Sharing the Refuge with Visiting Friends

A note from board member Debbie Jordan:

We’ve had another delightful spring weather-wise. Time to get out and enjoy the Refuge! Roy and I had a chance to show two birdwatcher friends from Colorado a little piece of our heaven last month. I think the wildness of the area really blew them away, so unlike the rest of Florida further south. We drove the mainline and walked the beach at Shired Island, where we ran into Kathy Dusterwinkle, one of our wonderful Refuge volunteers from Michigan as she was picking up trash on the beach. Those volunteers really work hard. Here’s a few photos from our expedition.

We ran across a few intriguing plants. The Leather flower grows on a vine and the flower is curiously stiff.

A few horseshoe crabs were on the beach, these fascinating creatures are older than dinosaurs!

Since this Barred Owl did not fly off, we assumed it had a nest nearby. Quickly admiring the beautiful markings, we snapped a couple of pictures and got out of there.

I am sure our friends will be back!

Swamp Leather Flower

Horseshoe Crab

Barred Owl