Rebecca Chapman remembers the moment vividly. She was standing on a beach along the Indian River on Merritt Island watching a man next to her doing a “happy dance on his twinkle toes.” “He was giddy.

Down parka? No, a sweater will do. Wooly hat pulled down over the ears? No, a cap will do. The sound of chickadees and titmice outside the door? No — a Carolina wren, a sandhill crane, a warbler. What ...

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Visitors to Canaveral National Seashore and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge are seeing firsthand the impact of the federal government shutdown. At the Merritt Island ...