Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
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Welcome

We are the Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges, a nonprofit organization.

​Our mission is to support the work of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys Refuges protecting wildlife and the habitat needed for the wild to thrive.

How to Connect with Us

 Read our Blog, about what we do.

Join Friends

Subscribe to our email News Brief  

Read our email News Brief

Board member Dr. Ginessa Mahar leading a tour at Shell Mound during the Summer Solstice Gathering 2021
Board member Dr. Ginessa Mahar leading a tour at Shell Mound
screen shot of the News Brief
Picture of Ibises bringing fish to nestlings at Cedar Key NWR. Photo by Larry Woodward.
Ibises bringing fish to nestlings at Cedar Key NWR Photo by Larry Woodward

Swallow-tailed Kite Project Updates

Picture of Suwannee the swallow-tailed kite, with his digital tracker showing on his back
Suwannee, showing off his tracker in a photo taken in 2021 before he flew to Brazil for the winter. Photo credit to Larry Woodward
For five months while the Swallow-tailed Kites were returning north from Brazil, researchers heard nothing from Suwannee, the bird whose tracker we helped support. And then, he turned up safely back on the Lower Suwannee Refuge. Soon after that good news, his tracker's battery died. Read more HERE.

Friends has been able to help support a new tracker. Ken Meyer, Gina Kent and their research team captured and tagged a new kite, Suwannee II. We can't wait to see where this bird takes us. Read more HERE.

Friends Receives a Grant for Vista Work
Picture
The State of Florida, Division of Historical Resources has made its second grant to Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges for work on the Vista property. Read more HERE.

Butterflies of the Lower Suwannee Refuge

If you are interested in butterflies, we have an abundance of information and activities for you.
  • A Life List of all the butterflies on the Refuge, including a challenge to help find a few butterflies that likely are on the Refuge but have yet to be definitively documented here.
  • An illustrated Guidebook to the Butterflies of the Lower Suwannee Refuge.
  • A butterfly brochure
  • Butterfly tee shirts
  • Butterfly of the Month
  • Butterfly FAQs
  • Butterfly surveys and walks. The next walk will be in October. Watch this space for details.
Picture of the cover of the spiral bound guidebook
Picture of a blue butterfly tee shirt on a model
Words life and list with the  first letters formed by overlapping photos of butterflies

Visit both of our Refuges

​The Lower Suwannee Refuge is open daily from dawn to dusk for appropriate recreational uses including boating, hiking, fishing, biking, and birding. FWS Lower Suwannee Information Brochure.

The Cedar Keys Refuge is made up of 13 small islands offshore from the City of Cedar Key. Atsena Otie Island​ and the sandy beaches of the other islands are open to visitors. They must be accessed by personal boat. All interior and/or vegetated areas of the islands, other than Atsena Otie, are closed to visitors in order to protect the resident and transient birds nesting on them. Also, the waters and beaches around Snake Key (~100m) are closed to all entry March through June, since Snake Key is a major nesting area. Entry to closed areas on any of the islands is by permit only. FWS Cedar Keys Information Brochure.
shore birds roosting at Seahorse Key
Seahorse Key
board walk leading to Suwannee River
River Trail
Long leaf pines along Tram Ridge Trail
Tram Ridge Trail
Suwannee river seen from end of River Trail
Suwannee River seen from the River Trail
Friends members visiting the private Vista property on a field trip during the 2020 Annual Meeting
Vista property
View of Guld of Mexico from Shell Mound trail
Shell Mound
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge official government website
Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge official government website

​Visit our Online Store

Picture of the cover of the Guidebook to Butterflies of the Lower Suwannee NWR
image of a black t-shirt with a luna moth photo
image of Lower Suwannee hat

A Gallery of Refuge Photos

Picture of the head of an alligator with a blue crab in its mouth
Alligator and Blue Crab Photo Larry Woodward
Picture of a Common Yellow-throat Warbler Photo by Frank Morgan
Common Yellow-throat Warbler Photo by Frank Morgan
Visit the Wildlife page for more.
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Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
P. O. Box 532
Cedar Key, FL 32625
friends@friendsofrefuges.org

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.


  • Home
    • Our Blog: What We Do
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • How We Operate
    • Our Refuges
    • Places of Interest
    • Contact Us
  • Join
  • Maps
    • Paddling Guides
    • Refuge Maps
    • Trail Brochures
  • Wildlife
  • Hunting & Fishing
    • Hunting
    • FWS Hunting Brochure
    • Fishing
  • Search
  • Store
    • Womens Shirts
    • Mens Shirts
    • Books
    • Earrings
    • Hats