Silk Farm Wildlife Sanctuary

This property was acquired in 1974 and has long served as NH Audubon’s statewide headquarters, the McLane Center. Primarily forested, this sanctuary is managed in conjunction with over 60 acres of adjacent open fields and woodlands owned by St. Paul’s School. Great Turkey Pond, the shoreline of which is protected through a NH Audubon conservation easement, is a key feature of this property, as is a 15-acre grassland field that is being managed for grassland birds through grazing and other practices. Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, and American Kestrels are focal species of a nest box program, and Bobolinks and Savannah Sparrows are targets of the grassland management. Another restoration goal being planned is a demonstration pollinator meadow.

NH Audubon’s education programs are evident in and around these lands. An extensive trail system includes field and woods loops, shoreline paths, and a traverse of an old apple orchard that is being managed for wildlife and was formerly a silk farm which gives the property its name.

In 1835, this land was the site of a short-lived silk farm, and evidence of mulberry and apple trees still exists. Over the succeeding years, the land supported more traditional New England agriculture, and eventually, much of it grew back into forest. This forest was damaged in the great hurricane of 1938. Hundreds of trees were salvaged and sunk into Great Turkey Pond to preserve them from rotting. These logs were later milled by the two sawmills that existed on its shores. Logs from this time period can still be found today from the shoreline. Today our forests are growing back and being carefully managed to provide the requirements for wildlife of woodlands and fields. 

The spring flight display ‘sky dance’ of the American Woodcock can best be seen on warm evenings from the bike path along Silk Farm Road and the Old Orchard Trail. To quietly observe Wood Frogs breeding, look in the vernal pool complex behind the trailhead kiosk in the area of the wooden bridge. Please keep in mind that noise and movement will disturb them, and that no dogs are permitted here.