Earlier this week was Columbus day and all the kids were off school. Several years ago before my Grandfather had passed away, my Mom used to bring him to a wildlife refuge on the east end of Long Island (Suffolk County) in New York. I never had the chance to accompany them so when my Mom suggested we go there since my 7-yr-old daughter was off from school I figured it'd be a pretty good idea. Little did I know how AMAZING this place actually was!
First off, its snuggled in a residential area so it comes as a complete surprise when you happen upon it! Judging by just the parking lot, it doesn't seem that monumental. But once you make your way out of the rather small parking area and towards the main building (which is the indoor nature center) you quickly realize: This Is A Cool Place!
There are outdoor wooded trails to walk that surround a beautiful pond with lots of ducks and geese and other assorted flying creatures. There are scenic benches where you can stop to rest all along the trails. There are bridges to cross, plenty of foliage to admire and an outdoor bird housing area where you can stop to watch the birds in flight.
I took the below photo with my iPhone. Just one of the many beautiful resting places along the trails. The photo doesn't show it well but the ground was covered in moss making this look like the most perfect "Fairy Land" that you've ever seen! Worth the trip just to see this one benched area! If you head towards the Nature Preserve building and begin walking to your RIGHT, keeping on the trail along the water-side, within minutes you'll encounter "Fairy Land".
If trail walking is not your thing you can always visit the Distressed Wildlife Complex. They have several animals who have been injured and whom cannot be released back into the wild because their survival skills have in some way been compromised (ensuring a very short lifespan if released). There is a bald eagle, a bobcat, a red-tailed hawk and a fox just to name a few. You can read the story about each animal right on the front of their cage. Below is the bald eagle. Quite majestic in real life. The cage bars are rather distracting in this photo. Go see him for yourself!
Immediately to the right of the Nature Center is an area where we saw lots of fellows such as the one below. This guy followed me for a while, surely hoping for a snack (which I unfortunately didn't have to offer him).
The inside of the Nature Center is quite amazing. One side of the building faces the pond and is made up of huge floor-to-ceiling windows. It feels as though you are ON the pond, not really looking out AT the pond. There chairs for sitting, a few live animals to see such as 2 GIANT African Spurred Tortoises, some frogs, a large snake (Boa, I believe) and a small library area with lots of books to read. There are also assorted skeletons and "mounted" heads as well.
All in all, this was a great place for the whole family to visit or a great place to just sit and read by yourself on your own bench amongst the wildlife in the trails. I was shocked to find out that it had been around for over 50 years! I am so glad my Grandfather got to experience the Refuge before leaving this place. Thanks Mom, for bringing him! And thanks to Bob for introducing my Mom to the Refuge all those years ago on that chilly October day. She was sick and would have rather been home in bed but since it was her birthday, instead he bundled her up and introduced her to the Refuge. Now I, in turn, got to bring my daughter there! Nestled into this little east end residential community, the Quogue Wildife Refuge is fantastic little get-away. Highly recommended.
The Quogue Wildlife Refuge trails are open 365 days a year from sunrise to sunset. Explore the trails, visit the indoor nature center or meet the animals in the distressed wildlife complex.
NOTE THAT YOU CAN'T GOOGLE THIS LOCATION by just searching for the name... it doesn't come up. So here are the details for you along with a map:
The Quogue Wildlife Refuge
3 Old Country Rd
Quogue, NY 11959
(631) 653-4771
Click here for a Map
