Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center, Nature conservation center in Baton Rouge, United States.
Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center is a 103-acre conservation park at 10503 N. Oak Hills Parkway in Baton Rouge, opened on 17 May 1997 as BREC's first nature-based park. Its 9,500-square-foot exhibit building holds live animal displays, photographs of the park's flora and fauna, and ecology and art exhibits. Gravel trails and boardwalks cross more than a mile of baldcypress-tupelo swamp, beech-magnolia forest and hardwood forest.
The nature center was established in May 1997 by the Recreation and Park Commission for East Baton Rouge Parish as their first conservation project. It was created to protect the local swamp and forest ecosystems for future generations.
The main exhibit building holds the largest public display of vintage Louisiana duck decoys, donated by the late Charles W. Frank, Jr. The carved decoys were made for hunting, and the collection is the focus of Duck Duck Goose Day, held every August.
The entrance is at 10503 N. Oak Hills Parkway, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70810. The center is open Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m., closed some holidays, for a nominal fee. Gravel trails and boardwalks cover over a mile through swamp and forest; the main exhibit building is 9,500 square feet.
Bluebonnet Swamp was the first research station of the Louisiana Bird Observatory, formerly the Bluebonnet Bird Monitoring Project. Banding began in March 2010, and thousands of birds have been banded, mostly by LSU students. Studies produced there include indigo bunting molt patterns and barred owl foraging behavior.
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