Frogs (though I didn't ask). The naturalist told me that some of the big Channel Catfish had been trying to eat them, so they stayed up where it was safe and waited for the staff to feed them crickets:

The aquarium was filled with Bullhead, Perch, Channel Catfish, Sunfish, Bluegills, etc. There was a Map Turtle and probably other animals as well, but the beaver, bear and heron were stuffed:

Who needs wetlands? We all do, and the St. Lawrence River wetlands are an ideal place to study them:

Another giant aquarium in another room contained other species. In this photo are a Bullfrog tadpole (on the log) and two Sturgeons (resting on the gravel). There were eels and other species as well. The Mudpuppy was a rubber model which sat on a shelf outside the aquarium:

In the big aquarium were several Longnose Gars, the first I'd ever seen in real life:

And a display case with five species of local freshwater clams:

One entire wall was filled with a wildlife diorama which contained taxidermy mammals and birds:

I remembered the pied deer from my last visit because it was so unusual:

A black bear. I was told that the small bear skin at its feet was for school children to handle so they could keep their hands off of the full bear. Pictures with the bear, however, are encouraged:

Behind the wavy glass were scenes as could be found in wild settings all through the area. There was more for me to see, though, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Madawaska Pond - Part 3

The dogs and I turned back before reaching the dam because my ankles were becoming increasingly painful. It had been a wonderful walk through spectacular scenery and I didn't want it to end on an unhappy note:

We reached the overlook over Madawaska Pond again, always a beautiful sight:

The dogs went into the water once again and little Clover rolled in the sand to dry off:

As for Seamus, he just wanted to lie down and rest while I again dumped the sand and pine needles out of my shoes and braces:

But we were back on the trail in short order. At one point I heard what sounded like a Black Bear "chuffing." I called the dogs to heel and prepared to turn around. I made lots of noise so as not to surprise a bear, and either it worked or there never was one there in the first place because we continued on our way without incident:

And a lovely way it was:

We stopped by the water's edge one more time so the dogs could refresh themselves:

Jack fell in face first but it didn't seem to phase him one bit:

As for me, I found part of a beaver's jaw with one long incisor. I debated what other animal it might be but it seemed pretty darn obvious to me that it was a beaver:

One last look back over Madawaska Pond and all its flowering water lilies:

It was a wonderful hike, short and easy walking like I need them to be these days. I was happy:

The dogs were tired and went to sleep once we were on our way home. It was a good day to be a dog: