My travels are similar to migratory birds escaping the heat in the south towards northern temperate climates along flyways with stops similar to my trips along two-lane roads, giving me thoughtful opportunities to consider my travel destinations.
For several weeks, my RV, “Foxy,” has received warranty repairs at a Camping World in Wentzville, MO, providing me time to tour the Wildlife Refuges along the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers.
The rivers are an integral flying path for migratory birds of every type, and my time in Minnesota exposed me to the history of the Minnesota Trumpeter Swans.
They were reintroduced into Minnesota after being hunted to extinction between the 1700s and when the last record of a wild breeding population of the Trumpeter Swan was declared extirpated in the state by the mid-1900s. Minnesota’s swan reintroduction efforts began in 1966, expanded in the 1980s, and continued to this day.
Since 1903, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System has been a conservation success that continues to protect and save America’s symbols, like the Bald Eagle, from extinction along with hundreds of other wild species, fish, plants, animals, and the habitats, that supports them.
I visited the Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge near a peninsula between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, accessibly close to the Brussels Ferry near Grafton, IL, and the Golden Eagle Ferry near St. Charles, Mo. This was “The Beast’s” first ferry ride across any body of water.
The National Wildlife Refuge System is divided into eight regions responsible and dedicated to Wildlife conservation for more than 700 species of birds, 220 different types of mammals, 250 reptiles, and more than 200 kinds of fish reflecting America’s natural heritage.
I toured the Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge and was impressed to discover the best time to visit is in November, when migratory birds arrive in the thousands and areas of the refuge are flooded to attract the birds on their travels south. I plan to one day return to witness the spectacle of thousands of migratory birds resting and feeding on their flights south.
As a full-time traveler, I admire the flyways migratory birds use, similar to me escaping summer’s hot temperatures as a solo migratory traveler.
Expedition Nomadic Adventures
The National Wildlife Refuge System
https://www.fws.gov/program/national-wildlife-refuge-system
Still migrating after all these years! (I’m talking about you.) Your list goes back to 2019 but your blogs should go back a lot longer than that. I’ve been blogging since 2013 and seems you’ve been there from the start. Published my 10,500th blog a while ago. Seems impossible!