Spring Valley

 With spring here and every day becoming a little warmer, it's been fun to explore some new natural areas close to home. Today we ventured to Spring Valley which I had never even heard of until a couple of days ago. This was something new for all four of us. Score! Our first stop was in the nature center which was  stocked with a small nature oriented library and games. The kids enjoyed a large aquarium with indigenous fish as well as a box turtle habitat where we found turtles sunning themselves on rocks and swimming in their small rock pond. Spring Valley is a natural refuge that calls itself an "outdoor living museum." At first glance you might not expect much in the wildlife department with the nearly bare trees, brown grass and the fact that it's located in the middle of a large suburb. Also, yesterday there was a controlled burn so large chunks of the preserve were blackened. However, I quickly learned I was wrong upon walking into the area and coming across a wide variety of birds including red-winged blackbirds, chickadees, mallard ducks, Canada geese and woodpeckers. While walking on one of the trails I heard some noises underfoot just in time to see a garter snake slithering into the grass. Even the charred ground was now covered with robins looking for earthworms. During our little jaunt out on the trails, I found out Fran had never seen a woodpecker in the wild. Another first! We were just raking in the newness today.