🌕🌕August’s full moon is the Sturgeon Moon! 🌕🌕 Swipe to learn more information about the history of the Sturgeon Moon! 🐟 #dariennaturecenter #darienct #sturgeonmoon

🔥🔥Vermont GoodWood is a proud sponsor of Fireside 2026! Vermont Goodwood has been a long time partner with the Nature Center providing the firewood supply for past Fireside events!🔥🔥

Are you searching for a fun activity to enjoy with your little one this fall? Come join our Babes in the Woods class! This class is for children born between September 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, along with a caregiver. Babes in the Woods is made just for our youngest nature explorers and is a wonderful way to get to know our preschool programs. Your child can take part in hands-on, age-appropriate activities that let them explore, discover, and play at their own pace, with support from our experienced DNC teachers. Every class features a special animal encounter and ends with a guided nature walk through Cherry Lawn Park. Spending time in nature gives young children many chances to move, use their senses, build confidence, grow their curiosity, and connect with the world around them. Even at this age, exploring outdoors helps set the stage for a lifelong love of learning and nature. There is still space in our Tuesdays or Thursday 10:45AM classes. Come play, explore, and learn with us this fall! *link in bio*

Darien Children’s Library, Darien Nature Center, and Barrett Bookstore are excited to welcome author, Pamela Paul, to a special family storytime event! Saturday September 12 from 11am - 12pm here at the Nature Center! Join us for a book discussion and read aloud with Pamela Paul, plus lively songs with a children’s librarian! The fun continues with a hand-on craft and a self-guided nature walk activity. Follow the link in bio to register for the event or head to the Darien Library’s events page to register. Registration is required to attend this event. Pamela Paul’s new picture book, The Path, is a playful celebration of community, nature, and the magic of cooperation. #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Fireside 2026 Tickets are now on sale!!!! Join us September 26 from 7:00-11:00pm under the Harvest Moon! Fireside is our annual fundraiser that helps support our mission behind everything we do. See you there! Link in bio for event info and ticket purchases! #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Kinda chic to have native flowers for pollinators 🦋#darienct #dariennaturecenter Kinda chic to be a monarch caterpillar on milkweed 🐛 Kinda chic to be a bumblebee on aster 🐝 Kinda chic to be a tiger swallowtail on echinacea 🌸🦋 Kinda chic to have a meadow 🌞🌼 Kinda chic to have bee balm 🪻 Kinda chic to be a dragonfly 🌱

🌕The Full Moon in July is the Buck Moon! Why the name? The Buck Moon is when the antlers of male deer (known as bucks) are in their full growth period. Every year bucks regrow and shed their antlers producing larger and more impressive sets as they age. The Buck Moon will rise on Wednesday July 29 and reach peak illumination at 10:36 A.M Eastern Time. Look southeast after the sunsets to watch it rise!! 🌕 🦌🦌🦌🦌 There are several other names for the July Full Moon including; Feather Moulting Moon (Cree), Salmon Moon (Tlingit), Berry Moon (Anishinaabe), Moon When the Chokecherries are Ripe (Dakota), Month of the Ripe Corn Moon (Cherokee), Raspberry Moon (Algonquin, Ojibwe), Thunder Moon (Western Abenaki), and the Halfway Summer Moon (Anishinaabe). #darienct #dariennaturecenter #buckmoon

Tiny Microphone Interview: What’s Your Favorite Ocean Animal? Edition!! The PR team for dolphins has been working overtime it seems! 🐟🐙🐬🐳🐡 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Snapshots from the last few weeks of summer camp! #darienct #dariennaturecenter 🍓🦋🐠🌞❄️🦉

A massive thank you to our friends over @thegardenerscenter for letting us borrow their sluicing table last week during our Geology Unit! Our campers were able to sift through water and sand to find their very own minerals to take home! 🪨🔮🩶

While much of our fundraising this year has focused on transforming our animal room, the daily work of the Nature Center continues. Caring for our animals, maintaining our building and trails, supporting our dedicated staff, and providing high-quality educational programs all rely on annual support from our community. As we approach the end of our fiscal year, please consider making a donation of any amount by June 30. Every gift helps sustain the programs, animals, and experiences that connect our community to nature. The Darien Nature Center receives no government funding and relies entirely on the generosity of donors like you. Together, we are inspiring curiosity, fostering environmental stewardship, and building a greener future for Darien. We are deeply grateful for your support. Thank you for being part of our community. #dariennaturecenter #darienct

Week 3: grasslands, tundras, deserts, and gardens oh my! Time spent learning about biomes and gardens is a certified great time! 🦏🦘🦒🐫🐊🪼🐍🦋 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

🎉 It’s Happening! 🎉 We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have successfully completed our capital campaign to reimagine the Darien Nature Center’s Animal Room! This exciting milestone would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of our supporters. We are especially grateful to The Darien Foundation, our Lead Donor, whose initial $50,000 grant launched this project and whose additional $20,000 grant helped us cross the finish line so that construction can begin next week. We would also like to recognize the extraordinary support of The Riley Family Foundation. Their $50,000 challenge grant inspired our community to rally behind this project and created tremendous momentum throughout the campaign. And a heartfelt thank you to every donor, family, volunteer, and friend who believed in our vision. We cannot wait to share this beautiful new space with you. Stay tuned as construction begins and the transformation unfolds! #thedarienfoundation #dariennaturecenter #darienct #06820 #capitalcampaignsuccess

Taking a moment to shout out our two interns, Jacob and James, on their last day here with us at the Nature Center as our 2026 interns! Jacob and James spent time in our classrooms with our students, helped with Summer Camp prep, and even got to hang out with our animals! We were incredibly lucky to have these two here with us during the end of the school year! Wishing them the best on their next journeys! 🦎🍀🦋🌱 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Taking inspiration from @maritimeaquarium in honor of Pride Month. We can’t help but agree with them that biodiversity is one of our greatest strengths. The Nature Center is proud to be a partner of @darienctpride and a place in our community that welcomes people and families of all gender identities and sexual orientations. Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

What a fantastic day at Darien Pride!! Thank you to every one who stopped by our tent and met our animal ambassadors! @darienctpride ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Presenting: the Tiny Microphone Interview! Brought to you by our preschoolers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week 2026! Enjoy! 🐝🪲🍀🐇📚 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Last week, Nature Educators Lindsey and Victoria went on a mission to remove multiple fishing lines that were impacting our pond at Cherry Lawn. There was a significant amount of fishing line cut from branches hanging over the pond, in the pond, and floating into the water. The fishing lines had bobbers, hooks, and fishing lures attached to them, all of which could cause multiple problems if an animal were to ingest them or get caught in them. Please swipe to the second photo to see what was recovered. Always remember to clean up after yourself and cast your lines responsibly. #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Appreciating our teachers all year and every day! 📚🐛🪲🍀🦋🌼🐝 #teachersppreciationday #darienct #dariennaturecenter

⚠️Please be advised that the content in this post may be disturbing and upsetting to some viewers.⚠️ Recently there has been an uptick in fishing lines being left behind here at the pond in Cherry Lawn Park. And unfortunately the trash left behind by irresponsible fisherman has led to the death of a Gadwall Duck. Despite efforts from the staff here at the Nature Center and reaching out to local organizations, we were not able to capture the duck to free it from the fishing line that was wrapped around its beak and body. As seen in the photos, the duck had become entrapped in the fishing line. Due to the fishing line, the duck was unable to open its mouth (the line had completely wound its way around its bill) and had the line entangled around its whole body. The deceased duck was also found with a giant ball of fishing line next to it. It is important to remember that Cherry Lawn Park is not only shared by the community but the animals that reside in our community. Carelessly discarding fishing line can lead to serious harm and in the case of this duck, death. Fishing line can entangle animals or be ingested leading to starvation, strangulation, and deep wounds. While our staff always try to clean up fishing lines that have been left behind, it is the responsibility of fishermen to clean up after themselves, ensuring that they clean up their lines and hooks and casting their lines to not tangle in the trees surrounding the pond. Ultimately the death of this duck (and other animals that have died from irresponsible fishermen) could have been prevented. #darienct #dariennaturecenter

This past Sunday we held our Spring Volunteer Day! Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who braved the rainy weather and joined us cleaning up the trails here at Cherry Lawn! 🌳🌧️🌈 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Rain or shine, Spring into Nature was a wonderful celebration of our Earth and Community! Swipe to the end to watch @wildlifeincrisis release a hawk back into the wild! Thank you to everyone who attended and volunteered! 🐝🌈🌎🌸🌷🐛 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

Our Social Media Manager went on vacation and left the preschool in charge of posting!! Please enjoy these drawings of our favorite animals (mythical and real!) #darienct #dariennaturecenter

🌎🌍🌏 Happy Earth Day!!!! 🌏🌍🌎

Happy Spring Equinox! 🌸🌸 Otherwise known as the Vernal Equinox. At exactly 10:46 AM EDT the Northern Hemisphere will officially be in Spring! The Spring Equinox will have almost the exact same amount of daylight as there is darkness, as both the Northern and Southern hemispheres are sitting equal, neither hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun! 🌸🌷🪻 Today is a day to spend outside welcoming the Sun and warmth back into our lives! Spend your day planting seeds, baking bread, having a bonfire, spend time in the sun, make a fairy house, and bring fresh flowers into your home! From now until June, the days will keep getting longer and filled with more sunshine! 🌸🌷🪻🌳 #darienct #dariennaturecenter #springequinox

We can’t get over how amazing it is to have all of our students back at class! #darienct #dariennaturecenter

🍀🌱 searching for the tiniest bit of green this March 🍀🌱 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

🌸🌕 This isn’t an April Fool’s joke, April’s full moon is the Pink Moon! Also known as the Paschal Moon, this Full Moon actually sets the date for Easter! The Pink Moon is the first Full Moon of Spring and will reach its peak illumination at 10:12PM EST the night of April 1, 2026. 🌸🌕 You might think that the name “Pink Moon” will indicate that the Full Moon will take on a pink or rosy hue, but it actually comes from an early spring bloom wildflower native to eastern North America: Phlox subulata, or its common names creeping phlox or moss phlox. This pretty pink flower tends to be in full bloom around the April Full Moon, lending its colorful petals to the Moon! 🌸🌸🌸 The Pink Moon is also known as the Breaking Ice Moon (Alogonquin), Moon When the Streams are Again Navigable (Dakota), Budding Moon of Plants and Shrubs (Tlingit), Moon of the Red Grass Appearing (Oglala), Moon When the Ducks Come Back (Lakota), Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs (Dakota), Frog Moon (Cree), and the Sucker Moon (Anishinaabe, named after the harvest of sucker fish). Make sure to take in the glow of the first Spring Full Moon! #darienct #dariennaturecenter #pinkmoon #fullmoon

❄️❄️❄️ We might all have snow fatigue, but our outdoor classrooms and Nature Center look very pretty covered in fresh snow! ❄️❄️❄️

✨These are the people running the Nature Center✨ #darienct #dariennaturecenter

💗Happy Valentine’s Day from our animal ambassadors! 💗They’ve all felt the love this week from our students and visitors leaving them Valentine’s cards. Now’s your chance to be an extra special Valentine for our animals by becoming an animal sponsor! Interested in learning more about sponsoring one of our animals? Follow the link in bio! #darienct #dariennaturecenter #valentines

Beware the Ides of March? More like beware the Full Worm “Blood” Moon that is coinciding with a rare lunar eclipse! 🪱🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🪱 The Worm Moon will reach its peak the morning of Tuesday March 3 at 6:38 am EST, for those who are not early birds, be sure to check it out tonight Monday March 2! The March Full Moon has been considered the seasonal turning point for when signs of Spring slowly start to return. The Worm Moon gets its name from the belief that earthworms would reappear as the soil started to warm up in the early spring, drawing the attention of robins and signaling the change from winter into spring. Alternative names for the Worm Moon include Sugar Moon (Ojibwe), Wind Strong Moon (Pueblo), Sore Eyes Moon (Dakota, Lakota, Assiniboine), Goose Moon, and the Crow Comes Back Moon (Northern Ojibwe). As mentioned before, this full moon coincides with a lunar eclipse. The eclipse will reach its greatest point at 6:33 am EST, casting an orange or coppery red glow (where the blood moon name comes from). Monday night head on outside every few hours to watch the moon change colors. This is a total lunar eclipse which means that the Earth’s shadow will slowly move across the full moon giving it a coppery glow and darkening the moon’s appearance. This lunar eclipse will be visible across most of North America (swipe to see more info on a total lunar eclipse). Early birds get the blood moon worm moon! 🪱 #darienct #dariennaturecenter #wormmoon #bloodmooneclipse #lunareclipse

Two bam or not two bam, that is the question! Thank you to @goldcoastmahjongclub for hosting our mom’s night out! And of course to all our DNC moms who joined us! 🌸🀄️❄️ #darienct #dariennaturecenter

A message from Nature Educator Lindsey about birding! Did you know that this upcoming weekend (February 13-16) the Great Backyard Bird Count is taking place?! Watch this video to learn more about how you can participate in citizen science and stay tuned for more info graphics later in the week! 🕊️🦅🦆🦢🦃🦉 #darienct #dariennaturecenter #gbbc #birding #backyardbirding @cornellbirds @audubonsociety

🕊️🕊️Extra Extra! We have a new dove that needs a name! We’re so excited to have this lady join us here at the Nature Center, but we need your help naming her! Using the poll below, vote on your favorite choice and check back in a few days to see which name has come out on top!🕊️🕊️ #darienct #dariennaturecenter

🌕Rising at a very snowy time in Connecticut this full Moon is appropriately named! February’s full moon is named the Snow Moon!🌕 The Snow Moon will reach its peak illumination at approximately 5:09 EST on Sunday February 1st. Weather permitting, step outside to catch a glimpse! The Snow Moon gets its name from the typical heavy snowfall that happens during the month of February. According to the National Weather Service, February tends to be the snowiest month in the United States. Historically speaking, the alternative names for the Snow Moon have had connections to animals. The Bald Eagle Moon or Eagle Moon (Cree), Bear Moon (Ojibwe) Black Bear Moon (Tlingit), [fun fact: both the Bear Moon and Black Bear Moon refer to the time of year when bear cubs are born!], Racoon Moon, (Dakota), Groundhog Moon (Algonquin), and Goose Moon (Haida). Like other full moons, there’s no shortage of alternate names. Due to the scarcity of food during this time, The Cherokee called the moon the Month of the Bony Moon and Hungry Moon. 🌕❄️🌨️

Snowbirds camp through a film camera! 📸 From all of us here at the Nature Center have a wonderful holiday season! ❄️🌲✨🕊️#darienct #dariennaturecenter

For the first full moon of the year, it’s the Wolf Moon! The Wolf Moon will reach its peak at 5:03 A.M. EST on the morning of Saturday January 3, 2026. This full moon will be the first full moon of the year 2026, occurring at perigee (the moon is at its closest point to Earth). Make sure to take a peek at the Moon Friday January 2 if you’re not a 5:00 A.M. early bird). Where did the Wolf Moon get its name from? It’s believed that it is called the Wolf Moon because wolves were more likely to be heard howling around this time. There is the old folktale that wolves howl due to the full moon, but it isn’t actually true! Wolves howl to locate other pack members, define territory, coordinate their hunting, and reinforce pack bonds. Other names for the Wolf Moon include Center Moon (Assiniboine people), Cold Moon (Cree), Frost Exploding Moon (Cree), Freeze Up Moon (Algonquin), Severe Moon (Dakota), Hard Moon (Dakota), Canada Goose Moon (Tlingit), Great Moon (Cree), Greetings Moon (Western Abenaki) and the Spirit Moon (Ojibwe). Talk about a popular moon! #darienct #dariennaturecenter #wolfmoon

Our last full moon of the year! The Cold Moon, also known as the Long Night Moon (Mohican), will reach peak illumination on December 4 at 6:14pm (EST)! The name comes from a Mohawk name that talks of the frigid weather conditions that start to happen this time of the year. The Mohican name, as said before, the Long Night Moon gets its name from how the moon rises. The Long Night Moon will rise during the “longest” nights of the year as we approach the Winter Solstice on December 21 (the Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year)! Other names for the Cold Moon include, Drift Clearing Moon (Cree), Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree), Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala), Hoar Frost Moon (Cree), Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee), Moon when the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota), Little Spirit Moon (Anishinaabe), and the Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki). 🌕❄️☁️🌨️ #dariennaturecenter #darienct #coldmoon #supermoon

Happy Winter Solstice! Get ready to celebrate the longest night of the year! The Winter Solstice also marks the day with the shortest amount of daylight. Don’t fret about the lack of daylight though, from here on out the days will be getting longer and sunsets will be happening later. The Winter Solstice is the official first day of the Winter season, astronomically speaking, meteorologists still determine the actual start of Winter, but the alignment of the moon and stars can help us celebrate the changing of the seasons! Make sure to spend some time outside today watching the sunrise or sunset, gather evergreen branches to decorate with, make diy bird feeders, light candles, hang homemade paper snowflakes around your home, and make pomanders for a cozy winter time scent. #darienct #dariennaturecenter #wintersolstice❄️

💧Join us on November 18, 2025 from 7:00-8:00pm at the Darien Library for the 2025 Coastal Water Presentation.💧 Bill Cavers, a member of the Town of Darien’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Waters and Mindy Chambrelli, Director of the Darien Health Department, who will present the annual water quality progress report of Darien’s waters in Long Island Sound. Darien’s coast is less than three miles from east to west, but its many coves and harbors stretch its coastline to over 16 miles. With picturesque harbors, sandy beaches, marshy inlets, and its Maine-like Great Island, Darien’s coast is one of the town’s greatest resources. To monitor and protect these beautiful waters, the Town of Darien and its volunteers, along with the support of key local partners, regularly test for possible bacteria and for long-term indicators of ecological health. Learn about these efforts and the latest and historical testing results, and what you can do to keep Long Island Sound pristine and safe for all! #darienct #dariennaturecenter

This time of year we’re a little extra grateful for all the fantastic teachers we have on staff here at the Nature Center! 🦃🍁🍂 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

We 💛Leaves!! 🍁✨🍂🪾🍁 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

We’ve been learning about all the different kinds of weather! 🌈🌤️❄️💧🌬️🫧 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

🎃 Happy Halloween!!! 🎃 #darienct #dariennaturecenter

This morning as our teachers were setting up in the outdoor classrooms, a small fire was found on the trail that leads behind our Frogpond Classroom. While it was a small fire and easy to extinguish, we are thankful for the Darien Fire Department for coming to make sure it was fully out. We believe the cause was due to a cigarette that was thrown onto the dry wood. Please ensure that any potential fire starters are disposed of properly or extinguished before leaving them unattended in a forested area (or any area). It was a small fire today but with our recent droughts it could have become a larger and more dangerous fire. #darienct #dariennaturecenter #firesafety