Monkey Island

Cattle Egret in mating plumage.

Native Americans once used it as a hunting camp. After the sound turned from salt to brackish, it was bought and a duck hunting club was established in the latter part of the 1800s. Wealthy businessmen once traveled great distances to stay at the hunt club and to hunt the waterfowl that inhabit the marshes and shallow sounds in winter and writers and artists visited as well. The Nature Conservancy owned it at one time, as did the county. Today, Monkey Island is part of Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge and is an active wading bird rookery. The Audubon Society has designated Monkey Island as an Important Bird Area. 

Monkey Island is a treat to see, especially in the late spring and early summer when there are hundreds of wading birds nesting and displaying their magnificent breeding plumage.

Schedule your ecotour to explore this environmental wonderland.