Blog Archives

Annual Meeting

3/12/2022

Great news!
The CDC Covid tracker now rates Levy County as LOW.
Come join us RAIN or SHINE at the Friends Annual Meeting.
Doors open at 9:30 a.m. for registration and for Friends merchandise.
Presentations begin at 10:00.
Updated April 1

Happily, we are meeting at the Refuge, in-person, for our Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 2. We re-scheduled from February to April because of the Covid situation. We know this is likely to make the Annual Meeting smaller, since so many of our members have returned to their other-season homes by now. But despite fewer attendees, our day's agenda is mostly back to pre-pandemic normal.

Wouldn't you know . . . the weather forecast, as of March 28, predicts a rainy day. That has happened before and the forecast improved by our meeting day. Indeed, the weather has tended to be good to us. Regardless, we will meet. Rain or shine.

9:30 a.m.

Gates open
Check-in. The meeting, including lunch, is free for current and life members. Non-member fee is $10 per person. Membership can be renewed, or fee paid, at check-in.
Friends merchandise booth will be open with special Annual Meeting discounts. We can now take credit cards, if the cellular connectivity is good that day. Please bring cash or checks, in case Square won't work. Also, it saves Friends from paying processing fees if you buy with cash or a check. We appreciate being able to use all your purchase for programs.
Butterflies of the Lower Suwannee NWR guidebook will be available to purchase.

10:00 a.m.

Refuge Update, Refuge Manager Andrew Gude
Friends Update, incoming President Debbie Meeks

11:00 a.m.

Featured Presenter -- Dr. Marc Minno
Featured Presentation -- Butterflies and Their Host Plants

Marc Minno is a renowned butterfly and native plant expert, having studied the ecology, systematics, and biogeography of butterflies and moths for much of his life. Since moving to Florida in 1982, Marc and Maria Minno have worked toward conserving the state’s rare, unique, and imperiled plants and animals.

12:00 Lunch, catered by Ken and Rose McCain. Board Members are bringing desserts. If any members would like to also bring some, they would be welcome. It is hard to imagine "too many sweets."

1:00 Nature Walk to Vista (rides provided for those who prefer them). Annual Meeting participants will be able, in small groups, to walk through the main house at Vista for short visits, if they wish.

Although everything will probably never be fully back to pre-pandemic normal, the great news is that the Covid-19 Community Level in Levy County has moved from High to Medium.

There are no limits on the number of attendees at events at the Refuge. The CDC still recommends wearing a mask if you are at high risk of illness, staying up-to-date with Covid vaccines, and not attending an event when you have symptoms of being ill.

Further changes are possible, of course. If they come up, we will send a News Brief to inform you. We also will post in this blog and on the homepage of this website.

We look forward to seeing you on April 2 at the Refuge.

See video from the 2021 Annual Meeting here.
See photos from the 2020 Annual Meeting here.

Suwannee, the Swallow-tailed Kite is Back

3/11/2022

Researcher Gina Kent brings good news. After 5 months, Suwannee uploaded data. He is safely back on the Lower Suwannee NWR. The Avian Research and Conservation Institute had a lot of challenges with tracking this year because the GSM/cell technology is changing rapidly and the birds are not able to upload data to the new technology. But they still are able to do so on the Lower Suwannee Refuge. We thought his tracker had died, but not so. He is here.

Suwannee, showing off his tracker in a photo taken last year before he flew to Brazil for the winter. Photo credit to Larry Woodward.

Forest Restoration - A Note from Refuge Manager Andrew Gude

3/8/2022

The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge routinely conducts forest restoration and road maintenance activities. You may see us on the various Refuge roads cutting roadside vegetation or in the pine woods mulching the heavy mid-story vegetation.

Historic logging (some 0f it very intensive) occurred on this land over 40 to 120 years, before it became the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge in the late 1970s.

Since the land became the Refuge, forest restoration has been a primary goal. The forest is coming back with a vengeance. Our three-pronged forest restoration program uses prescribed fire, herbicides, and mechanical treatments.

Picture of prescribed fire on the Refuge

Prescribed fire alone cannot control the aggressive mid-story vegetation. It grows so thick very few animals can move through it. The root base of this vegetation is so hardy that if the fire is not hot enough to kill it, the vegetation grows back thicker after the fire. If the fire burns hot enough to kill the root base, flames go so high that they damage the pine trees we want to grow there.

Therefore, in some areas, we first use select and approved chemicals to kill the root base before running a prescribed fire. In other areas, instead of using herbicide, we use machinery to turn the vegetation into mulch before burning the area. With these techniques, we are finally seeing good results.

We are grateful for the community's support in the work we do. If anyone has questions feel free to call me on my cell phone: 703.622.3896.

The Plants of Shell Mound

3/7/2022

On March 4, Friends members Russ and Peg Hall led the Cedar Key Garden Club on a Shell Mound walk to discuss the plants of Shell Mound and the story of the people who lived there.

Here is a link to a post Russ wrote on his Random Ferments blog about Shell Mound Plant Ecology.

Cedar Key News also carried a story about the walk.

Picture of several people walking the trail at Shell Mound

Shell Mound - Summary of Information

3/6/2022

When Friends hosted the “Shell Mound - Plants and Peoples” walk with the Cedar Key Garden Club, we realized how many different resource items about Shell Mound are here on Friends website. Here is a summary:

Where is Shell Mound?
Solstice Feasts and Other Gatherings – An 8-page article by Friends member Dr. Ken Sassaman in Adventure in Florida Archaeology
Friends Summer Solstice Celebrations -- 2019, 2021
Friends Winter Solstice Celebrations, 2017, 2018 , 2019, 2021
Shell Mound: A Portal into Another World -- A 10-page booklet, it provides insights into the lives of the ancient people who resided here and those who visited for ritual celebrations.
Interpretive Stations Along the Trail – Scroll down to the section with this title and click on each photo to enlarge them one-by-one and read the information in summary form.
Planning a Visit to Shell Mound? – Information about what you will see when you visit
Lower Suwannee Archaeological Survey 2013-2014: Shell Mound and Cedar Key Tracts – A 277-page technical report, it documents one part of the ongoing effort of the University of Florida Laboratory of Southeastern Archaeology to inventory, sample, and interpret the archaeological record of aboriginal coastal settlement on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida.
Lower Suwannee Archaeological Survey 2014-2016: Shell Mound and Cedar Key Tracts – A 420-page technical report, it expands knowledge about a variety of National Register-eligible sites on the Refuges.
A Video of the Milky Way taken at Shell Mound
Shell Mound-Hog Island paddling map
Shell Mound – Long Cabbage Islands paddling map