Bright, warm summer days and a boat ride are the best kind of days to explore Gulf Islands National Seashore Davis Bayou, MS. The barrier islands and their unspoiled beaches are its greatest draw.

The mainland portion is bayou and estuary limiting land exploration but we did a bit of birding and checked out the alligator pond.

Grand Bay NWR has a beautiful research center and visitor building but its bayou and estuary are hard to explore on foot as well. Folks do lots of fishing there and it could be great for kayaking as long as one doesn’t get lost in the twisty channels.

A portion of these wet, swampy floored coastal pine forests are protected Mississippi Sand Hill Crane habitat. This subspecies is at risk from overall habitat loss.  They just released three captive bred adults onto the refuge this past week but we didn’t catch a glimpse.  Here’s hoping they do well.