Wildlife Observation
Blue flag iris. Credit: USFWS
Spring
March
Wild turkey gobbling
Eagles migrate off refuge
Bass spawn
Redbud, crabapple, wild plum and dogwood bloom
Giant Canada geese and wood ducks nesting
April
Wild azalea, red buckeye, pawpaw bloom
Geese goslings and wood duck ducklings visible
Bull frogs croaking
Snakes and turtles become active
Doves begin nesting
Shad running in river
Turkeys nesting
Red-cockaded woodpecker nesting
Cattle egrets. Credit: USFWS
May
Bluegill spawning
Catfish spawning
Cattle egret and heron rookeries active
Bluebird and Prothonotary warbler nesting
Alligators active
Chuck-will's widow calling
Summer
June
Queen Ann's lace blooms
Maypops bloom
Turkey with young visible
Grey squirrels with young
White-tailed deer dropping fawns
Blackberries ripe
Bobwhite quail calling and nesting
Cone flowers. Credit: USFWS
July
Purple martins leave nest
Black-eyed Susans blooms
White-tailed deer with young visible
Purple cone flowers bloom
Cattle egret rookery full, cormorants and anhingas on Bluff Lake
De-water selected lakes
August
Early migrants - teal and shorebirds
Ironweed blooms
Wood storks present and on lakes
Cattle egrets nesting
Alligators very visible
Fall
Credit: USFWS
September
Muscadines and fall plums ripen
Shorebirds migrating
Broad-winged hawks migrating
Blue-winged teal pass through
October
First appearances of osprey and bald eagles are usually reported
Hickory nuts falling
Peak of fall bird migration
Acorns falling
Squirrels barking
Wild persimmons ripening
Fall colors showing
Begin flooding waterfowl impoundments
Credit: USFWS
November
End of season for flowering plants
Peak of fall colors
Expect killing frost
Woodcock flights arrive from north
Wintering bald eagles and osprey appear on lakes
Waterfowl numbers build
Winter
December
Peak hunting month
Deer in rut
Late acorns falling
Horned owls begin nesting
Bald eagle and osprey present on lakes
January
Bald eagles nesting and present on lakes
Prescribe burn for wildlife
Lake and cypress in fog. Credit: USFWS
February
Red maple blooms
Bald eagles hatch and can be seen in nest(s)
Elms bloom
Black vultures nesting
Red-shouldered hawks nesting
Prescribe burn for wildlife continues
Year-round residents include: white-tailed deer, grey and fox squirrels, rabbit, raccoon, opossum, alligator, beaver, muskrat, nutria, and a variety of other mammals.
Resident birds include red-cockaded woodpecker, Canada geese, bobwhite quail, Eastern wild turkey, wood ducks, barred owls, etc. Visit the Refuge bird list.
Resident snakes include cottonmouth, copperhead, timber and pygmy rattlesnake, rat, king, coachwhip, hognose, mud, etc.
For further information contact:
Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge
2970 Bluff Lake Road
Brooksville, Mississippi 39739
Telephone: (662)323-5548
Fax: (662)323-6390
Email: Noxubee@fws.gov
