The Festival will still go on, rain or shine! There are tents set up throughout the grounds to provide shelter, and some indoor spaces as well. We don’t expect it to rain all day — it is more likely to happen later in the afternoon.
See you there!
Want to wake up each day excited for a new experience with children in nature? Want to explore leadership and truly make a difference? We are now hiring Creative Counselors for Summer Staff positions at our nature day camp. Positions run June-August. Some week to week positions also available.
Experience with children is required. Background in nature study and/or outdoor skills is preferred.
To apply, send resume and cover letter to: pwc@piedmontwildlifecenter.org
Saturday, May 14th, 2011
11 am to 6 pm
Leigh Farm Park
Durham, NC
It’s that time again! Spring is in the air and Piedmont Wildlife Center is getting ready for our Fourth Annual Festival for Wildlife. The Festival will be held on Saturday, May 14th from 11 am to 6 pm at Leigh Farm Park.
Each year the Festival gets bigger and better! We already have an exciting line-up of exhibitors; many of them will be bringing live animals and fun activities for children and adults alike! In addition, we will have live music all day long from local artists that know how to get your feet tapping! Click HERE to find out more details on music and exhibitors.
Get the Festival Map and Schedule to see what’s happening on our 3 stages as well as other activities!
New to the Festival this year is the exciting addition of a Paperhand Puppet Intervention Parade! During the Festival, we will host a special appearance from the Green Man and other animal puppets borrowed from Paperhand Puppet Intervention who will guide Festival participants in a communal march around Leigh Farm Park to observe and celebrate the beauty of our surroundings.
Tickets are on-sale now! To buy tickets in advance on-line, click here. Proceeds help Piedmont Wildlife Center promote their mission of fostering healthy connections between people, wildlife, and nature.
We need your help! If you are interested in volunteering at the event, please contact festival@piedmontwildlifecenter.org with Festival Volunteer in the subject line.
We hope to see you there!
Friday, April 1st is the deadline for submissions. Enter your photo(s) by 5pm to be eligible!
Have an eye for photography? Show us what you can do in our 2nd Annual Photo Contest! In celebration of National Wildlife Week (March 13-20), we are holding a contest featuring digital photos of native wildlife, people interacting with nature, and natural habitats. The contest is open for submission as of today! You can enter as a Youth (ages 15 and under) or an Adult (ages 16 and older). The complete rules and regulations can be found here. To enter, fill out and submit this form, and email your photo submissions to the email address you are given once you complete the form.
There will be a total of six winners (three categories in each of the two age groups). Prizes are donated from a variety of local retailers of outdoor products, including REI and Wild Birds Unlimited. Winners will be announced at the end of April, and their winning submissions will be displayed prominently at this year’s Festival for Wildlife on May 14th.
To see last year’s submissions, check out the Adult category and the Youth category.
Happy photo taking!
Deadline for submissions is April 1st.
This contest is listed at PhotographyCompetitions.net.
On Groundhog Day, February 2nd, California Pizza Kitchen is hosting a fundraising day for Piedmont Wildlife Center. Just print out this flier and bring it with you to the California Pizza Kitchen at Southpoint Mall, and 20% of your check will be donated to PWC. Take the whole family!
And if you come to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner that same evening, you’ll get to see us draw the winner for the Hot Air Balloon Ride Raffle! There’s still time to buy a ticket for the raffle—one for $10, three for $25. Send a check to PWC at 364 Leigh Farm Road, Durham, NC 27707 or call our office at 489-0900 and give credit card information. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy a hot air balloon ride for two! You can choose from 150 locations nationwide. Take the ride close to home or while on vacation! Fully transferable—makes a fantastic gift! Ticket can be used anytime in the next 12 months.
See you on Groundhog Day!
Piedmont Wildlife Center’s celebrated summer camp is back for summer 2011, with five brand new camps in addition to the old favorites. Our new themes include: a camp that celebrates ancient primitive skills and culture, a camp that shares valuable outdoor skills step by step, an all-girls wilderness camp, and a camp for practicing stealth and silent motion in the woods. This summer we are also offering four teen camps, which welcome campers ages 11-17 to a more intensive camp experience, including overnight camping sessions. Check out the complete 2011 Summer Camp schedule here, along with descriptions of each of the 13 sessions, registration details and a registration form.
This summer will be our 4th year of Piedmont Wildlife Center summer camp at Leigh Farm Park, and we’re still going strong! You can read testimonials from parents of campers from past years, and we encourage you to add your own after joining us this summer.
The schedule for our spring season classes are now posted on our website. Don’t miss these opportunities to connect with nature and with a wonderful community. This spring, we will be teaching both field natural history and survival skills classes. The classes begin with an Owl Prowl this coming Saturday, January 8th. We are hosting classes most weekends from January through May.
In addition to these classes, we are also hosting a monthly Plant Circle where we will study plant medicine, edible plants, and plant lore. We will work on applied projects and learn about the botany of our area as the plants grow and change through the seasons.
Please come join us for our adult programs and deepen your nature connection in the New Year!
We hope that you will join us this winter and spring for outdoor wilderness exploration, community and fun.
We have opened registration for the following programs:
Take a peek at the sneak preview of our Spring Adult Weekend Classes. The new adult classes begin in January. Topics include: Winter ecology, Native traps and weapons, Survival skills, Edible plants, Stories and lore of plants, Owl prowls and more.
Take a preview of our summer camp schedule. This coming summer, we are introducing four new camp themes and we are continuing many of our old favorites. Our new themes include: a camp that celebrates ancient primitive skills and culture, a camp that shares valuable outdoor skills step by step, an all-girls wilderness camp, and a camp for practicing stealth and silent motion in the woods. In addition to our regular age groups, we also have teen adventure camps running for several weeks of the summer. We are already looking forward to all of the adventures to come.
Stay tuned for other announcements of new programs just on the horizon. We are about to unleash adult and family weekend campouts, afterschool programs and more. Please contact us if those ideas interest you or if you have another idea that you would like to share with us.
We hope to see you soon at the wildlife center. In the meantime, we hope that you will get out and celebrate the beauty of the winter season with your friends and family.
Did you know that Piedmont Wildlife Center is currently involved in a number of local wildlife and habitat conservation projects that have never been publicized? We have just posted a new page describing each of these projects. Several of them are being announced for the first time today! Here are some highlights:
- Eastern Box Turtles are on
the decline! Find out what Piedmont Wildlife Center is doing to help! - What species live in your neighborhood? How many can you name? We have been tracking the animals that live near the center. Some of them might surprise you! We have just shared some of our findings from the Biological Inventory Project that we are conducting on the land surrounding Leigh Farm Park.
- We have started an Articles page where we will be sharing information about the species of our area. This is the beginning of a long term resource for the community where you can go to learn about wildlife issues, nature conservation, animal behavior and more.
- Nestboxes, compost bins, recycling and more! Learn how Piedmont Wildlife Center is adopting environmental practices in our office and beyond
- Find out about our Conservation Garden Project and how we are restoring biodiversity to the landscape around us.
We hope that you will find these links a helpful 
way to learn about wildlife and stay current with our activity here at Piedmont Wildlife Center. From here on, our new Conservation page can be found in the topbar menu above.
Visit often to find new articles, wildlife information and updates on all of our ongoing projects!
Piedmont Wildlife Center 