While on a short visit to Upper New York State we visited three spots that don't count as "natural", but two have lots of captive nature and the last is a mixed bag....
The Wild Center, used to be known as The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks. An improved name along with an imaginative facility. There is a large building, with a pond rising to its windows, and a few walks on the ground and some in the air.
Inside the building are the normal natural history exhibits one would expect. There are also aquarium tanks, including one that houses three otters. Otters move VERY quickly making photos somewhat blurry. The video is less blurry.Â
Several tanks have local fish on exhibit. (Scroll over for identification of the fish)
Brook trout
common shiner
Brown trout
Oops, unidentified🙄
Sturgeon
Sturgeon
Sturgeon
Lake Trout
They also had a wood turtle and two somewhat rare spotted turtles.
A third turtle on display for a nature talk was a blandings turtle.
A male wood duck, in full molt, and a female wood duck, with an enlarged white spot around her eye, enjoyed an indoor pond.
On the aerial walkways there was a huge "spider web" for the kids to play in, some suspended paths, and a life size bald eagle nest you could climb stairs to.
Late summer, fall flowers were in bloom some with visiting insects. (Scroll over for Identification)
Pink waterlily
Wild bergamont
Burdock
Coneflower and red admiral butterfly
Coneflower and red admiral butterfly
Spotted red admiral on Queen Anne's Lace
Transverse-banded Flower Fly, false milkweed bug on a woodland sunflower
Mushrooms there were aplenty, one unusual too.
The Syracuse Zoo, Rosamund Gifford Zoo, is a small zoo with enough of a collection that it is a great place for young families (and old folks who enjoy seeing the various animals in zoos around the world)
Their water and dry aquariums have a variety of animals...
Sea anemone
various
Royal gramma
Tarantula
Kimberley rock monitor
Outside, there is lots to see...
Kolbus monkey
Red-breasted goose
Guinea fowl
Blue cranes
Flamingo
camel
Grey wolf
female armenian mouflon
Male armenian mouflon
Turkmenian aarkhor
Amur tiger
There was an area with small fam animals, the chickens were photogenic, even the one in its cage. A lavender orpington and a sapphire gem.
The Humbolt penguins attract lots of visitors. They will swim down in their tank to look at the small children watching them
The biggest attraction though is the twin Asian elephants born October 2022. Elephant twins are very rare. The zoo was not expecting twins and were very surprised when a second baby arrived 9 hours after the first.
Two videos, first with music, second with no music for people where music copyright prevents viewing
Then there was the New York State Fair held each year in Syracuse. Not nature per se, but farms/rural and associated animals were a large part of it.Â
The young lady in red above seemed to be the youngest competitor, but as you'll see in the video following she did VERY well in the competition coming in second, lost a point for the horse's foot hitting a rail.
Row upon row of pigeons, chickens, rabbits etc (one entire building was full of dairy cattle.)
 Every year there is alarge sand sculpture in one building and a butter sculpture in the building with ice cream etc vendors (there are lots of them with fried ice cream and other wonders)
A display of birds of prey was there again.
Juvenile snowy owl
Golden and bald eagles
Peregrine falcon
Saker falcon
Spotted owl
Spotted owl
Tawny owl
A room in building exhibits a number of collections of circus models. (The same displays as we saw when we were there a few years ago)
And then there are the many food vendors. We arrived first thing in the morning so the crowds were still quite thin.
We , and several thousand of our friends, sat through on and off again showers for a Tommy James and the Shondells concert. Tommy is in our generation, with his first hits being in the mid 1960's.