Pine Bush Discovery Center & Vischer Ferry Nature & Historic Preserve - Albany, NY - August 29

Day off - August 28 


Well, our haircuts were interesting. YIKES! My color came out OK, but Greg’s hair is almost as short at his boot camp photo. The guy took an electric clipper and just went to town. Mine left the front long, but the back is almost shaved with the top part left longer. My regular stylist will have a fun time getting this mess back to normal. At least hair grows……

 bushes across the street from the hair salon

I did get caught up on some emails which was nice. I also booked our 3 day extension for Moscow after the train trip for next year. 


Tomorrow we are off to do some hiking and birding near Albany. 


Pine Bush Discovery Center & Vischer Ferry Nature & Historic Preserve - Albany, NY - August 29


We had a short drive today (about 10 minutes) to the Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center which is located between the Catskill and Adirondack mountains and is a 3,300 acre preserve. The Albany Pine Bush is an inland pine barrens. This ecosystem is similar to coastal pine barrens found in New Jersey, Cape Cod and Long Island, but this one is different because it occurs inland.


There are about 20 miles of hiking trails to choose from. We did around 3 miles on mostly sand or gravel paths. There were quite a few pockets of mixed flock birds with lots of wildflowers and butterflies. 

 Discovery Center

 Field Sparrow

 Alpine Aster

 Small Copper

 Bronze Copper

 American Burnweek

 Downy Woodpecker

  Downy Woodpecker

Common Tansy

 Black-capped Chickadee

 Prairie Warbler

Field Sparrow

 Common Tansy

 Touch me Not Jewelweed

Greg on the path

  American Burnweek

Orangestriped Oakworm

We grabbed a quick lunch and then went to Vischer Ferry Nature & Historic Preserve and hiked another mile and a half. The terrain also was pretty easy. 


The Vischer Ferry Nature and Historic Preserve is a 740-acre site along the Mohawk River in the Town of Clifton Park, New York, near the hamlet of Vischer Ferry. 


A segment of the original 1825 Erie Canal and Towpath, a segment and a number of structures of the 1842 Enlarged Erie Canal, and the current NY State Barge Canal are accessible within the preserve. The entrance to the preserve includes a restored 1862 Whipple Truss Bridge, a design used widely to bridge the canal during the latter half of the 19th century.

 pond across the street

 1862 Whipple Truss Bridge

 they are having an algae bloom

 Lythrum

Banded Tussock Moth Caterpillar

 Pale Jewelweed

Pale Jewelweed

 Great Blue Heron

 Wood Ducks & Turtles

 Mohawk River

 Great Blue Heron

 Swamp Smartweed

After our hike we went back to the same ice cream place as yesterday at Guptill’s Ice Cream. It is some of the best ice cream we have had on this trip. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/u91fMqaWV8VgKfbw7


We had dinner back at the hotel and got packed up to leave tomorrow for Coventry, Rhode Island.