I decided to take five minutes out of my Christmas shopping hustle and bustle this weekend to stop at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for a quick five minutes to take a few pictures for the blog. The lab is a few miles away from campus, and right across the highway from the Ithaca airport. In the photo below, taken from one of the lab's parking lots, you can see a truck on the highway (towards the right) and in the background, you can see the fence that rings the airport and the terminal and a plane in the distance.
For being a haven to birds, both seasonal and migratory, the ornithology lab is located is a rather peculiar place. As I said above, it's not far at all from a busy highway and a local airport. Even closer to the lab, though, sit high-voltage power lines, looming over the parking lots and easily within eyesight of the visitor center. And just down the street is a small neighborhood...far from the secluded setting one might expect.
An old barn sits in this general area, as well.
But in the immediate surroundings of the lab itself, the natural setting quickly dominates. Nestled into a wooded (and somewhat swampy) area, and backed by a scenic pond, the visitor center welcomes guests and also contains the lab itself, where the research is done.
A wooden trail leads from the outer parking lot to the lab, and this is where I'll leave the tour until the weather turns a bit warmer and less windy. Hope you enjoyed a quick look at one of the many natural treasures that lie not far from Freeville.
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