Way down upon the Suwannee River

The 53,000 acre Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1979 to protect one of the largest undeveloped river-delta estuarine systems in the United States. The constant influx of nutrients from the river combined with numerous off-shore islands and tidal creeks create excellent wildlife habitat. Swallow-tailed kites, bald eagles, West Indian manatees, Gulf sturgeon, whitetailed deer, and eastern wild turkeys are but a few of the wildlife species that inhabit the Refuge. Natural salt marshes, tidal flats, bottomland hardwood swamps, and pine forests provide habitat for thousands of creatures ? both large and small.

Today, driven out of the house by the jackhammering, I had a marvellous afternoon exploring some of the Wildlife refuge, following the Suwannee River as it flowed out into the Gulf of Mexico. I expected to blip a picture of this, the second longest river in Florida, but eventually it came down to a Great Egret or one of the myriad of dragonflies in the woods.