Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

I’ve been holding out on you for a long time. I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to write about Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge because it is one of my favorite places. The stars have aligned in your favor this week as it is National Wildlife Refuge Week, today is “throwback Thursday,” AND October is Children in Nature Month. To top it all off, Fall migration has started, the bugs have died down with the cooler weather and there are a series of programs at Bombay Hook starting up on the blog calendar.

 

 

The main issue that I have now, is I have way too much too say and way too many pictures to share in one post and I don’t even know where to begin! I guess I’ll start with some background info.

 

My parents have been bringing me to Bombay Hook since I was a kid. I thought it was the most boring place ever at the time. I’m kicking myself for thinking that back then, but it probably had something to do with being a too-cool-for-school preteen. If you’ve been reading along since the beginning of this blog journey, you might remember that my husband is a farmer. Well, the family farm just so happens to be near Bombay Hook. When we lived there for several years, I almost never went to the refuge. After we moved away, I became more interested in photography as a hobby and was always looking for new subject matter to photograph. I somehow stumbled upon a birding group on Facebook and now I’m a bird nerd!

 

 

I liked the challenge of photographing birds. My equipment was/is inadequate, they’re constantly moving, and often are far away. Despite that, in the process of trying to take pictures of birds, I began to learn to identify them. I also learned their behavior patterns and where each type might be within the refuge. It taught me to see more. To be more observant. As a kid, when we visited, I thought nothing was there because I didn’t see anything, but the reality was that I didn’t know how to look.

 

 

What I’ve learned over the past year is that nature is constantly changing. Every single time we visit Bombay Hook, we see something we didn’t see the last time we were there. A new bird, a new animal, a new flower blooming. We’ve watched animals grow from birth to adulthood in front of our eyes. We’ve watched as the leaves emerged from the trees in the Spring and as they changed colors and have begun to fall in Autumn.

 

 

We’ve seen foxes, deer, turtles, snakes, otters, beavers, rabbits, opossums, fish, frogs, and more types of birds and insects than I can even type.

During the Summer months, the insects are usually so bad that you can’t even roll your window down without being assaulted by flies and mosquitoes instantly. Fall, Winter and early Spring are the best times to hike the trails and visit the observation towers. In fact, Winter is the best time to go to spot ducks (did you know there many different kinds?) and bald eagles because they like to perch in trees overlooking the water and will be visible when all the leaves have fallen off.  All of the trails are stroller friendly and relatively short, the longest being about a mile.

 

 

Which reminds me, I had a conversation today with a friend that has a disability that prevents her from walking long distances and a lightbulb went off in my head. I’m always posting about whether or not adventure locations are stroller friendly, but not necessarily if they are handicap friendly. Doh! I want to make sure that EVERYONE can enjoy nature in some way, shape, or form and because most of Bombay Hook can be viewed from your vehicle, it is the PERFECT place to go if you aren’t able to walk but still want to enjoy nature. I wish I had thought of this sooner!