Whether perched aside the tinkling creek or planted amid the fern-laced slopes, there's no doubt that, from any vantage, Todd Sanctuary is just what it says it is: a sanctuary.

Off a dirt road, hidden by tall trees and a few miles from the nearest crossroads, it is a sanctuary not just for birds, bees and beasts, but for animals of the two-legged variety as well.

Be still. Listen closely.

Leaves rustle. Birds chirp. Frogs plop into the greenish waters of a pond on the 176-acre haven in Buffalo near the Butler-Armstrong county line.

About the only perceptible sign of human touch is a 1926 tile-and-sandstone hunting-cabin-turned-information-center for the sanctuary owner, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

"It's an island of solitude. Peaceful and quiet. It's like going back through time,'' said Earl Mounts, of Highland Park, hiking on a recent Sunday with his friend, Lynn Labun, of Fox Chapel. First-time visitors, they had heard of Todd Sanctuary in a book listing 50 good hikes in Pennsylvania.

"It's so close to home, but when you're standing in that hemlock ravine, you feel like you're a million miles away,'' Labun said.

On any sunny weekend, 30 to 40 people are drawn to the Buffalo Creek Valley sanctuary's five miles of dirt hiking trails, said Graham Bier, of Buffalo. Bier, 21, served as Todd naturalist this summer before returning to Oberlin College in Ohio to begin his senior year of study in environmental science and music education.

The trails aren't the only attraction. As the naturalist, Bier, coordinated educational programs aimed at families on topics that included birds, ferns, insects, owls and fish.

On a recent Saturday, a small troop of children carrying vials tracked iridescent dragonflies. "I got one!'' shouted a youngster, who soon learned from Bier's father, Charles, that the dragonfly was actually female, and thus a damselfly.

The Bier family lives just yards from the sanctuary. Charles Bier, director of natural heritage at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, was a Todd naturalist in the summers of 1973, '75 and '76, and he occasionally accompanies his son in his sanctuary duties.

"It's an amazing thing to be out here. It's a great place for us to come and relax,'' said Graham Bier, who often gives up the comfortable bed in his parents' home to sleep in the upstairs of the old hunting cabin so he can be "closer to things."

Virginia and Mark Milar, of Stanton Heights, said they like to pack up their camera equipment and trek into the wild on a nice weekend to capture the wonder of birds in their natural environment. "It's all so beautiful,'' Mark Milar said.

There's no shortage of subjects at Todd. The sanctuary is considered a significant birding area because both northern and southern birds mix there. Audubon Pennsylvania lists the Buffalo Creek Valley as one of 81 spots in the state designated as an important bird area.

Among the 76 species, catalogued in 1976, in and around the sanctuary are scarlet tanager, blue-winged warbler, downy woodpecker, blue jay, great blue heron, song sparrow, mallard, sandpiper and black-billed cuckoo. It was an ornithologist who recognized the importance of the property and ensured its protection as a bird sanctuary by donating the first tract of land to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania in 1942. W.E. Clyde Todd, curator of birds at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, donated 75 acres that was part of his grandfather's farm. Additional land was acquired later.

The sanctuary is cut by three streams, Hesselgesser's Run, Knixon's Run and Spring Run, all of which flow into Watson's Run, a tributary of Buffalo Creek. In addition to lush ground cover -- all catalogued by Graham Bier as his summer project -- the sanctuary has concentrations of hemlock, oak and maple.

Brian Shema, director of sanctuaries for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, said the quality of the sanctuary's waterways, forested areas and vegetation, as well as its diverse bird population, make it an important ecological resource.

"The primary purpose of the property is not recreation. We encourage people to visit the land so that they can appreciate the value of a natural area and its importance to an ecosystem of a region that is truly significant,'' Shema said.

He said the society is committed to limiting human impact on the property. Visitors are encouraged to resist the temptation to pick a flower or disturb a rock. Hikers are asked to stick to the trails.

The society views Todd as a showcase for the ecology of the 60,000-acre Buffalo Creek watershed, Shema said. "We want to help foster and develop a sense of stewardship among the communities in the area so they can begin thinking about how to protect that valley in perpetuity," he said.

Shema said the sanctuary is of scientific significance because it can be used as a gauge of what's happening in the broader watershed. "We monitor water quality of the streams in the sanctuary, which helps us track impacts on watershed,'' he said.

To those in the birding world, the site is important not just for its diversity of feathered friends but also for its historic link to W.E. Clyde Todd. "He is very well-known in the ornithological trade,'' Shema said.

The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania wants to see the sanctuary grow. Three years ago, the group bought the 110-acre Horigan property, which is nearby but not contiguous to Todd. Shema said a plan is being developed for the land. "We'd like to purchase more property and enlarge the sanctuary to make it the core parcel in the watershed," he said.

While the property may be historically, environmentally and scientifically significant, for many visitors its attraction is simple:

"There just aren't too many places to go where you can listen hard and not hear a car go by,'' Mounts said.

Todd Sanctuary is off Route 356 in Buffalo, Butler County. For more information, call the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania at 412-963-6100.