birdsoup

Today I ventured into unknown territory and returned to tell about it. The new territory is the newly opened O’Hara Nature Center in Irvington. Neither I nor anyone I know had ever been there before or even knew it existed.

My general impression is that it is big, very big, 400 acres. If you look at a map you will notice it covers 20% of all the acreage in the entire town of Irvington. That’s big.

The terrain is varied with deep gullies, a tall mesa, and jagged rocks. In general, the land slopes down to the Irvington Reservoir. Multiple trails bisect the area but numerous rocks and roots make it critical to watch your step or you easily fall flat on your face. The area mostly wooded but does include small creeks and wetlands as well as the reservoir itself. One spot on the map that we didn’t visit, but sound interesting, is called Hermit’s Cave.

It is a nice nearby spot for a pleasant hike. On this autumn morning the trees were in multi-colored fall shades and leaves continuously rain down in a steady shower of color. But, since the area is primarily wooded, there isn’t much bird life.

As a point of reference I would say OHara Nature Center is similar to Cranberry Lake – a large natural area, good for a walk, but not great for birding.