If you like wildlife, especially birds, and find yourself in the Tallahassee area, you need to make a trip to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.

We had the opportunity for a short visit following a morning appointment in Tallahassee. From the visitor center, we took the short drive on lighthouse road to the end where the St. Marks Lighthouse sits. It is a National Historic Landmark. Unfortunately you are not allowed to go up into the lighthouse.

We made our way slowly back towards the visitor center, stopping to look at the various ponds and pools along the way. There are also many trails along the road, and we hiked a few short ones. We saw lots of wildlife - a few small alligators, a turtle, deer, an otter, and many birds. Birds we spotted included egrets, herons, a yellow-rumped warbler, an anhinga, moorhens and lots of american coots. The most surprising was the one flamingo.

The area around the visitor center and lighthouse road is but a small portion of the refuge. All of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge covers 68,000 acres with 75 miles of marked trails.

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