We've been trying to get back into our regular summer walking/hiking, which has always been a really large and enjoyable part of our spring-fall life, but have been looking for new places nearer to where we live (since we always knew places that were more convenient from Forest Lake). We went for a walk/hike yesterday afternoon at a park we hadn't been to befor - Springbrook Nature Center is Fridley, MN - which is right next to a large mall area. This is one of the best suburban parks we have been to and even rivals Tamarack Nature Center, which has always been one of our favorite places to go and also has a fun nature center. This park isn't huge (I think about 247 acres), but has some really nice walking trails, and the ones we were on were mostly woodchips and boardwalks. There is a really fun boardwalk through a marshy area that had lots of fun aquatic wildlife.
Highlights:
(1) Lots of painted turtles swimming in the water and then popping their heads above water every once in awhile
(2) A really gigantic snapping turtle that looked really old, crabby and cute as he slowly swam along.
(3) Lots of turtles on the side of the marsh "sunning themselves" (as Tom calls it) and just hanging out.
(4) My favorite! Five muskrats swimming in the water. Also one who was eating some reeds near a large group of loud geese. They are really fun to watch ( a lot like otters) and are so sneaky how they suddenly dive under the water and pop up somewhere else a few minutes later. These guys even got an honorary song on the way home (similar, yet less catchy then the Smoky Mountain honeymoon classic "We Saw A Bear" - which Tim and Nicole had the honor of hearing). They are really cute.
(5) Two orioles who were really beautiful. I don't know if I've even seen them before.
(6) Hanging out with Tom!
Highlights:
(1) Lots of painted turtles swimming in the water and then popping their heads above water every once in awhile
(2) A really gigantic snapping turtle that looked really old, crabby and cute as he slowly swam along.
(3) Lots of turtles on the side of the marsh "sunning themselves" (as Tom calls it) and just hanging out.
(4) My favorite! Five muskrats swimming in the water. Also one who was eating some reeds near a large group of loud geese. They are really fun to watch ( a lot like otters) and are so sneaky how they suddenly dive under the water and pop up somewhere else a few minutes later. These guys even got an honorary song on the way home (similar, yet less catchy then the Smoky Mountain honeymoon classic "We Saw A Bear" - which Tim and Nicole had the honor of hearing). They are really cute.
(5) Two orioles who were really beautiful. I don't know if I've even seen them before.
(6) Hanging out with Tom!
1 comment:
I have had the opportunity to visit the Springbrook Nature Center when I was working at Teen Challenge. We liked to get our girls out into the wild world for some walking. I don't remember any animals, just my girls. It was always really fun.
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