Nature Walk Monday

The next Nature Walk will be on Monday, February 1st, on the Levy County side of the Refuge; the leader will be Pamela Morse. RSVP to Pamela if you plan to go. Her phone is 352-472-6651. You will meet Pamela at the Refuge Headquarters at 9 AM , Monday, February First.

January`s Nature Walk Was Cold but eventful

The January Nature Walk which was frozen out on January 4th took place on January 18th. The day was warmer, the sky was somewhat overcast but there was no rain and it wasn`t freezing. Five of us met in Cross City and carpooled to Shired Island.

Before we left the parking lot at Shired Island we saw Loons, Willets and a Great Blue Heron that had caught the largest fish I have even seen a heron try to eat. He struggled with it and batted it around but we never did see him swallow it.

While walking toward the water we saw a Killdeer very close to us and ignoring us completely as he picked up some tiny bits of something from the mud. He was in fresh looking plumage and we could see clearly his dark orange rump...fantastic! The bird list was a good one including a White Pelican, Oystercatcher, Black Bellied Plover, SemiPalmated Plover, Tern species (not identified beyond that), Laughing Gull, Ringbilled Gull, Northern Harrier and a lot of Vultures both Turkey and Black. A couple of Savannah Sparrows were running about on the wet sand below the high water mark looking like little mice. The wind picked up a little but despite that, it was a very good day.

The fly in the ointment that day was the amount of trash we saw...and actually picked up. We carried four bags that we found on the beach and filled them. We left the trash in the cans at the Campground which were really not adequate.