UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Construction is beginning at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center on a new “Aerie Garden” designed to give visitors a quiet place to sit and reflect near the center’s Klingsberg Aviary.

The hilltop garden, which is expected to open to the public in July, will include an accessible paved pathway and sandstone block seats where visitors can sit and look down on where Shaver's Creek feeds into Lake Perez, said Shaver’s Creek Associate Director Joshua Potter. 

“It will be a neat spot for visitors to connect to the natural world in a different way; a place for peaceful reflection and to get a bird’s-eye view of the boardwalk and lake below,” Potter said.

What is currently a bare hilltop with some gravel and mulch piles will be transformed into perennial beds and plantings of native shrubs and other plants. At the same time, a shade “sail” will be installed in the aviary quadrangle, and new gates will be added to increase bird safety.

The aviary will mostly remain open during construction, but will be closed for several days this week and at times some birds may be moved or blocked from view, said Paige Sutherland, wildlife education program director at Shaver’s Creek. Visitors can check the Shaver's Creek website and social media for updates.

The garden was conceived as part of the center’s Long-term Ecological Reflections Project, also known as The Creek Journals. Funding comes from Penn State Outreach and the Penn State Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, and from funds raised by the Shaver’s Creek Birding Cup. 

More information about Shaver’s Creek facilities and programs is at shaverscreek.org.