Mingo National Wildlife Refuge

We've seen a lot of rain since we arrived in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but the Mingo NWR has a long auto tour so we decided to take a chance and get out between rain storms.

We stopped at the Visitor Center to show our Volunteer Pass (one of the perks of volunteering!).  The visitor center had many wonderful displays.  We have found that Missouri puts a lot of money into their displays. 

Visitor Center

There is a 1 mile nature trail right off the VC parking lot.  It wasn’t raining so we decided to walk it.  

One of the most impressive sights on this trail was the thorns on this Honey Locust Tree. Can you imagine trying to climb this one?

The primary purpose of this 21,592 acre refuge is to provide food and shelter for migratory waterfowl and to protect the bottomland hardwood forest.  It lies in a basin formed in an ancient abandoned channel of the Mississippi River.

The Barred Owl played a game of hide-and-seek with us, but we did manage to get a picture.

Barred Owl

The weather was holding as we started driving the 17 mile Ozark Highlands Auto Tour Route.  We were the only ones on the road on this windy day and were able to stop and get out of the truck whenever we heard or saw any birds.

A few migratory birds like this Eastern Kingbird are beginning to arrive, but most are still south of us.

Eastern Kingbird

The Mingo NWR was established in 1944 under the authority of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Lots of water and swampy areas.

Red-headed Woodpeckers like areas of flooded timber, and we saw several. 

Red-headed Woodpecker

There were plenty of photo opportunities.

Fry Bluff Overlook.

Monopoly Marsh

We decided that Mindo NWR might be the Turtle Capital of Missouri. When the sun came out we saw hundreds of turtles sunning themselves on logs.

It took us a little over 4 hours to drive the 17 mile auto tour.  We were getting hungry and had an hour drive to lunch.  We have heard of Lambert’s Cafe for years.  It’s the home of the “throwed rolls”.

I can’t believe it but I didn’t get a picture of the rolls!  They are giant and unbelievably good.  I did however get a shot of the enormous glass of tea.

The food is very good.  We came out with enough leftovers for another meal.

We didn’t have any rolls thrown at us.  Someone just stopped by the table and handed them over.  But we did see a few rolls thrown around some of the larger tables.

If you’re in the area it’s a fun place to stop.

Birds seen at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge:  Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Caroline Wren, Eastern Phoebe, American Crow, Fish Crow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Parula, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Canada Goose, Barred Owl, Pileated Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-shouldered Hawk,  Chipping Sparrow, Great Blue Heron, Greater Yellowlegs, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Wood Duck, Belted Kingfisher, Downey Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Red-tailed Hawk, Louisiana Waterthrush, Double-crested Cormorant, Blue-winged Teal, Osprey, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Kingbird, Vesper Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow.

Red-eared Slider (turtle), White-tailed Deer, Coyote.