Friends of the Lower Suwannee & Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges
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Wishes Come True

9/13/2023

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After wishing for one for a couple of years and competing for grants to fund one, with help from the Refuges, Friends of Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys NWRs is getting a Mobile Outreach Trailer! We hope to have it in time for the Seafood Festival in Cedar Key on October 21 and 22. We are currently playing with graphic designs for the exterior. There is so much beauty on our Refuges that it is really hard to choose our graphics. Maybe one of these ---
Picture of Visitors on the Tram Ridge Trail walking topward tall pine trees
Visitors on the Tram Ridge Trail
Picture Ibises leaving Seahorse Key at sunrise
Ibises leaving Seahorse Key at sunrise
Picture White pelicans on one of the Cedar Keys NWR islands
White pelicans on one of the Cedar Keys NWR islands
Picture Wild flowers on a beach in Cedar Keys NWR
Wild flowers on a beach in Cedar Keys NWR
The Mobile Outreach Trailer presents a new opportunity for Friends members to help. Drivers are needed to move the trailer between the Refuge storage area and places where Friends will welcome visitors. If your personal vehicle can't tow it but you have trailering skills and are willing to help, consider signing up for the online Defensive Driver Safety Course. After passing, and being accepted as an official Refuge volunteer, you will be allowed to borrow a Refuge truck.
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Hurricane Idalia and Refuge Butterflies

9/10/2023

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Picture of a White Peaccok butterfly on a leaf.
The white peacock has been Friends' September Butterfly of the Month. Photo credit to the USGS.
Friends' board member and butterfly expert Barbara Woodmansee has been conducting surveys of butterflies on the Lower Suwannee NWR for years. During the first week of September, in the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, she did 2 surveys covering both sides of the Suwannee River.
She reported that the south end of the Nature Drive looked like there was storm surge up fairly high, apparently as high as 4 feet. There was no way to know how long the highest water levels remained in place, but all the flowering plants were essentially fried. North of Pond 4 Rd as she and her survey colleagues moved away from the coast, there was some nectar, and by the time they got into the pine forest area near the north end of the Nature Drive there were tons of butterflies. They were delighted to see them since this is normally a peak time of year for Refuge butterflies. Sadly though, the road was being groomed while they were there, and it will be regraded which will eliminate even more nectar. Although that important road work is necessary to provide safe access to the Refuge for visitors, it is always sad to know it will temporarily lessen the nectar for the butterflies.
Picture of a lace-winged roadside skipper on a plant
The lace-winged roadside skipper has been Friends' October Butterfly of the Month. Photo credit to Lonnie Huffman.
Her survey on the Dixie Mainline and Willie Lock Mainline during the same week was even more dismal for the butterflies and those of us who love to watch them. The storm surge had risen to at least 4 feet and basically every single flowering plant was destroyed.  She and her fellow survey participants saw a drowned pig, snakes, and a dead deer on one of the gate trails where she regularly walks  for the surveys. Almost the only butterflies they saw were just a few of the big fast-flyers that can cover a lot of territory in their search for nectar. It was a really discouraging survey day. September/October is the peak time for one of the very rare skippers they monitor and all of their host sedges appeared to be dead. Barbara fears the butterflies will be much less in evidence in their peak October time because there really isn't time for the plants to regrow this year.
We know nature is resilient, but it is sad to see the damage nevertheless.
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Save the Date

8/8/2023

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Picture
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2023 AT 8 AM – 12 PM
2023 Coastal Cleanup - Cedar Key

The International Coastal Cleanup is an annual event organized by the Ocean Conservancy - the Cedar Key community has been participating for over 10 years! Please come out and join us for the cleanup from 8 AM - 12 PM (check-in as early as 7:30 am) - volunteers receive a free lunch and t-shirt (while supplies last).

To participate, simply show up and check in at the Cedar Key City Marina as early as 7:30 AM to pick up trash bags and get assigned to an area. Volunteers will be counting items collected as they go using the data sheets provided or using the Clean Swell app. The data sheets must be dropped off along with the trash to earn a t-shirt. Please bring your own gloves.

Complete your early registration and pick up your cleanup supplies (data sheet, trash bags) the morning of. When you drop off your bag(s) of trash and data card, your lunch and free t-shirt(s) will be ready and waiting.

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What's New with Suwannee 22

7/25/2023

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PictureSwallow-tailed Kite. Photo by Ann Kamzelski
Suwannee 22, the second Swallow-tailed Kite sponsored by Friends, has been staying around the Refuge since it was spotted back in March and is still there foraging towards Chiefland and north.

There were early hopes that it would be nesting. However, recent reports from the Avian Research and Conservation Institute indicate that they believe the nest has failed.

The map shows she's been a busy bird, zigging and zagging all around the area. Keep your eyes peeled, she'll be around for awhile before she heads south.

Picture
Suwannee 22's tracks as of July 2023.
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From Refuge Manager Andrew Gude

7/24/2023

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First, let me say that the Refuge staff is missing all of you mosquito- and biting-fly-averse visitors, now that summer is here. Rest assured, we are feeding the monsters for you in your absence. See you in the fall.
Picture of Andrew Gude
Cartoon of a flying biting fly, teeth bared
By the way, don't fail to read Dan Kline's series about biting flies on the Lower Suwannee Refuge. His most recent entry is all about the mosquitoes. The articles are informative, accurate, and funny.
There is also other news.
Picture of the dock with a tour boar pulling up to it.
The new configuration of the dock at Seahorse Key
Seahorse Key Dock and Waterfront rebuild is complete. A rebuild of the Shell Mound pier will commence soon.

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge received support from the Florida Trustee Implementation group for (currently) a $9.2M hydrologic restoration of the Dixie Mainline and the Nature Drive.  The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Facilities and Engineering Office and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf Restoration Office are now coordinating the many steps this needs to take before it plays out.  It will be a multi-year project.

The Refuge is working on removing condemned Vista buildings:  the caretakers' double wide, the grill shed, and the barn.  The intent is for the Friends to work with private parties to salvage and sell what can be sold and then take the rest and scrap it.  Any proceeds will go back into the Vista project.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services will be conducting a feral swine removal project on the Refuge (and all over Florida). They apparently received significant Congressional appropriations to do so with the intent to both remove this invasive species and collect blood samples to check for diseases such as African Swine Fever.  This will be an ongoing project using traps, guns, and aerial shooting.  Specifics have not been finalized.
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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
    • Current News
  • About
    • About Friends >
      • Who We Are
      • What We Do
      • Current News
      • Contact Us
    • About the Refuges >
      • Our Refuges
      • Places of Interest
      • Hunting Brochure
  • Join
    • Donate
  • Maps
    • Paddling Guides
    • Refuge Maps
    • Trail Brochures
    • Places of Interest
  • Wildlife
    • Wildlife Gallery
  • Hunt & Fish
    • FWS Hunting Brochure
    • Hunter SignUp
    • Fishing
  • Search
  • Store
    • Shirts
    • Hats
    • Books
    • Earrings
    • Gift Donation
    • On Sale