Totier Creek Park

A nice 3-mile network of trails through mixed deciduous forests surround the manmade lake, Totier Creek Reservoir, that serves as the center of Totier Creek Park. The trail winding along the lake itself provides opportunity to scan for winter waterfowl. Pied-billed grebes and diving ducks are likely to be in the deeper open waters, while wood ducks and other dabblers are likely to be in the small bays further away from the dam. A peek at a great blue heron is possible virtually anywhere along the shore and even on the creek further downstream. Green herons can be found in the same areas during the summer months, but tend to move on by mid-September. The lake also hosts numerous eastern painted turtles and some mighty common snapping turtles which are easiest to see in the spring when the females are laying eggs and moving around out of the water.

The woodland trails provide opportunity to view eastern woodland species with blue jays and northern cardinals easily heard, if not always seen. Red-bellied and downy woodpeckers can turn up out in the open or in the trees. Check for gray squirrels and as you walk deeper into the woods be on the lookout for red-shouldered hawks. This buteo can be heard, and occasionally seen, soaring out over the lake, joining the turkey and black vultures and the occasional osprey overhead.

See website for a trail map.