Blackbeard Island NWR Coastal Georgia

This was a non visit, having gotten the stamp at the Harris Neck preserve.
Blackbeard Island is not available to the public, so I get to count it....

NEWS: Blackbeard Island NWR To Be Closed Intermittently for Biological Work

Blackbeard Island NWR will be closed to all public access, intermittently, from April 7 through April 11, 2014. As part of a statewide effort to reduce the amount of feral hog damage to property, natural resources, and public health and safety, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be partnering the the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove feral hogs from the refuge. 

Welcome to Blackbeard Island NWR

Blackbeard Island was acquired by the Navy Department at public auction in 1800 as a source of live oak timber for ship building. In 1924 the island was placed under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Biological Survey to be maintained as a preserve and breeding ground for native wildlife and migratory birds. A presidential proclamation in 1940 changed its designation from Blackbeard Island Reservation to Blackbeard Island National Wildlife Refuge. In 1975, three thousand acres of the refuge were set aside as National Wilderness. Blackbeard Island was named for Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard the Pirate. Rumors of Blackbeard's buried treasure still flourish, but no evidence of his fortune has ever been discovered.
The island is comprised of interconnecting linear dunes thickly covered by oak/palmetto vegetation. There are approximately 1,163 acres of open freshwater or freshwater marsh, 2,000 acres of regularly flooded salt marsh, 2,115 acres of maritime forest, and 340 acres of sandy beach.
The primary objectives of the refuge are to provide wintering habitat and protection for migratory birds; provide protection and habitat to promote resident and migratory wildlife diversity; and to provide protection and management for endangered and threatened species (loggerhead sea turtle, wood stork, piping plover). Notable concentrations of waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds, raptors, deer, and alligators can be seen at various times of the year.

Getting There . . .

Blackbeard island is accessible only by boat, and transportation to the island is not provided by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Visitors are welcome to bring their own private watercraft, or arrangements for trips to the refuge can be made through local boat captains and marinas, as well as authorized tour guides. A public boat ramp on Harris Neck NWR (Barbour River Landing) may be used as a launching site for trips to the island.

Harris Neck NWR Townsend Georgia April 20, 2014

Welcome to Harris Neck NWR Harris Neck NWR was established in 1962 by transfer of federal lands formerly managed by the Federal Aviation Administration as a WWII Army airfield. Located in McIntosh County, Georgia, the refuge serves as an important link in the chain of refuges along the Atlantic seaboard, and is the inland base for two neighboring barrier island refuges, Blackbeard Island and Wolf Island refuges, both located southeast of Harris Neck. Harris Neck's 2,824 acres consists of salt marsh, open fields, forested wetland and mixed hardwood/pine forest. Because of this great diversity in habitat, many species of birds are attracted to the refuge throughout the year. In the summer, thousands of egrets and herons nest in the freshwater ponds, while in the winter, waterfowl can be found feeding and resting on the refuge. Over 15 miles of paved roads and trails provide the visitor easy access to the many different habitats. Chosen for it's accessibility and bird diversity, Harris Neck is one of 18 sites forming the Colonial Coast Birding Trail, inaugurated in 2000. Getting There . . . Harris Neck NWR is located in McIntosh County, Georgia, 5 miles north of Eulonia and 50 air miles south of the port city of Savannah. To reach Harris Neck, take Exit 67 off I-95 and travel south on U.S. 17 for approximately one mile, then east on Harris Neck Road for seven miles to the main entrance gate.