A Beautiful Day to Hike at The Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary

One of my favorite places to go and get away, is the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary.  It is surprisingly close to my home (right in the middle of crazy, busy Allen, Texas), but once you get out there, it’s like you’ve entered another world.  It’s a beautiful sanctuary.

It’s calm and quiet, and usually the only people I speak to are other people quietly hiking the trails with their camera, asking me if I’ve gotten any good shots yet.  Yesterday, these mostly quiet, beautiful trails were just what I needed.

Near the front of the museum, there are lots of cabins kids can play in and animals to see, and that part of it is usually pretty crowded, or “peopley” as I like to say.  And yesterday was no exception.  In fact, it was so crowded, that I briefly considered going home and coming back another day.

Picnic tables are scattered in this area too, and most of them were full yesterday, but I trudged on past the crowds, hoping it would thin out as I got farther and farther from the museum building.

This is one of the friends I saw on my hike – the Black & White Warbler. I’d never seen one of these before. I was happy to have someone new to add to my list!

I was right!  Once I passed the main part near the entrance, it opened up to all the beautiful ponds and fields covered with trees, grasses, and all kinds of birds!

One of my favorite views at the Heard!

Birds are usually what I’m looking to take pictures of, but on this day, there were also lots of turtles sunning themselves on the logs.  Fortunately, none of the snakes were out yet.  At least I didn’t see any…

The Heard is definitely worth visiting if you haven’t already been there!  If you have a camera, be sure to bring it with you.  If not, just go to enjoy the calm, quiet surroundings out on the trails.

I love it when they pose for me in just the perfect light!

I was surprised to see this friend so high up in the tree. I usually see them in the water!