Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges

Update on Suwannee and other Feathered Friends

5/25/2020

Friends board member Debbie Jordan has been out and about checking on the abundant bird life. She sends this report, including an update on Suwannee the Swallow-tailed Kite.

I hope you’ve been able to be outdoors enjoying the spring bird life -- there are so many babies this year! From cardinals to chickadees to woodpeckers, it’s been quite a noisy show with parents and begging youngsters at the feeders each day. Our skies have been graced with our favorite soaring birds, swallow-tailed kites, who are now visiting us during their breeding season. Through National Audubon magazine or our Friends News Brief, you might have heard about the Refuge’s “famous” kite named Suwannee, who was captured and outfitted with a GPS-GSM transmitter last summer. In August/September, young Suwannee made the incredible 5,000-mile journey from the Refuge to Mato Grosso, Brazil where he over-wintered. During his journey and while in Brazil, each time he came within range of a cell phone tower, data was transmitted about Suwannee’s location. In March, we were thrilled and amazed to learn that, after taking a slightly different route, he made the two-month journey all the way back to Florida!

UPDATE: Last week, Refuge Deputy Manager Larry Woodward reported finding two Swallow-tailed Kite nests on the Refuge at the site where Suwannee was captured last year. Gainesville’s ARCI researcher Gina Kent came out to investigate and found more nests, in addition to four they had documented last year. Sadly, based on the data points on the map below, Gina thinks if one of the nests was Suwannee's, it may have failed, and he is now just hanging around. Swallow-tailed Kites, male and females, share nest duties and feeding of the chicks. He would be staying close to a nest, if he had chicks to feed. Maybe next year? Gina will continue to track the data received from his transmitter throughout the summer and come August, record Suwannee’s journey all the way back to Brazil!

Map shows data points where Suwannee has been tracked around the Refuge. Red dot is where he was captured last year - blue dots are where he's been tracked. Map credit: ARCI

Checks to support Suwannee's tracking should be made to Friends of Refuges, and
mailed to:
Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
P.O. Box 532
Cedar Key, FL 32625
Please note you are supporting Swallow-tailed Kite research.

T-shirt Anyone? We are thinking of offering online purchase of kite t-shirts to support this effort. Please let me know if you’d like to order a shirt. Price will be $25 including mailing costs. We have Men's (S-2XL) and Women's sizes (S-XL) debbiesturdivant@gmail.com

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Board Holds May Meeting by Telephone

5/22/2020

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NO - Can't Meet Like This For a While!

Friends' board of directors regularly meets on the third Wednesday of the month. Both February and March meetings were cancelled because of health concerns. In May, the meeting was held by telephone conference call.

Friends president John McPherson and Refuge Manager Andrew Gude set up the conference call at the refuge. Fifteen of the other 17 board members were able to call in from home and participate. It worked surprisingly well.

Yes. For now, we will meet by telephone from our homes or offices

Andrew reported that the headquarters office building remains closed to the public, in keeping with CDC guidelines. However, all outdoor areas of the Refuges remain open, as long as social distancing guidelines are observed. There has been no need to close areas to date. Visitors have been more abundant than in past years at the same time of year, especially at Shell Mound and Shired Island, possibly because the Refuge has been open while other recreation areas were closed.

Although, it does feel quite old-fashioned. Perhaps soon our Refuge will have high speed internet.

Law enforcement officer Sterling Valentine was temporarily re-assigned from the Refuge to the southern US border during the pandemic months. Thankfully, she is returning now. Equipment Officer George Pelt also has returned from a temporary assignment to work on fire equipment and fire mitigation in south Florida and is now working on enhancements to the River and Tram Ridge Trails. Other staff have been on duty onsite throughout these months. Forestry work continues. A new pole barn has been set up. Vandalism along the Dixie Mainline has been addressed.

All board initiatives were discussed with particular attention to starting butterfly surveys, considering linking some trails to create a walk that highlights several contrasting eco-zones of the refuge, and planning the next phase of the Vista project.

The June meeting was scheduled to again be virtual. Friends is adjusting and adapting to the world as it is today. The mission hasn't changed, just the meeting mode.

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Atsena Otie Project Described

5/20/2020

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Dr. Ken Sassaman, the Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology at the University of Florida, is working with the Cedar Keys NWR on a project at Atsena Otie. In the current issue of Florida Historical Society Archaeological Institute's magazine, he describes the project's ultimate goal to create a virtual reality platform for exploring the experience and expectation of climate events. In particular, he and a team he has assembled will investigate the 1896 storm that destroyed most of the buildings on the island. The story says the project will use archival, geospatial, archaeological, and oral historical data in pursuit of insights that might help current community leaders plan for future climate events. Read the full story here.

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New Board Member Orientation

5/18/2020

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Barbara Woodmansee

Peg Hall

Ginessa Mahar

Linda Kimball

Debbie Meeks

Denise Feiber

Travis Thomas

John McPherson

Matt Chatowsky

On Monday, May 11, the five new Board members met on ZOOM with several current members for a short orientation. The discussion included:

Why people joined the Board
The relationship between Friends, an independent non-profit organization, and the Refuge, an agency of the federal government
Roles and responsibilities of the Board members
Opportunities for increasing Friends support for the mission and impact of the Refuge

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Checking on Hunting Regulations

5/9/2020

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It has been reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering expanding hunting of bears, bobcats, mountain lions and many other animals on National Wildlife Refuges across the U.S.

Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys Refuges checked with Refuge Manager Andrew Gude to learn if such a change is likely to affect hunting on our Refuges. We learned that it is not.

Hunting is a refuge-by-refuge decision. It is not easy for a refuge to expand hunting because it is dependent on local factors, and because significant policy bars must be met . . . usually at least a year in advance of any change.

Over the past year, all refuges, including Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys, completed SHOT (Service Hunt/Fish Opportunity Tool) reports, in accordance with a directive from former Secretary of Interior Zinke. One goal was to increase alignment with state hunting regulations to make things easier for hunters and anglers. Our regulations and the State of Florida’s already are in alignment. Another goal was to see what hunting and fishing opportunities could be expanded.

It turns out that Lower Suwannee NWR offers more hunting opportunities than any refuge in the Lower 48, with ten different public hunts and a few special hunts. Given this information and all the other data gathered for the SHOT report, our refuge managers do not envision allowing any more species to be taken.

Quoting our Refuge manager Andrew, "At the Lower Suwannee NWR, there will be no hunting bobcats or alligators, not even frog gigging. Our Refuge hunting will continue to be just deer, hogs, turkey, ducks, and small game . . . and hogs, hogs, and more hogs. Shoot all the damn hogs you would like, during the season, of course."

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May's Butterfly of the Month

5/5/2020

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Greetings from the Refuge Manager

4/22/2020

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I hope you are safe and healthy.

Following are some highlights of the status of the Lower Suwannee/Cedar Keys NWRs as we continue to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our outdoor facilities are open to the public - nothing is closed except buildings! In fact, the refuge is experiencing relatively high usage given so many other State of Florida and sister federal public areas are closed. My cell phone has been lit up with texts and phone messages asking for information on recreational access.

Staff designated as essential are working on station, while others are working from home.

Staff, along with the resident volunteers, continue to patrol Shell Mound and Shired Island, including cleaning bathrooms and picking up garbage. Unfortunately, duties on the Dixie side have involved addressing new graffiti on the Mainline Bridges.

While office routines and schedules remain in flux, much is being accomplished. You will hardly recognize the headquarters office and out-buildings, as staff and the resident volunteers have undertaken projects including treating the outside of the log cabin, sealing the wood on the building, rebuilding the education shed, mowing the grounds, cleaning offices and windows, and seemingly organizing everything! We are so grateful for their hard work.

I, along with the entire Refuge staff, extend best wishes for all of you, your families, friends, and our communities.

If you need me, give a call on my cell 703.622.3896.

Take care and stay well.

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A Morning at the Refuge

4/21/2020

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Recently, Friends members Ann and Ron Kamzelski visited the Lower Suwannee Refuge. Ann sends this report and all the gorgeous photos.

With the “stay at home” orders and concerns about the virus, I realized that I had spent over 4 weeks on Cedar Key without leaving the island. It was time. However, I didn’t want to go shopping, I just wanted to get out. I had heard that the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge was one of the places that was still open to the public. So, I got my husband Ron to be my chauffeur and headed off to the Refuge with my cameras.

refuge pond with birds

way down along the Suwannee River

We decided to stop at the Shell Mound on the way. When we got there, it was packed with cars, trucks and boat trailers. Not a parking spot to be had. We did an immediate U-turn and headed to the quiet of the loop road.

another refuge pond

big boy

I had a project that I was working on for a friend and needed to get some landscape images. I wanted to portray the feeling you get when you visit our wonderful area. There are several different terrains in the Refuge from pine forests, to tidal creeks, cypress swamps, and the Suwannee River itself.

tidal creek on the refuge

My focus was not on wildlife this trip, but wildlife “happens” when you take this drive. There were lots of turtles and baby gators in the ditches along the road. Dragonflies by the hundreds buzzed around the truck. A great egret flew down the road in front of us for about a half mile. We saw two piliated woodpeckers and I found a five-stripped skink. There was a racoon meandering through the cypress trees. Some of the bigger ponds along the road had larger alligators in them. One even lifted his head and smiled at me when I took his picture. Another pond had one each of a great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, little blue heron and tricolored heron. Oh, and there were lots of different flowers to be seen on the roadsides too.

alligator with reflection

We drove slowly along the loop road stopping here and there so I could take photographs. We went to the McCormick Creek launch area because I love the way the road just nose-dives right into the water at the end. I think we saw three cars the whole trip. Then we went to the headquarters area and walked the trail to the Suwannee River. We sat on the bench overlooking the river and just enjoyed the peace.

along the Nature Loop Drive

McCormick Creek launch road

I came home with a whole bunch of photographs to sort through. It was a delightful morning spent in a perfect location. I am so glad that we have this place and that it is still open for us to visit.

tree with vine

dixie iris

five-lined skink

turtles

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Butterfly of the Month

4/20/2020

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Barbara Woodmansee has joined the Board of Friends. For many years, she has been surveying the butterflies of the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. With her expertise, Friends is adding a Butterfly of the Month page to the website. The first post is here, and all the months' posts will also be on the Science, Butterflies tab at the top of the page.

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Resident Volunteers Help Keep Things Ship Shape

4/19/2020

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s National Wildlife Refuge System, comprised of approximately 550 refuges throughout the country, has a robust volunteer program for people looking for opportunities to work along-side refuge or hatchery staff. The program is designed for people who want to further conservation, learn more about nature and share their love of the outdoors. Volunteers, also known as resident volunteers, have a beautiful place to live for a period of time and are able to explore and experience the refuge or hatchery, as well as the local area. And, in return, the refuge or hatchery gains valuable volunteer assistance.

We are fortunate to currently have outstanding resident volunteers at our refuges.

Fishbone Creek overview

Kathy picking up trash

Dusty cleaning the outhouse

Dixie Mainline

Kathy and Dusty Dusterwinkle are Michiganders who are spending their 6th year as resident volunteers at the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. This year they arrived in December and will head back in early May.

They report that their time is spent on assignments including picking up trash (and sadly lots of it) on the Dixie Mainline and Shired Island boat launches, cleaning the Shired Island outhouse, repairing the lookout deck at Fishbone Creek, scraping and sanding of gates at various locations and mowing and brushing at various locations. Unfortunately, there has also been recent vandalism along the Dixie Mainline for them to repair.

Their own words sum up the importance of their contributions: “We do our best to be a Refuge presence and we like to tell our family and friends that we are God’s gardeners over here. It’s a most beautiful place and we seek to keep it looking that way.”

Rusty trash can

Trash can repaired

Vandalism to be repaired

Dusty and Kathy

Dusty scraping a gate

Buzz and Donna Coller, from Wisconsin, have been providing support on the Levy County side. The Collers arrived in Florida to work at, and camp in, Florida state parks, but due to the COVID-19 closure mandates, they sought volunteer work with the Refuge. They’ve assisted staff on repairing and replacing signs that have been stolen or damaged, replacing the deck on the education building, as well as treating and sealing the outside of the log cabin.

Buzz paints

Buzz drills signs

Donna on trash patrol

Headquarters building, cleaned and stained

Buzz and staff member Jason Coates working on the deck.

Robin and Rick Gallup arrived on the scene from out West in April for their stint as resident volunteers and quickly lent much-needed hands to projects already underway. The Collers report that the log cabin would never have been finished so fast without the Gallups' help.

Rick in the workshop

Robin and Rick after hours with pup Felix

Needless to say, the NWRS Volunteer Program has been a tremendous asset to our facilities.

For more information on the NWRS Volunteer Program visit www.volunteer.gov

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<<Previous

The Refuge is open daily from dawn to dusk.
Due to coronavirus concerns, the headquarters building is closed to visitors. However, staff are working as usual and the Refuge is open for appropriate recreational uses including boating, hiking, fishing, biking, and birding.

The Refuge Manager Andrew Gude can be reached by text or phone at 703.622.3896.

Hunting Information from the Refuge Manager

The print version of the 2019-2020 Hunt Regulations Brochure is now available at Refuge headquarters. For a digital version,
click on the photo below.

For Information about getting a Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge Hunt Permit and a Deer Bag Report, Click Here

To Apply for a Permit to Hunt on the Lower Suwannee Refuge,
Click Here

For a copy of the Deer Harvest Log, Click Here

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