SEQUOYAH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, DAY 1.
Day 49 – We were up and out before 10 a.m. this morning. The sun was shining without a cloud in the sky – the perfect day to go to a wildlife refuge. We’d been to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge once before in 2018. It had a great auto tour. This time, they were working on the refuge roads and an entire section was closed. We still managed to spend almost all day there and at the Webber Bottom Unit, a section of the refuge on the other side of the Arkansas River.
First we drove across the dam to Tenkiller Lake State Park. Strayhorn Landing Campground where we’re staying now, closes Wednesday. In case we decide to stay longer than tomorrow night, we’ll need a different place to stay. We checked out the State Park and it was open, not very crowded, and adequate. Always nice to have another option if necessary.
Then we drove 30 minutes south to the wildlife refuge, stopping along the way to get propane in the small portable tank (our extra tank for RV use). We drove slowly through all open areas of the main refuge, stopped to eat our lunch at a boat launch, and continued on at our slow pace. There were other people driving through the refuge, too, and we had to pull over several times to let the harvesting and maintenance trucks & machinery go by. The rangers were doing other work, also – pumping water from one impoundment to another to prepare winter habitat for the waterfowl. When we completed the main refuge drive, we drove to the Webber Unit for another shorter drive. Today, at both sections of the refuge, we saw an amazing number of Hawks, Eagles, and Vultures, also a variety of songbirds including those we have at home in NY, too. We saw thousands of Grackle and Red-Winged Blackbirds, Turtles, Ducks, Herons, Waterfowl, AND an armadillo, AND a River Otter. Quite a day!
“Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1970 to provide habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds and to provide food and cover for resident wildlife. It contains 20,800 acres on the western edge of Robert S. Kerr Reservoir in three Oklahoma Counties: Muskogee, Haskell, and Sequoyah.” from Wikipedia.
Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge; address: 107993 S. 4520 Road, Vian, OK 74962; phone (918) 773-5251.
Tomorrow morning we have a phone meeting appointment, but we hope to spend the afternoon back at the refuge. At the campground, it’s been very quiet and just perfect. The kitties have been enjoying all the sun in the RV, and we wish the campground wasn’t closing Wednesday. Today was a gorgeous day with a high of 71 degrees and full sun. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer.
Beautiful photos! xo d.