DNREC’s DuPont Nature Center reopens next month.
The center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve east of Milford near Slaughter Beach opens Saturday April 1, and remains open through September.
The DuPont Nature Center has a light schedule in April, open Wednesdays and Saturdays, but closed for Easter weekend.
From May through August, visitors are welcome Tuesday through Saturday. The center returns to a Wednesday and Saturday schedule in September.
When open, its hours are 9 am to 4 pm.
DuPont Nature Center manager Patrick Ruhl says the spring highlight for wildlife watchers is the spawning of horseshoe crabs.
"You'll start to see thousands of horseshoe crabs come up onto the beach to lay their eggs. Which consequently brings in these amazing migratory shore birds that are coming from all over the globe and stop in here to munch on those eggs for the long journeys. That happens usually around the middle of May and as you get into early June,” said Ruhl. “That's just this great natural phenomenon that a lot of people, nature lovers, science lovers just wait for all year round."
They can be viewed from the large deck overlooking the harbor. Inside the center, there are exhibits as well as saltwater tanks with a closer view of aquatic species.
But the center is more than that according to its manager, Ruhl.
"We aren't just focused on strictly environmental information here. There's also plenty of information on the cultural resources of the area and especially how nature of our area has played into the lives and history of the people who have called Slaughter Beach and Milford home," said Ruhl.
The center is managed by DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife.
