Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

Winter is a great time to visit the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge!  Migrating birds stop at the refuge throughout the winter. The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife festival takes place in late January, so I take that as a clue as to when the best time to see the most birds is!  http://www.nbbd.com/fly/

There are a lot of trails that are open for walking or bicycling within the preserve (see map).  But since it was quite cold this year, we opted to drive through Black Point Wildlife Drive instead.  This is a gravel, one way, 5 mile loop through wetlands.  There are plenty of places to stop and take pictures or just watch.

There is no parking area at the beginning of the trail from either end, so if you plan to bike or walk you will need to park outside the immediate area.  Perhaps from the visitor center or off on a road shoulder nearby.

Spoonbills

About half way around is a parking area with an entrance to Cruikshank Trail.  It is a nice place to rest and there is a viewing platform just at the beginning of the trail.  There are also restrooms here.  It is a nice walk, but a bit of a challenging bicycle trail.  Off road bikes only.
 

Awkward take off

There is a fee to use this part of the facility.  It is an honor system, pay by envelope stop at the beginning of the trail.  It is $5 per car or $1 per bicycle/walker.  Please don't stiff the park.  This is a well kept road with facilities.  Bring cash and pay your way. 

These birds hovered over the water then dove straight down for snacks.

They also provide informational brochures about the areas at the pay stop.  You can use them while you visit and if you think you will just throw it away when you are done, there is a drop box at the end of the road for returning them for reuse. 

I am not a birder, but I do enjoy beautiful wildlife in all of its forms.  I know enough about birds to tell you that the beautiful pink birds above is a Spoonbill (not a flamingo).  And that awkward looking heron (I think) actually looked quite beautiful in flight once he leveled himself out.  If you want to know more about the birds, I suggest visiting the park and grabbing one of those brochures. 

Baby Gater

Of course, this is Florida, so birds are not the only creatures out there.  This little guy was only about 2ft long and enjoying the warmest part of the sunny day. 

Armadillo

I was worried that this guy wouldn't make it through the day with all of the extra traffic.  He just wanted to be on the road.

Even though the festival was going on and there was a lot more traffic than normal...this is what the road looked like most of the time. 

Its a good place to visit on a bad hair day!

At the end of the one way loop there is a sign pointing towards Haulover Canal.  If you came this far, be sure to go the extra 4 miles over to the full access manatee viewing platform.  On this day in January, it was too cold for the manatees even in this shallow water, but most of the time there are at least a few hanging about.  I'll write another blog soon about the best ways to see the Space Coast's favorite water creature...those majestic(?) manatees.

Tips:  Winter and morning are the times you are most likely to see the greatest diversity.  Smooth morning water makes for nice reflective pictures (unlike these that were taken in the early afternoon on a cold windy day).

Website:  http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Merritt_Island/