Rockfish to Reeds: December Feature: Presquile NWR (Updated Dec. 19)

See updated links at the bottom of this post.

Presquile NWR across the James River from the old ferry dock on the mainland.

(Photo: Lori A. 3-21-2009)

Presquile NWR is one of the four refuges that make up the Eastern Virginia Rivers NWR Complex . There are four refuges in this complex: James River NWR, Plum Tree Island NWR, Rappahannock NWR, and Presquile NWR. For quite a few years now, the club maintainers have been helping Cyrus B., the Wildlife Refuge Specialist for all 4 refuges in the complex, by coming out on work trips and lending our man/woman-power and certified sawyers to whatever tasks he has for us. Sometimes, we have a work trip that is just for 'us' .... the club AT maintainers. Other times, he lets us know about a volunteer event and we participate with volunteers from many other groups. Helping Cyrus on either Presquile NWR or the James River NWR is one of our favorite non-AT things to do. Presquile, because it is an island in the James River, is especially exciting with its river views and the travel by boat to get there.

Since there is no AT work trip in December, it seems like a good time to spend some time featuring a couple of work trips to Presquile Island. Lori has helped me out by rounding up her pictures of a work trip in 2009, a volunteer event in 2010, and a more recent Partner Preview event she attended in August, 2012. These three trips will be posted to the blog about a week apart in December, beginning Dec. 2. Somewhere along the way, there will also be a post featuring the Atlantic sturgeon project(s) on the James River, part of which is right off of Presquile NWR - very exciting and interesting!

In the meanwhile, check out the Eastern Virginia Rivers NWR Complex link above (also on blog's right sidebar under 'Links' for future reference) - it has links to each of the refuges with more specific information. Also, if you would like to re-visit RtoR blog posts related to our work trip helping out on the James River NWR March 31, 2012, you can see them by clicking on JRNWR in the 'Labels" cloud in the left sidebar and scrolling through the results.

Enjoy the Christmas holiday season and if the hustle and bustle gets to be too much, come visit the Presquile NWR for some tranquil river views and good memories from the island!

~ Merlot

Posted Dec. 2