We Have Liftoff -- Snowy Egret at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida

by Darin Volpe

Title

We Have Liftoff -- Snowy Egret at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida

Artist

Darin Volpe

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A Snowy Egret takes off from the marsh at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Snowy Egrets live throughout most of South America, Central America, and Mexico. In the United States, they are primarily found on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, up the Atlantic coast to Virginia, and and along the Pacific lowlands north to central California. During breeding season, they can be found as far north as the coastal Rhode Island and up the Pacific coast to northern California, as well as the lower Mississippi valley westward to eastern Texas. They feed in saltmarsh pools, tidal flats and channels, freshwater marshes, swamps, ocean inlets, and lake edges. They eat mostly aquatic animals including fish, frogs, crustaceans, as well as insects and worms.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is located on Merritt Island Florida, and shares much of it's area with the Kennedy Space Center. In 1962 NASA acquired 140,000 acres adjacent to Cape Canaveral to establish the space launch facility, but since development was unnecessary on most of the land, an agreement was signed to establish the refuge in 1963. Much of the area is off-limits to the public, leaving a large area of relatively undisturbed wildlife habitat.

Uploaded

March 28th, 2016

Statistics

Viewed 1,893 Times  -  Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/23/2024 at 3:26 PM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags