Wow! This place is a blast! After driving past the entrance for years, we finally decided to turn into this amazing place and see exactly what the big fuss was
about. I had heard, for instance, that this place is so popular in the summer that they close the gate once the parking lot fills up, and usually this means early
on the weekends.
We arrived about 10 minutes after they opened (they open at 8:30 AM) and the lot was already about 75% filled! We had a look around the beautiful new Orientation Center, got a big color map, and headed out to do a fraction of the 18 miles or so of paths this place has to offer. And within 10 minutes I knew why we only saw two birds at Scherman Hoffman last weekend -- they were all here at Duke Farms! Within the first 10 minutes we saw tree swallows, red-winged blackbirds, two different Baltimore orioles, cardinals, blue jays, sparrows, hawks, vultures, robins and mockingbirds. Later on we saw great blue herons, egrets, doves, cowbirds, starlings, and more of the others. It's a birder's paradise! We only covered about a third of the park, so I'm sure there are many more bird species to see. Today, using this map we hiked Conservation Lane and Farm Barn Lane south of the Orientation Center. After crossing Dukes Parkway West we did Habitat Lane, watched a great blue heron devour a relatively large fish (see the photos). We continued on the Great Meadow Path to the Old Foundation, then circled Great Falls Lake in a clock-wise direction before having lunch at the Mermaid Pool overlooking Vista Lake. After lunch we visited the Blue Boy statue, then headed east along the Eagle Bridle Path and then the Hay Barn Meadow path to the Hay Barn, before crossing back to the south part of the park and back to our car. Total distance hiked today was 6.7 miles in 4 hours.
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Conservation Lane trail head |
Ruins of well |
Red-Winged Blackbird |
Swamp |
Frog in swamp |
Immature male Baltimore Oriole |
Mature Baltimore Oriole |
Informative sign |
Northern Mockingbird |
Swamp |
Swamp tree |
Red-tailed Hawk |
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Red-winged Blackbird |
Swamp Sparrow |
Intersection between Orientation Center |
Open meadow |
Orientation Center from rear |
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American Robin |
Northern Mockinbird |
Common Fleabane |
A constellation of Starlings |
Heading back to Orientation Center |
We saw a Gecko! |
Photographing... [photo by Laura] |
...these wildflowers |
Duke's farm |
Duke's Brook |
Bridge and culvert |
Relaxing |
Brook waterfall |
Wildlife blind |
Great Blue Heron... |
...with lunch! |
Feeling satisfied |
Eastern Pondhawk |
Parallel paths |
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View in Great Meadow |
The Great Meadow |
Dan on steps [photo by Laura] |
Foundation ruins |
Buddhist monk |
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View of Great Meadow from top |
Mourning Dove |
[Photo by Laura] |
Overlooking... |
...Vista Lake |
Vista Lake |
Heading down to... |
...Duke Reservoir |
Nest in Duke Reservoir |
Duke Reservoir |
Climbing above Duke Reservoir |
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Great Falls Lake |
Great Blue Heron |
Turtles |
Grave for camel Baby... |
...and cat Pudge... |
...in pet cemetery |
Moth |
Sumac |
Path under... |
...bridge |
Beautiful bridges abound |
Frog near... |
...northern Vista Lake |
Above Vista Lake waterfall |
Lion at base of bridge |
Vista Lake |
Brown-headed Cowbird |
Steps down to... |
...our lunch spot, overlooking... |
...Mermaid Pool |
Red-winged Blackbird |
Blue Boy Statue |
Close-up |
Steps to... |
...well |
Tree Swallow |
Hay Barn |
Hay Barn |
Statues |
Photographs and content copyright © Dan Balogh Web design by Dan Balogh |