Due to health concerns related to the ongoing COVID virus, the Monarch Butterfly Festival has been canceled this fall.

An extremely popular 'destination' from your armchair - a pair of WeatherStem cameras positioned at the head of the Levy Trail due west of the lighthouse, (see photo above). From this vantage point, you can go to the Friends website and see beautiful sunsets like the two directly below (view toward the lighthouse, below left and view toward the pier, below right). Lots of social media folks love to send these views throughout the entire year to friends everywhere. View camera images right now.

There are now approximately 12 QR signs (like the one below left) placed strategically at key areas of the Refuge along Lighthouse Road. Each of these signs contains a black/white QR (quick response) code that stores information that quickly translates to, in this case, website information (web screen shot below right). If you visit in the future and don't feel like facing bad weather or the bugs, just pull up, snap a picture and enjoy a Refuge experience.

The Online Nature Store is always 'open' for your last-minute, special Refuge shopping needs. Shopping was never this simple. Just follow this link and shop away. You'll love our selection of gifts.

Most of us are fortunate to be able to visit the Refuge to go bird watching (among many other activities). We do that, quite obviously, by looking for and seeing birds. Simple enough, right? But what if you thought you may face blindness or even cope with low-vision? Bird “watching” would then become a serious challenge. It might then become bird "listening".

Several decades ago, fellow birder, Marcelle (Marcie) Praetorius was told that she had a familial form of Macular Degeneration that may lead to blindness. Given this realization, she fell back on early childhood training. “My father had always encouraged us to notice and listen to things happening around us,” she said. It turns out, she was an apt listener and that she was very good at it. “In choir and in playing piano, I was able to listen to music and repeat what I heard quickly. I could identify songs on the radio from just the first few notes even as a teenager,” she related.

Not surprisingly, these sharpened skills allowed Marcie to become adept at identifying birds by their song. When she first came to Tallahassee, she utilized a skill she had learned in college allowing her to isolate a single sound in a mix of several sounds. That became important because as trees leafed out in the summer, she decided to give up always trying to identify birds by sight. She said, “I would record bird songs on my cellphone and also record spectrograms (see top banner photo) that I would later try to play on the piano.” All of these techniques allowed her to discern bird calls quite accurately. Spectrograms are a bit like understanding sheet music that reads left to right with high-pitched notes near the top, while low-pitched notes fall farther below. The spectrogram in the banner above is a pictorial example of a Yellow-rumped Warbler song, a common Refuge resident.

Marcie credits following a rich, nutrient diet, that allowed her Macular Degeneration to reverse itself. Regardless, she continues to perfect her ability to correctly identify bird songs and calls. She uses a smartphone app called BirdsEye, plus she also relies on the Cornell All About Birds and Audubon websites to assist in her understanding. Less scientific, “You can sometimes identify birds by simple phrases, like ‘Who Cooks for You’ (Barred Owl)”, says Marcie. Whatever technique Marcie uses, her desire to better understand and identify birds by their song is ongoing.

In the future, Marcie wants to expand her ability to interpret spectrograms as well as to use an oscilloscope to help differentiate bird song frequencies. In short, Marcie summed up her exceptional talent by saying, “Birding doesn’t have to be just for those who traipse a mile into the woods; you can accomplish what you love in different ways.”

Maybe it's just me or my imagination, but I think I'm seeing more dragonflies at the Refuge this year than in the past. They are fascinating to watch, so their presence is always appreciated. While many flying insects may attempt to bite or sting you, dragonflies seem content to just show off their aerial artistry or their extraordinary balance when perching. Lacey filigreed wings catch the light perfectly and provide a colorful bit of whimsy for Refuge visitors.

But, if you think about it, they've had plenty of time to fine-tune their acrobatics and their glamorous make-up, because they are recorded over 300 million years ago in the fossil record. Those early ancestors, however, had wing-spans of nearly two feet. Some scientists think that higher oxygen levels during the Paleozoic era contributed to their great size. At St. Marks, I think most of us are content to see the 2-5 inch wingspan of contemporary fliers that brighten our paths as we hike or travel along Lighthouse Road.