Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

Our LE Officer, John, invited us to ride along with him...he had some work to do there, and we could visit.

We stopped for Subway sandwiches for lunch and that was the first thing we did when we arrived.

One of the endangered species on the refuge is the Karner Melissa Blue Butterfly.

They swing from the rafters inside the visitor center.

The fellow with his back to the camera is Doug, refuge manager, who offered us a tour of the refuge where we saw many of the butterflies. The host plant is the lupine and they are blooming profusely.

We had a great tour...the refuge is 44,000 acres big. This manager knows the flora as well as the fauna.

One of my favorite woodpeckers flew in as we were having lunch. The red headed is pictured on their brochure, so we thought it only fitting that he showed himself as the first bird we saw right away.

On the way up, John checked on some of the WPA's and pointed them out to us. The Leopold Waterfowl Production Area consists of 57 areas in 17 counties totaling 13,000 acres.

Horicon is a complex of four refuges, Fox River with 1054 acres, Green Bay with 1620 acres, Gravel Island with 27 acres, and Horicon with 33000 acres.

We certainly had a great day and got to see a lot of beautiful countryside. On the way up, John also stopped at a place where we could pick asparagus...which I love!!!

Until next time...