As winter arrives so do large numbers of waterfowl to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Above, blue-winged teal come in for a landing. One of the best things about living on the Space Coast is all the opportunities to get outdoors and visit the parks and refuges. Merritt Island NWR is one of the best national parks in Florida to see wildlife.

Two black ducks rest while a blue-winged teal feeds.

These pintails were photographed along Black Point Wildlife Drive.

Black ducks seeking shade under mangroves.

I can’t remember ever seeing shovelers before, so this was a rare treat.

Coots are the most common waterfowl species in Florida.

We shot these pictures yesterday of the fire in the St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge just northwest of I-95 and the Cheney Hwy (SR 50) while on our way back from a press trip I was doing on Spring Break in Daytona Beach. The fire is reported to have burned 1,700 acres.

Every time I see a wildfire my wife sighs because she knows I’ll be blurting our one of my favorite phrases, Fire! Fire! In a way only a die-hard Beavis & Butt-Head fan would recognize.

Of course local media outlets were there to cover the blaze, must be too many hours of programming to fill with real news like the ongoing Casey Anthony saga.

As a former Boy Scout leader I’ve always thought of camping and scouting was a good outlet for children to work out their fascination with fire in a healthy environment.

An estimated 1500 people showed up at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach on June 26 to protest Republican led efforts to allow offshore oil drilling off the coast of Florida. Hands Across the Sand is leading an international effort to say “No to Offshore Drilling” and “Yes to Clean Energy”, they are the ones who organized the event.

The Surfrider Foundation and Tony Sasso also played major parts, both have been instrumental in preserving Florida for future generations. Hands Across the Sand held events worldwide and had a strong turnout.

Oil from the BP-Deepwater Horizons disaster is still flowing, and our local Republicans still support drilling for oil off Florida beaches. As you may know Republican Senator Mike Haridopolos, who represents most of Brevard’s beaches, is the champion of drilling for oil within three miles of Florida’s Beaches. His next job will be President of the Senate. Mike Haridopolos supports offshore oil drilling even though the total impact of oil to Florida beaches is still unknown. This shows Haridopolos is either a tool of big oil or lacks the judgment to hold office, unfortunately he’ll be returning to Tallahassee as he has no opponents this fall.

Brevard County has plenty of alligators and you’re likely to find them anywhere. I recently spotted these alligators at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge catching the sun and warming themselves from the recent cold weather.

Yesterday I photographed the Liberty Star at Jetty Park towing one of the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) from the STS-129 mission in which Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Nov 16 at 2:28 p.m. EST.

The way the SRBs are retrieved from the Atlantic after a launch is pretty cool. The SRBs themselves will be refurbished and readied for a future shuttle launch from KSC.

The SRBs are 149.16 ft long and 12.17 ft in diameter, weigh 1,300,000 lb at launch.

This small park offers a short half-mile walk on an elevated boardwalk. The park is located on Evens Road between NASA and Hibiscus.

Turkey Creek is in Palm Bay and meets the Indian River. The Park is located off Port Malabar Blvd.