Your Local Park

Sandy Creek Park & Nature Center, Athens, Georgia USA

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 19763835 - Great Blue Heron; Sandy Creek Nature Center, Athens, Georgia. February 5, 2012.

Whether it is for travel photography or nature photography, there is nothing better than making a free weekend in our busy lives in order to get away and enjoy. But since big trips often require a lot of planning, money and leave from our jobs, they don’t come often enough. That is when local destinations come into play. My busy life with work and church activities, kids’ band concerts and soccer games, doesn’t leave much opportunity to get away for my passion of birding and wildlife photography. That’s why I love my local park: Sandy Creek Park and Nature Center in Athens, Georgia USA.

Even if I can’t get out of town for an extended trip, I can drive 15 minutes to the north side of town and be instantly transported into the wild. Sandy Creek Park is almost 800 acres and a large body of water, Lake Chapman, sits right in the middle. Miles of trails circle the lake and there are plenty of other recreational opportunities. Adjacent the park, and connected by a wildlife corridor, named Cook’s trail, is the Sandy Creek Nature Center. Multiple hiking trails cross the 225 acre forested property and provide all types of nature and wildlife photography opportunities.

In this relatively small piece of nature, there are beaver diligently working to keep the wetland ecosystem from drying out. The turtles emerge onto the logs for basking on warmer days. Long-legged wading birds pick frogs and insects from the shallow waters with their spear-like beaks. Lizards scurry about the leaves and thickets. And if you’re lucky, a snake may slither across your path!

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 19763815 - Painted Turtles; Sandy Creek Nature Center, Athens, Georgia. February 5, 2012.

So perhaps you can’t get away on an extended trip because of work or a busy life. But don’t neglect to look into your local parks and preserves. You may find a veritable wildlife safari tucked away in a small corner of your city that you never knew existed!

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