Sunday, March 05, 2006

The John James Audubon Center

The same day and on the same grounds as the Maple Sugar Festival of my last post, I visited the now museum home of writer, artist, and naturalist John James Audubon who lived from 1785 to 1851. He is best known for his published work Birds of America which contains 435 life-size bird prints.


The above picture of John James Audubon in the wilderness is painted on the walls of one of the rooms of the house where he lived in Audubon, Pennsylvania. For a better view, click on the picture.


On the left wall is a collection of stuffed owls and other birds. In the far corner is a small collection of some of his bird art.


A collection of stuffed owls on a tree trunk



This picture shows a collection of many different kinds of bird eggs with a ring-necked pheasant on top of the wooden egg storage case. When I was a kid, the ring-necked pheasant was fairly common. Now most of their habitat is gone and one rarely sees them in this area.

8 comments:

Trailady said...

Neat pictures. How I love birds! It is so pleasant to hear them in the mornings. The Avian Bird Flu has me a bit worried that eventually we may not have any songsters left. I hope God will not allow us to suffer their silence...

Trailady said...

PS. I raise laying chickens and greatly enjoy them! Funny little birds!! :o)

........................ Cam Bernardes said...

wowww! I really love the pictures here, especially the owls, I love them. About Scooby, he is terrible! Hahahaha, completely funny!

Tim Rice said...

Thanks, trailady. Birds do add a lot of beauty to life; the world would be a sadder place without them. Hopefully, the songsters will develop a resistance to the Avian Bird Flu over time.

And chickens can be useful and fun birds to have around. When I was a kid, one of my brothers use to have lots of fancy chickens and bantam - some with crests, some with feather-tufted feet, and many with a wide assortment of colors.

Thanks, aluadacbs. Glad you enjoy my pictures. Owls are such interesting creatures. And the few rare times that I see them in the wild are special moments for me.

Crystal said...

How timely for you to do this post, because I'm planning on doing quite a bit of bird-watching when I go to East Africa. I'm debating on buying this book: The Birds of East Africa : Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi

Tim Rice said...

Hi crystal. I don't know much about that book; but from its description on Amazaon, it sounds like a bird watcher would find it useful over there.

Ginnie Hart said...

Anytime a famous artist has a stamp made in his honor, you know he's doing something right! Great pics.

Tim Rice said...

Thanks, ginnie, for stopping by and for the information. Glad you appreciate the pictures. When I was a kid, our local Audubon Society used to hold monthly films presenting the travels and photography of various naturalists. Those also were a family event highlight for me.