Nature

Tag

Breakfast with a ranger at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park Aug. 8

Date/time: Sat., Aug. 8, 9 – 10 a.m. Topsail Hill Preserve State Park invites you and your family to Breakfast with a Ranger. Join the Rangers of Topsail Hill to learn about the park, its history and to ask them all the questions you can think of about the park its wildlife and anything in between. This program is ideal for the whole family to enjoy. To cover the cost of food, please bring $5.00, which goes to Friends of...

Leatherback sea turtle nests at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

This past Sunday,  South Walton received a very special visitor. Along the beach of Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, a leatherback sea turtle came ashore to nest.  Leatherbacks are the largest of all sea turtles in Florida, and are endangered. The track from the beach to the nest was 7 feet across. The nest’s body pit was 18 feet across, Assistant Park Manager, George Royal informed us. Nesting leatherbacks are a rarity in the Florida Panhandle, with less than a...

Explore the sights and sounds of nature at night July 29

Dates/times:  July 29 – 7:30 – 9 p.m. The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA), in partnership with Northwest Florida State College, announces the summer season of its popular eco-tourism initiative, Eco Adventures of Walton County. Discover the sights and sounds of nature at night. Nonie’s Ark Animal Encounters will guide evening Eco-Adventures for the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance this summer on Wednesdays. A minimum of five Eventurer’s are needed and a maximum of 25. We will meet at some of Walton County’s...

Public invited to participate in Florida fox squirrel population study

Have you seen any fox squirrels? In Florida, the fox squirrel can be found in almost every county, but the distribution is patchy and not well understood. To better understand fox squirrel distribution, a new research project conducted by the University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is asking people across the state to report their fox squirrel sightings. The fox squirrel, named for its fox–like tail, is a charismatic...