Copy/Repost Hike

Three GO members braved a chilly day...well, at 55F it was chilly for Florida...to hike five miles on the Cruikshank Trail at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  This refuge came about accidentally, as NASA had purchased the land to be part of the Space Center.  It was never used for anything other than mosquito control, which was done with dikes to keep the water levels down.  At some point in the 1960's people realized that this area was a wildlife treasure, being a key habitat for native and migratory species, and the National Refuge was born.  At this time of the year, the Refuge is full of wintering birds, and at every turn of the trail we encountered a fair amount of them.  Thanks to GO member Brent Herring's astute eyesight, and orthinological erudition, this is a partial list of the birds we encountered:  white pelican, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, northern shoveler, hooded merganser, northern pintail, great blue heron, great egret, little blue heron, tricoloered heron, green heron, reddish egret, cattle egret, white ibis, wood stork, bluck vulture, turkey vulture, osprey, and last but not least, the roseate spoonbill.  Although the bird sightings, of course, took most of our time, we cannot overlook the couple of gigantic alligators we encountered sunning themselves on high ground.  Fortunately at that point we were safely inside the car, on our way back to the mainland.  The one species we missed seeing in the refuge was the Manatee, which apparently heads further south at this time of the year, but hopefully will be back in the refuge in great numbers by March.  So, perhaps another GO trip then?

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