Wildlife
White-tailed deer are abundant and frequently wander by the Nature
Center. The Pinewoods treefrog sounds out its morse-code-like tapping
from high in the trees. Turkeys are found among the oaks and pines and
sometimes roost in the cypress fringing May's Prairie. Because May's
Prairie occasionally becomes dry, fish are rare, making it a sanctuary
for thousands of amphibians, including pig and bull frogs, barking treefrogs,
squirrel treefrogs, dwarf sirens, and tiger salamanders. After heavy
fall and winter rains, you can hear the snore-like call of the gopher
frog, a species of special concern. May's Prairie is also home to sandhill
cranes, herons, ibises, egrets, wood ducks, ring-necked ducks, lesser
scaups, and hooded mergansers.
Bobcats frequently leave telltale scat on the boardwalk leading through
the swamp to May's Prairie. Higher up in the surrounding sandhill, gopher
tortoises, another species of special concern, browse near their half-moon-shaped
burrows.
Chinsegut is a choice location for seeing migratory as well as resident
birds. Migrants include the black-and-white warbler, indigo bunting,
blackpoll warbler, redstart, and Cape May warbler. Summer tanagers,
white-eyed vireos, eastern towhees, pine warblers, and northern parula
warblers nest in the area. Each spring Chinsegut hosts a welcome back
songbirds festival. Check out our bird
list (pdf file) to find out what you might
see on your bird watching expedition.
