KSC-07pd0725

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A little blue heron stalks its next meal in a pond near Kennedy Space Center. Identified by their slate blue body and maroon neck, little blue herons range on the east coast from New York to Texas and inland to Oklahoma. They winter as far south as South America. They inhabit freshwater swamps and lagoons in the South; coastal thickets on islands in the North. KSC shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which surrounds it. The refuge is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles. In addition, the refuge supports 19 endangered or threatened wildlife species on Federal or State lists, more than any other single refuge in the U.S. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley