Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is next to the NASA Space Center.  It was originally purchased by NASA to serve as a buffer zone, but was eventually turned into a wildlife refuge.  I have too many photos for tonight, but will show the most exciting ones (exciting for me, anyway).

We saw many herons and egrets at the refuge, which we have photographed before.  One bird that was new to us was the Black-necked Stilt, which has very long bright red legs.  Lee took all of these photos, of a single bird:

 

At one point, I looked up and saw a bright pink bird flying over.  I wasn't sure if it was a Flamingo or Roseate Spoonbill, but from Lee's photographs was able to identify it later as a Spoonbill:

Pretty amazing, huh?  In one of the ponds we found a lovely fish, about one foot in length, this also taken by Lee:

And finally, we were fortunate to finally see wild manatees (well, as wild as manatees get):

 Manatee nostrils, above (not an alligator!)

 Two manatees, passing one another, tails visible.

The manatee tail is large, shaped like a pancake.

More nostrils, in the three photos below.  Manatees must breathe every 2 to 3 minutes when active, and every 12 to 15 minutes when resting.

And finally, from the wildlife refuge, the booster tank of the space shuttle, set to launch next Friday, April 29:

More photos tomorrow!