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As you probably guessed, they are both the same news.
Our outstanding, much admired Deputy Manager Larry Woodward has accepted a new position. He will become the Deputy Project Leader at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. As Refuge Manager Andrew Gude said, "It is a good career move for Larry and we are pleased for him. We have had a cohesive and successful team here for ten years. That is more than most workplaces ever get to say. We will miss him. It has been a very good run and we are all grateful for those ten years." (Then of course, being Andrew, he added "Don't tell Larry I said all those nice things, okay?") Too bad. I had to share them with all of us who know how lucky we are to have had him, and the stellar team for all this time! Here is what Refuge Manager Michael Lusk at Okefenokee NWR had to say:
We wish you all the best, Larry.
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 The plaza where solstice gatherings happened The Florida Public Archaeology Network and Friends of Refuges information booths drew good participation. Next time, we will try for better weather. There will be a next time for all who wished to come but couldn't make it. The kayak tour had to be cancelled and we hope to reschedule since there was abundant interest.
 The Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs welcome our Summer 2021 Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) Team: from left to right, Katie Vandegrift, Jeffery Schleede, and returning Youth Leader Shelby Holland. We feel very fortunate to have these high school student colleagues!
Our summer interns, Jasmin Muslimani and Nicolle Montero, are completing a forestry photo plot project. Photo plots provide qualitative data to help with monitoring change over time. Engineering Equipment Operator George Pelt is on a Wildfire Severity Detail in Big Cypress.
 Ibises flying from Cedar Keys NWR to Lower Suwannee NWR at sunrise seeking fish for nestlings. Photo credit-Larry Woodward Watching the ibises fly over Cedar Key this week and knowing that they were foraging for food for their nestlings, Friends members Mac and Nita Cox wondered where they would find enough freshwater fish for all the baby birds during this dry season. Juvenile ibises can't take the saltiness of fish from the Gulf. The adults need to fly in to fresh water areas, find food, and carry it back to the nesting areas on Snake Key in the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge. We asked Deputy Manager Larry Woodward about it and learned that finding enough food for nestlings is a full-time job for adult ibises. They fly far, multiple times a day, to forage and bring back fish for their young.  Ibises foraging and feeding in freshwater habitats off Dixie Mainline on the Dixie county side of the Lower Suwannee NWR. photo credit-Larry Woodward  Ibises feeding their young on Snake Key in the Cedar Keys NWR. Photo credit-Larry Woodward People have gathered at Shell Mound for more than 1500 years to celebrate the summer solstice. Come and join Friends of Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs and the Florida Public Archaeology Network for this year's gathering. Learn about the place where Shell Mound was built centuries ago . . . a huge, wind-formed dune aligned with the solstices.  When: Sunday, June 20th, 9:00 to noon Where: On CR 326, three miles off CR 347, on the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, near Cedar Key The Schedule:
What to Bring: sunscreen, water, shoes for a trail walk, hat and clothes for protection from insects, bug spray To learn more about the natural and cultural history of the Shell Mound site before coming, you may want to look over the interpretive panels or read the short guide book, Shell Mound: A Portal into Another World, on our Shell Mound website page.  |
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. |
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