Patuxent Visitor Center | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

National Wildlife Visitor Center

Lots to see and enjoy including...

Kids Discovery Center
Monarch Magic
Wildlife Images Bookstore
Hollingsworth Art Gallery
Family Fun
Visitor Center Bird Blind
Pollinator Gardens

The Visitor Center, located on South Tract, is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – closed on federal holidays.

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Kids Discovery Center

Lots of exciting learning activities and crafts await you at the KIDS DISCOVERY CENTER! New themes are presented monthly to engage kids (ages 3-10) * and adults in nature-related fun. Closed from October 27-November 5.

Daily, Wednesday through Saturday: Sessions start at 10:00 am, 11:00 am, and 12:00 pm. Duration: 35 minutes, each. Larger group special arrangements are possible when scheduled 2 weeks in advance.

Registration Required. Call the National Wildlife Visitors Center front desk 301/497 5772 to reserve a 35-minute time slot for you and your child.

Children, with parent/guardian support, explore and learn about nature and the environment through engaging, age-appropriate activities, crafts and games. Older siblings are welcome to join with parents and work with younger siblings to help them understand and complete the activities.

*NOTE: The Kids’ Discovery Center is neither baby-proofed nor appropriate for children younger than 3 due to small items featured in the exhibits and activities. Parents are required to work with their child at each of the parent-led activities.

If interested in volunteering to work with KDC and/or to help develop curriculum activities for children, please call the front desk and ask for Barrie.

Program Themes:

NOVEMBER: BEAVERS
Master Builders/Watershed Sustainers. Learn all about family life in the beaver household! Explore the world of Maryland’s beavers as we take you inside their lodges (using pictures & story books).

DECEMBER & JANUARY: RACOONS AND SKUNKS
Do you like to fish? Raccoons and skunks do, too! Curious? Join us!

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Monarch Magic

The monarch butterflies departed our area in the fall and made their way to Mexico for the winter. We look forward to their return north, generation by generation, this spring and summer. Meanwhile, you can come to the National Wildlife Visitor Center to visit our Monarch Magic Station, learn more about these incredible and beautiful migratory insects, and enjoy a full-color educational video about them. (The video runs continuously during Visitor Center public hours.)
Thank you for helping us release 948 monarchs in 2023.

Monarch Magic Opportunity:
Explore volunteering with the Monarch Butterfly Team! Call 301-497-5772 to ask about & sign-up for the next “Monarch Butterfly Team Overview Presentation.” These presentations are for adults, and ages 16-17 with adult registration on file, to learn about what volunteer Monarch Magic docents and Butterfly-Care Providers do

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Wildlife Images Bookstore

The Wildlife Images Bookstoreis operated by the Friends of Patuxent. Proceeds from sales made at Wildlife Images are devoted to supporting the environmental education at the Patuxent Research Refuge and research missions at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. The Bookstore is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 3:30 PM; closed on federal holidays.

Wildlife Images has an extraordinary selection of:

Wildlife books
Wildlife art items, created by some of the world's best wildlife artists
Wildlife-theme tee-shirts, Children & Adult sizes, and caps
Songbird box kits
Posters
Educational, and one of a kind items
Many other exciting wildlife-related items suitable for everyone who loves the outdoors and cares about the wildlife of the world.

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Hollingsworth Art Gallery

Each month the Hollingsworth Art Gallery exhibits wildlife-themed art by local and by nationally-known artists.

November 2024
Artist of the Month - Southern Comforters Quilt Guild

November seems like the perfect time for a quilt show from the Southern Comforters Quilt Guild. Member and contact person for the group, Barbara Dahlberg, writes that Guild members will exhibit nature and wildlife themed quilts and that the display will include traditional and art quilts they’ve created.

The guild holds meetings twice a month on second and fourth Wednesday evenings – the first “in-person” and the second on “Zoom.” Regular activities include donations to local charities, and annual quilt bingo, an annual challenge, and a “block” of the month.

On Saturday, November 2, members of the Southern Comforters will be in the gallery to greet visitors, talk about their exhibit and share information about the guild. Find the guild on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SouthernComfortersQuiltGuild/

December 2024
Artist of the Month - Sam Droege

Sam Droege is a Wildlife Biologist in the Eastern Ecological Science Center in Laurel, Maryland—a profession his parents could have predicted when Sam was seven! He writes he was always interested in nature, and by that age, his parents were convinced. As a teen they wouldn’t find him at the mall, but in the woods. In high school he connected with the Maryland Ornithological Society where he met some Patuxent biologists. At the refuge he helped band and count birds – which eventually led to a “real” job.

In 1980 at the University of Maryland, Sam earned a BA in General Biology; in 1985 at the State University of New York, Syracuse, a MS in wildlife management. Since then Droege has worked professionally for many organizations conducting wildlife research. Among these are Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies, SUNY Research Foundation, New York Department of Environmental Conservation and Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. The internet documents his service, publications, memberships, grants and stints as a guest reviewer.

He has developed and coordinated a number of monitoring programs including Breeding Bird Survey, North American Amphibian monitoring, the Bioblitz, Frogwatch USA, and is currently developing techniques for monitoring and identifying native bees. He writes that he’d been working on related topics and found a lack of information about floral components used and visited by bees a real problem.

His exhibit will consist of pollinated plants and amazing bee closeups made in the lab from 25-125 separate photographs!

Family Fun

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The Family Fun section offers self-paced hands-on activities and crafts for all ages. Test your knowledge with the Quiz Board or the Match Game. Make-and-take a fun craft project. Learn about nature, the plants and animals at Patuxent Refuge, and what you can do to help wildlife and the environment. There is something for everyone!

This is a drop in program: come when you wish and leave when you're ready. Look for the Family Fun section in the hallway to the right as you face the reception desk.

Themes

Fall 2024 (September, October, November): Migration - Fall is migration season for many of the birds at Patuxent Refuge. Where do they come from, and where do they go? What challenges do they face along the way? Come learn about bird migration through hands-on games, activities and crafts for all ages.

Winter: December (independent, only) & January (staffed 1/17; 1/18):
Let it Snow! Winter Weather & the Water Cycle.” Have you ever wondered how snowflakes form, where rain comes from, or what a cloud feels like? Self-guided, hands-on learning activities, games, crafts.

Visitor Center Bird Blind

Wish there was a convenient way to view birds at South Tract without intruding into their lives?

Try our bird blind located near the Visitor Center trail door. The slanted viewing port design allows people of all heights to view without revealing their presence. .The blind overlooks an open field with ground modification to mimic a forest floor. A variety of bird feeders have been added to attract a variety of species. Being located on a paved trail allows individuals with limited mobility to use the blind.

Birds seen in the blind’s first month include downy woodpecker, goldfinch, house finch, red-bellied woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, northern mocking bird, chipping sparrow, doves, red-winged blackbird and humming bird.

Funds for construction were provided by the Friends of Patuxent.

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Pollinator Gardens

The Patuxent Research Refuge has large pollinator gardens of native plants at the South Tract Visitor Center and at the North Tract Visitor Contact Station. Other small pockets of pollinator plantings are near the Fishing Pier at the north end of Cash Lake and at the Wildlife Viewing Area near Merganser Pond at North Tract. Volunteers help design and maintain these gardens, which provide food and shelter to butterflies, native bees and other insects that pollinate native plants and thus support the local wildlife populations. The gardens are beautiful and bring joy to their many visitors, and are especially appreciated by children and photographers.

Since the seeds choose where they like to grow, the gardens are an ever-changing landscape. As one of the gardeners noted, part of the fun of native plant gardening is enjoying the evolving display that changes with both the seasons and the successional stages of plant species as the landscape matures.

The gardens give visitors a chance to see pollinators in action in their natural habitat. They create an awareness of the beauty of native plants in home landscaping, and demonstrate the vital role they play in attracting beneficial insects as well as birds and other wildlife. The gardens are essentially an outdoor classroom, promoting good environmental stewardship by showing visitors what they can do in their own gardens.