I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series. As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day. Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.
One of the local nature centers, Shaver's Creek, held a Fall Harvest Festival this past weekend. We were there in Spring for a Maple Harvest Festival and the little babe really enjoyed seeing the birds of prey that they care for. We woke up to the pitter-patter of rain on Saturday, but it cleared up by the time we got to the nature center, though it was still overcast and cloudy. A good Fall day for having hot apple cider and pumpkin cake next to a fireplace, which is what we had in their outdoor pavilion.
We parked across the lake and walked on a trail through the woods. Along the way my Dad spotted a teeny tiny garter snake.
The woods were mostly shades of brown by this point, with most of the leaves already on the ground.
We looked for salamanders in the pond,
posed for a photo with the giant pumpkin,
and also tried throwing ping-pong balls into "witches brew" and played pumpkin bowling. We had a bite to eat in front of the fire to warm up, then visited the birds of prey.
A Black Vulture.
A Short-Eared Owl. Interesting fact: They nest on the ground.
A Barn Owl. Interesting fact: In most owl species, the female is larger than the male. The nature center has both a male and a female, so they know that this one is a male.
It was a great day - time with family, enjoying nature and celebrating the Autumn season.