After the usual cordial greetings on the trail, and after you eye the binoculars, camera, and lens of the encountered birder, several queries quickly work their way into the conversation. They are often equipment oriented, but frequently are also about ones favorite sites to see and photograph birds. Since there are many snowbirds and first-time visitors to Florida I thought I would list for them my favorite sites which we have visited many times over the last 20 years.
In an earlier post I have trumpeted the advantages of having a personal, local patch right outside your backdoor, and one that becomes familiar over years of frequent observation. This post, however, is about public sites in Southwest Florida.
I’m putting them in the order of my preference, but none are bad sites. In fact any day of birding at any location is enjoyable in my book. One’s choice of birding destination for the day often depends on target birds or rarities reported on eBird. The weather may factor in since some locations involve hiking, while others allow birding by auto. Here they are with a short note about each.
- Dinner Island Ranch
- Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
- Eagle Lake Community Park
- Bird Rookery Swamp
- Turner River Road
- Ding Darling NWR on Sanibel Island
- Clam Pass
- Ten Thousand Islands Marsh Trail
- Harnes Marsh
- Tigertail Beach on Marco Island
I got a little push back from one of my birding companions about the first choice, since it is a 60 mile drive from Naples, way out in the old Florida hinterlands. It is so different from the other more frequented sites, but that is exactly why I love going there. This must be what our state looked like 100 years ago. The huge ranch has unfettered public access and numerous gravel roads traversing miles of flat grasslands, peppered with ponds and pine hummocks. There are grazing cattle with riding egrets, old corrals, and rarely another birder in sight. It’s my best chance to tick meadowlarks, kestrels, caracara, or an occasional Snail Kite. Pack a lunch and water. My life list there measures 62 species.
Corkscrew is famous, and for good reason. Instead of the big sky and prairie of Dinner Island you’ll find a boardwalk through the cypress swamp, again a vestige of prior times. But this is a more civilized site with bookstore and gift shop, bathroom facilities, etc. You’ll share the boardwalk with many, but that is okay and a reflection of its beauty. Our recent trip was highlighted with good looks at 5 warblers, both buntings, 2 vireos and of course, several gigantic alligators.
Eagle Lake is just a short hop down Route 41, southeast of Naples. When you pull in you will wonder why such a site made my list, but be patient. Just past the parking lot, tennis courts, ball fields, and public restrooms you’ll find asphalt trails around several large collection ponds. The birds seem to love this suburban setting. Amongst the bikers and joggers we’ve seen several vagrants and rarities there. Whenever I have a new guest to Florida who wants to see birds, I take them to Eagle Lake. My life list there stands at 87 species, the greatest of all these sites.
Before you come to Corkscrew on Immokalee Road you’ll see an unassuming turnoff on the left called Shady Hollow Blvd. At the end of this road is the parking lot to the Bird Rookery Swamp, but slow down. There’s a lot to see on the approach road as it becomes a gravel drive and leaves the new houses behind. We often get great, close-up views or photos of 15+ species in the roadside ditch before we even get out of the car. This is a free site, less visited than the nearby Corkscrew, but similar in flora and fauna. You will first traverse a gravel path, then a boardwalk, and lastly a dirt trail with swamp on either side. A gator often lies across the trail–remember, they can move quickly if hungry. It’s a great spot for a Purple Gallinule and all the Florida waders.
Turner River Road (route 839) as the name suggests, is not a simple site, but instead a long road heading north through the unpopulated Big Cypress National Preserve. You’ll find it about 25 miles east of Naples on route 41. If you like to bird-by-auto and cover some miles this one’s for you. It makes sense on a day of iffy weather or when your hips are acting up. You can stop and get out for short walks and better photos along the way. There will be no traffic.
Ding Darling on Sanibel Island is a nationally known hotspot. We were just there this week, our first trip since the devastating hurricane. Repairs and rebuilding are underway, but the sanctuary is open and its waders and shorebirds still abound. Bring a scope. It’s my best site for the prancing Reddish Egret and where I finally found a Mangrove Cuckoo.
Beach birding a Clam Pass is a treat. The pass is the inlet and outlet for the tidal mangrove swamp of North Naples. The fish must love the mixing of fresh and salt water and they, in turn attract the beach birds. I’ll often pull a chair among the lounging Black Skimmers and photograph the diving pelicans and terns, hoping for a shot just when the hit the water. Access from the south side of the pass is private, but the north side is a public, with just as good of view. You get to it from the end of Seagate Drive.
If you want to admire the endless vista of unspoiled Florida swamp, check out the tower at Ten Thousand Islands Park, again off route 41 east of Naples. The birds are generally at a distance, but you’re there for the sheer beauty of this unique habitat. Marjory Stoneman Douglas referred to it as the “River of Grass” in her classic book from 1947.
Southwest Florida is all about water and water management. Canals, holding ponds, roadside ditches, and dikes are everywhere trying to control nature and make this area inhabitable. The Harnes Marsh, just east of Fort Myers is such a site, and a very bird friendly location. It’s great for a close up shot of Sandhill Cranes, Swamphens, and perhaps a flyover of a Snail Kite, Limpkin, or Northern Harrier if you’re lucky.
Lastly there is Tigertail Beach on Marco Island. As you drive through Marco look out for the stakes marking the location of the Burrowing Owls nesting on the vacant lots. It’s a great chance for a close up shot of the small photogenic birds. At the beach you will note several habitats. Trees around the parking lot host many passerines. On the first beach at the tidal estuary you’ll often see various peeps and waders. If you’re brave, roll up your pants and carry your expensive camera across the shallow tidal pool to the dunes where you’ll find the real ocean beach and its gulls, terns, and more shorebirds.
This post could go on forever since we are blessed with a birdy region, but I’ll spare you. Happy birding for now and let me know if I’ve omitted your favorite site.
brighamstephen 