Key West - We visit the Key West Wildlife Center

The egret that owns the porch

Another day with a high of 78 with sunny skies. After our usual Sunday morning of pastries from the bakery, we looked over the Key West map for nature trails and found the Key West Wildlife Center. They specialize in rescuing birds and other animals that have suffered an injury and can no long survive in the wild. There is a large population of chickens that roam Key West freely but occasionally some suffers from an injury and they take them in. They also have herons, egrets, turkey vultures and even seagulls - all recuperating at the center. Once in the center, they never go back into the wild, they've become accustomed too much to human contact. They are placed on nearby farms for proper care.

Looks like an enchanted pond, see the great blue heron

They also have a few resident birds that remain wild. One in particular, an egret is pictured in the photo. He returns to the center every year for the past 10 years for the winter months before disappearing for 8 months or so during the summer and fall. He claims the porch of the center as his area and guards it from intrusion from any other egret!

There's a pond nearby on the property that's the home for a flock of birds. One of which is a great blue heron which looks like a very protected setting, and it is but it's in the middle of Key West with the beach road a few feet away.

We plan on shopping on Duval Street Monday when the crowds thin out a bit we hope.