1st birthdays & Nature Walks

A few weekends ago, our family celebrated two special birthdays:

My sister Amy, my Mother (the birthday girl) and me.  (do we all look alike or what?)

And the most recent addition to our family, baby Drew.  She turned 1 year old!!

Drew was born just two days before my mother's birthday in July 2009.  As you can tell, she enjoyed the heck out of her birthday cake, and just like she was supposed to, had the best time ever making the biggest mess in the world!  See the progression.

The cutest baby girl in the world!

Later that afternoon, Walter and I thought it best to walk off the cake and ice cream at the Delta Rivers Nature Center in Pine Bluff (AR).

As you walk inside, there is an impressive floor tile display on the surrounding Delta and River region.  Indigenous taxidermied animals hang from the rafters - it's really a lovely space.

Maybe I'll post the picture of the owl attacking the skunk later.  Ah, ok, here you go:

Here's a bit of a close up of the floor display - and if you'll notice the tanks in the back of the pictures, they are filled with lots of critters like the one mugging for the camera below.

What a ham!

There were all sorts of other live creatures in the entry area, including venomous snakes which simultaneously scare and fascinate me, and tree frogs. Let me clarify all were in glass tanks.

Below, is the special laboratory that you can explore that has bird nests, native leaves and bug specimens and animal pelts to touch! 

 

 

 

 

 

Wanna see the inside of a catfish?  (I love that guy)

Below was a great display of the Mississippi River and when you pushed the button, it showed where the river flooded. 

Outside were tanks with native fish - several gi-nomous catfish and other beasties.

Boo!

This little guy followed us around for a few minutes as we watched the bald eagles.  Makes me a little sad to see them cooped up but it's interesting to get a close look at one, nevertheless.

We went for a while on several miles worth of heavily-wooded nature trails (a relief from the hot sun) and into the swamps.

It was so pretty and quiet there.

This marker had one side Native American, one side English and the other side French

This was a bird blind overlooking an algae-covered lake.  Most of the lakes were like this one.  It didn't look like it was water at all but there were all kinds of things swimming under the surface.  Lots of turtles.  In the distant trees were several bird houses and we were able to feel a little bit of a breeze...a little bit!

This fella was flying around all over the place and I snapped him when he got still for a minute or two.

I think this was an oxbow lake we walked around - covered in more algae.  It was a beautiful area and one that is so much fun to explore.  We ran across an interesting tree - called the "toothache tree" that Native Americans used when they had tooth problems.  Apparently chewing the knotty bark had a medicinal quality to it.  I thought I had a picture of it ... will have to look again.

The Delta Rivers Nature Center is an incredible facility open year round (closed Mondays and major holidays).  Hours are Tuesday-Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 1 - 5 p.m. During the summer, they are open until We are open until 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.  Free Admission.

It's a terrific place for both adults and kids to explore.  There are fish to feed in the front ponds, too.  You can buy the fish food in the gift shop where you can also purchase a variety of flavored grasshoppers (chocolate covered, ranch flavored), too.  We decided to let someone braver give that a shot!