Exploring Times Beach Nature Preserve in Buffalo

Who would have guessed that a nature site like Times Beach Nature Preserve exists within the city of Buffalo? During a recent visit, our sister-in-law suggested a hike there. She loves the place and hikes there often. We agreed, and all headed out in one car. We parked along the side of the road (plenty of parking there the day we visited) and walked into one of several openings for foot traffic. This small preserve, encompassing only about 54 acres, really packs a punch as it includes shoreline, upland, forest and wetland.

In a shadowed area along the boardwalk, we noticed these snails on all the trees.

As we walked along the trail we watched butterflies visiting the many wildflowers on both sides of the trail. I heard a familiar call, and looked up to see a Great Crested Flycatcher on a low limb. The trail consisted of dirt trail and boardwalk, both comfortable to walk. On the boardwalk along the lake edge we found several bird blinds. This nature preserve is recognized as an important bird area and the entire Niagara Corridor is recognized as a “globally significant” important bird area. As we walked back through the wooded area, we saw three deer, including one fawn, in the distance. We stopped walking and they came fairly close but bolted as soon as we moved.

Curious as to how this nature preserve got its name, I checked the history. In the 1930s, the local newspaper called the Buffalo Times proposed a public beach in the area, hence the name. In the 1940s the beach closed as a health hazard. The city of Buffalo grew into a major industrial area and in those days environmental concerns were not recognized as they are today. The area began to be used to dump the dredge material from the dredging to keep the Buffalo River navigable. To get a good visual of this area, follow this link: http://www.buffaloah.com/a/water/times/times.html. The second photo down shows an aerial view.

The preserve opened in 2005 and the city of Buffalo manages the property. The Friends of Times Beach Nature Preserve advocate to maintain the preservation of the area.

Lighting while Hiking 18 Mile Creek Park

While hiking Eighteen Mile Creek Park as mentioned in my last post, I took quite a few photographs of interesting views, tree, and fungi. Hiking with a photographer or botanist frustrates most normal people. Both tend to get behind or disappear because they found something interesting to photograph as in the case of the photographer or identify as in the case of the botanist. Any hike in a wooded area supplies an enormous number of distractions to both. I paused to photograph this fungus on our hike into the park, and passed it again on the way out and stopped again to photograph it. The change in lighting produced a far better photograph in my view. Click on this to see the first two photographs.

Original taken early in the hike. The light was OK but no drama

Original taken later in the hike. I like the shadows, and cropped this original to make the first photography

Hiking 18 Mile Creek Park

We love to hike and are fortunate to have family that also loves to hike. While visiting family in western New York in July, we hiked at Eighteen Mile Creek Park in Hamburg, NY, a first for us. The trail runs above the creek itself, and we caught glimpses of the water as we moved along. Summers in this part of the state vary considerably. After drenching rains during our visit last summer, this summer rain was minimal and the water level of the creek showed the lack of it. We hiked a mile or two along the rim, then retraced our steps and took one of the trails that led to the water in the 60’ deep gorge. 

The decent was steep but not difficult, and once at the creek we walked along the shale rock outcroppings in both directions. In some places the water receded to a point we could nearly cross to the other side on the exposed rock without stepping in the water. Wildflowers grew in abundance attracting large numbers of butterflies and other insects. Naturally a welcome breeze choose that time to blow, and I spent some time trying to get photos of the flowers and insects with my camera, in this case my point-and-shoot Canon G16. I don’t use the camera often enough so naturally I struggled a bit with the settings.

I never did get a shot I liked of the flowers, but managed to capture the trail and the water. As we started back a father and young son showed up with fishing poles and started to set up on the shore. We made our way along the trail back to the car, and passed two mothers with their children, the children all in water gear and eager to get to the creek, running ahead and racing each other. It is July after all, and summer vacation.