Buffalo Audubon Society has operated its nature center at Beaver Meadow for more than 50 years. The heart of Buffalo Audubon's science-based nature education programming, Audubon naturalists have educated generations of Western New York school children who have visited for Center Tours, for guided nature hikes and follow-up programs. Buffalo Audubon also presents a wide range of outreach programs, which bring Audubon naturalists to Western New York classrooms to assist teachers in meeting the New York State Teaching and Learning Standards. Audubon naturalists seek to involve students and the general public in Citizen Science endeavors.
The Beaver Meadow Audubon Center features a great many programs and services to serve the general public with natural history education and outdoor recreation opportunities. Beaver Meadow features:
- School and Group tours
- 24/7 public access to 8 miles of nature trails on a 324 acre nature preserve
- Hiking & Birding
- Visitors Center and Indoor Exhibits open to the public six days/week, 10-5 p.m., 1-5 p.m. Sunday (closed on Mondays and major holidays)
- Gift Shop
- Nature Library
- Children's Discovery Room
- Nature Art Exhibits
- Animal Exhibits
- Wildlife observation windows
- Winter Activities: snow shoeing and cross-country skiing
Educational Programs and Events
Beaver Meadow is a dedicated full-time educational and conservational organization. Beaver Meadow’s mission of conservation promotion is most prominently pursued through educational services to the community, particularly by serving as a resource to teachers and students. Beaver Meadow offers many educational programs, events and activities throughout the Western New York community.
Some of these unique, interesting and enlightening activities include:
The Enchanted Forest (held in October)
- The Enchanted Forest is interactive evening hiking that takes visitors through the jack-o-lantern-lit woods of Beaver Meadow. Here you will meet individuals dressed as nocturnal animals (such as beavers, possums, lighten bugs, and owls) and hear all about the creatures of the night, their habitats, and the unique characteristics that allow them to survive. The evening ends with a tour of Beaver Meadow’s animal exhibits and an always delicious apple cider and doughnut treat!
The “Owl Prowl” (held twice a year)
- Naturalists instruct individuals on the many kinds of owls that call Western New York their home. The program begins with a “show and tell” with live owls, and a discussion on what make these birds so majestic and unique.
- Naturalists then lead a tour into the night forest and skillfully call owls that live throughout Beaver Meadow. Some of the birds you may hear during the prowl are the Great Horned, Screech and Barred owls.
The Maple Harvest Festival (held in March)
- The Maple Harvest Festival is an educational celebration of maple sugar making. Staff members will show visitors how early settlers made maple sugar, including live demonstrations, sugar shanty boiling, and tree tapping.
- Other activities include kid crafts, instructional nature hikes and sugar maple tree identification.
- Fun Fact: Did you know the local Iroquois were the first ones to do maple sugaring?
Winter Fun Day (held in December)
- Winter Fun Day is exactly that – a day full of fun in the snow with a myriad of classes and instructional programs on how to have fun in the white stuff. Visitors are treaded to cross-country ski and snowshoe lessons, as well as survival skills workshops – including how to build a snow shelter.
- Other Fun Day activities include snowshoe baseball, stories around a bonfire, sculpture contests, winter birding talks and winter tree identification workshops.
The Homestead Festival (held in September)
- The Homestead Festival takes visitors back to the days of life on the frontier. Events include blacksmiths, flint knappers, natural soap and ice cream making, hearth cookers, early frontier games/crafts and wagon rides.
- Visitors also get to experience nature hikes that include workshops on the edible and medicinal plants found in nature.
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