Day 62 - Audubon Sanctuary in New Market

Milkweed

I had passed the "Audubon" sign hundreds of times on my way up and down Boyers Mill Road in New Market, but today I decided to see what the place was all about.  I parked in the wooded drive near the sign and walked to the gate.  It was easy to walk over the rail that served as a fence, and I felt justified in doing so because there was a sign that said to feel free to walk the trails.  Plus, I am a new member of the Audubon Society, so I felt it was OK for me to check it out.

Bittersweet

Curious to learn about the place, this is what I found online:  "The Fred J. Archibald Audubon Sanctuary consists of 140 acres on Boyer’s Mill Road. It also contains grasslands and meadows, but its most outstanding feature is a substantial area of mature forest in the valley of Cherry Run, which drains into Lake Linganore. It is adjacent to the town of New Market’s 100-acre woods. Fred J. Archibald was a writer for the Frederick News-Post and left his property to the Audubon Society of Central Maryland  in his will." 

Walking paths and natural areas

The green paths really stood out from the dried brown of the natural areas.  I walked the perimeter of the property, awakening a number of deer that were hiding in the grasses or the woods nearby.  At first, the crashing sounds of deer in the brush startled me, but when I saw the telltale white tail flipping away, I knew that it was deer.  I'm so glad we don't have bears in this area -- at least not on a regular basis.

Vanilla bean weed --
I don't know what
this is, so I made it up.

I saw plenty of small birds, such as titmice, chickadees, field sparrows, wrens, and blue jays. There were a few turkey vultures flying overhead.

The woodlands

This place must be nothing but yellow in late summer, for there was dried goldenrod everywhere.  There was also an abundance of bittersweet.  The breeze was blowing, so it was difficult to capture some of the closeups on my camera, but I did manage a few good shots.


I plan to visit this site again in each season.  I might even bring my field glasses along and my bird identification book.  It's a good place to take a walk on easy walking paths and enjoy nature.











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Cam's rules for the Daily Photo Walk:

1. walk every day
2. the walk must be in addition to any other planned activity for the day
3. post a photo every day
4. use my Nikon P7100 (it is a very convenient size and weight)
5. no weather excuses
6. walk only where it is safe to do so