PELICANS IN FLORIDA

My post today is going back several years, so any frame of reference I have about this place, has probably changed quite a lot.  The website is still current, however, and you can visit here.

I went back five years for these photos and chose Pelicans. We found lots of them on our vacation in Florida. These were taken at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center (link above in red)  in Tavernia, just south of Key Largo. On five-and-a-half acres you will find an ever-changing population of hawks, spoonbills, pelicans, egrets, herons, merlins, pigeons and others needing help. The center's mission, after treating them, is to have the birds return to the wild.

A narrow boardwalk leading from the visitors center ends up on the water and is lined with large enclosures housing the birds, but as you look around you will see many who just 'hang out'. It is a great bird watching experience.

The following photos were taken in Sebastian, which is located approximately midway on the east coast of the Florida Peninsula between Melbourne and Vero Beach, in an area known as the Treasure Coast. It is recognized as the home of Pelican Island, the first designated wildlife refuge in the United States. The island was the reason why we chose our visit to Sebastian, which was a beautiful little town and one we would like to visit again.

If you look closely you will see pelicans sitting on top of a couple of those posts.

We booked a couple of seats on one of the local tour boats that took us over to the island.

More than 30 species of birds use the area as a rookery, roost and feeding area. In addition 16 species of birds nest at the refuges. The objective of The Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is to protect the historic rookery and to provide habitat for migrating birds and threatened and endangered species.

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