Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

Pictures Below, check them out!

 

Hand feeding Chickadee's

Ipswich River 
Wildlife Sanctuary
Topsfield, Massachusetts 

Description	Ipswich River offers more than 10 miles of interconnecting trails that invite you to explore the forests, meadows, and wetlands. Canoe along eight miles of the Ipswich River that run through the sanctuary and camp on Perkins Island, located a half-mile up the river (members can rent canoes from May through October). Members can also rent a cabin that is conveniently located close to the sanctuary’s office and program facilities and sleeps four. In April, listen for the chorus of American toads and pickerel frogs. Watch for river otters, painted turtles, and great blue herons at various times throughout the year. Climb the drumlin and esker, landscape features created by a glacier 15,000 years ago. Huge rocks and exotic trees and shrubs that were part of a former arboretum provide an adventurous walk along the Rockery Trail. Massachusetts Audubon's largest sanctuary, this property covers 2,800 acres of diverse habitats, including fields, vernal pools, forests, swamps, islands, eskers, and eight miles of the Ipswich River. Many species of animals make their home here either seasonally or year round. The Sanctuary offers an observation tower, a backyard-bird observation area. The diversity of habitats and wildlife provide an ideal setting to study energy flow and nutrient cycling in the environment. Adaptations, biodiversity, watersheds, and river ecology are also explored.
Address	87 Perkins Row, Topsfield, MA 01983 · Get Directions
Phone	1 978.887.9264
Website	http://www.massaudubon.org/ipswichriver
Hours	Tue - Sun: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm For Your Safety Do not feed any animals, including farm animals Stay on trails to avoid ticks and poison ivy Do not smoke anywhere on the sanctuary Do not pick or collect plants or crops without permission Avoid Conflicts with Wildlife Do not bring pets, leashed or unleashed, on to the site Picnic only in designated areas Do not bring motorized vehicles or bicycles onto the site Hunting, fishing, or trapping are not permitted Bird Checklist Trail Map

Click on any photo to start slideshow format: (all photos on this page ©Dave Peatfield)

Deer grazing in the field of Bluebirds

Bluebird coming in for a landing

Northern Cardinal

Eastern Bluebird

Palm Warbler (Rare)

Palm Warbler (Rare)

Hairy Woodpecker

Black-capped Chickadee

American Robin

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker 

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker 

Hairy Woodpecker 

Canada Goose

Canada Geese in flight

Canada Geese in flight

Canada Geese

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird 

Hairy Woodpeckers

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch zooming in on fly off the end of his beak

First plant life of the spring

Bufflehead (center),  Ring-necked Duck (upper right)

Bufflehead (center),  Ring-necked Duck (upper left) 

Mill Gate

Bufflehead 

Bufflehead 

Bufflehead 

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker 

Red-bellied Woodpecker 

Red-bellied Woodpecker 

Hand feeding Chickadee

Hand feeding Chickadee 

Hand feeding Chickadee 

Mallard's

Mallard's 

Mallard's 

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel 

Just taking it all in!

Red Squirrel 

Mallard

Easy trails and stair-step climbs

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow 

Tree Swallow 

American Crow

http://alltrails.com/trail/us/massachusetts/ipswich-river-wildlife-sanctuary

68-year-old woman set to hike Appalachian Trail

CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) -- What do you do when you're retired, living the dream, and about to turn 69? If you're Elaine Gregory-Duty, you set out to hike the entire Appalachian Trail!

Age, gender, none of it matters to Elaine. She made this a goal more than three decades ago, and nothing is going to stop her.

"There is life to be lived and I'm not one to sit down," Elaine Gregory-Duty says. "My grandmother died in her 80s and she walked two miles a day every day."

At 68, Elaine will up her grandmothers ante, as she plans to hike 7-16 miles a day for five months on the Appalachian Trail. That's 2,182 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Northern Maine, crossing 14 states.

One could only ask, why?






"Because it's there and I love the outdoors," Elaine says. "First time I stepped foot on it in 1977 in October, they said it went from Georgia to Maine, that was my goal."

Since 1977, Elaine has been training and has hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to the Pennsylvania border in intervals.

She's hiked parts of Maine and New Hampshire. On March 27, she'll set out to tame the entire beast in one shot.

Family members are giving their full support.

"I'm not worried about her, I'm proud and anxious," says Linda A. Gregory-Duty, Elaine's life-partner. "I want the five months to already be here, so she's back home. But, this is her dream and I'm glad her dream is coming to fruition."

One could also only ask, will there be a time when you say what on earth did I get myself into?

After laughing a bit Elaine says, "There are days that come up, and I've had a few days like that myself. You just have to look and say, 'you had a goal in mind, finish it'. It's on the bucket list let's go."

Elaine will turn 69 three days after she starts. She hopes this motivates anyone her age to get out and pursue something because as she says, "it's never too late."

Her family will meet up with her at checkpoints, and they'll send us pictures along the way.

Story shared from: http://www.wrcbtv.com