Titusville - A tour of Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

He was beautiful

We rented our weekend car from Hertz since they still had the $12.99/day rate active. Enterprise has gone up to $20/day, too much. After getting groceries yesterday, the first order of business was to make a trip out to Black Point drive in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. We drive through the area every time we're in Titusville. Merritt Island is located in a flyway for migrating birds and you never know what you'll find.

We watched for several minutes as the butterflies flitted from thistle to thistle

On this trip we found spoonbills decked out in their finest pink. They are graceful birds as they wade in feeding. We like to just sit and watch them from a distance but take lots of pictures. We also noticed a profusion of butterflies in thistles. I don't remember seeing so many thistles and the butterflies seemed to love what they had to offer. Bumblebees kept the butterflies company as they fed on the thistles.

Our favorite walk at the visitors' center

We closed out our visit with the nature trail at the visitors' center. It's a walk through the woods on an elevated walkway with many things to see. When we had Sarah with us last time, the woods were alive with animals that we never saw. She has very sharp eyes (and much younger eyes!) It was a fun day all around.