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Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 12 - 16, 2003 in Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife. |
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Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival November 12 - 16, 2003 in Brevard County, Florida A celebration of birds and wildlife. |
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"Look! They're pink!"
Several hours into a hike through one of the more remote sections of the Florida Trail in the Northern Everglades, enjoying the vast marshes of the Rottenberger Wildlife Management Area from the safety of a high dike, my friends and I encountered what we thought were a pair of ibises working their way down the L-3 canalÑuntil we got close enough to see the light pink plumage and distinctive spoonbills. Moments later, a flock of scarlet ibises swooped overhead. We watched in wonderment as they disappeared over the sea of grass and willow islands.Stretching more than 1,300 miles from the Big Cypress National Preserve north of the Everglades to Gulf Islands National Seashore in Pensacola, the Florida Trail provides access to pristine wilderness habitats where you'll encounter some of our state's more elusive species. On my hikes throughout the state, I've watched a pair of crested caracara in a dance over the sugar cane fields outside Clewiston, and spied white pelicans soaring over Lake Okeechobee; counted more than fifty sandhill cranes on a single day in the Kissimmee Prairie, and delighted to a family of Florida scrub-jays fluttering around me in the Ocala National Forest. From the trail, I've seen a pair of bald eagles feeding their young, watched thick clouds of swifts swoop and dive over the marshes of St. Marks, and listened to warblers along the Suwannee River. From songbirds to shorebirds, raptors to wading birds, you'll find them allÑalong the Florida Trail.
TOP BIRDING SITES ON THE FLORIDA TRAIL
Rottenberger Wildlife Management Area
The Florida Trail provides access to this rare South Florida gem, a relict of the original Everglades environment amid the sugar cane fields. In addition to thousands of songbirds swooping from island to island, you'll see migratory waterfowl, herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills, ibises, and Everglades snail kites. Hike north from the L-3 canal access just north of the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation, or south from the dirt road paralleling the canal south of SR 846.The Big O
Looping around Florida's largest lake on the Herbert Hoover Dike, the Big O section of the Florida Trail provides 109 miles of lakeside access to prime birding sights. My top picks: between South Bay and Pahokee for double-crested cormorants in the trees, nesting bald eagles and osprey on Torry Island, and white pelicans on the water; around Taylor Creek for limpkins, wood storks, herons, and egrets; and Indian Hammock for sandhill cranes and eastern meadowlarks. Each Thanksgiving week, join the Big O hike, where last year's birders logged 75 species during 9 days of consecutive day hikes ringing the lake.Prairie Lakes / Three Lakes WMA
Accessed from Canoe Creek Road (SR 523) south of St. Cloud, these broad open prairies are home to hundreds of sandhill cranes during their winter migration. Follow either the loop trail in Prairie Lakes WMA or the Florida Trail across Three Lakes WMA to the Florida Turnpike underpass for optimal viewingÑand expect to see flocks along Canoe Creek Road as well!Orlando Wetlands Park
As the Florida Trail makes its way around the park's impoundments, watch for purple gallinules, snowy egrets, and limpkins. Access to the preserve is limited in winter, when the migratory ducks arrive.Ocala National Forest
In both the Juniper Prairie Wilderness north of Juniper Springs, and in the vast sandhills and scrub north of Hopkins Prairie, the Big Scrub hosts hundreds of Florida scrub-jay families. Expect to hear the mournful calls of the rufous-sided towhee as you hike.Osceola National Forest
Visit in early morning and hike from Olustee Battlefield (US 90) north along the Nice Wander Trail to see red-cockaded woodpeckers emerging from their nests, marked with white bands on the longleaf pines.Suwannee River
From Suwannee River State Park, follow the Big Oak Trail to the Florida Trail through holly-covered river bluffs, where migratory warblers and thrushes perch. To the east, Holton Creek Conservation Area, accessed via the Florida Trail, serves as a breeding ground for parulas and yellow-throated warblers.St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
Passing through dense hammocks and salt marshes and along freshwater impoundments, the Florida Trail at St. Marks offers the best of all worlds. Expect to see frigatebirds and loons, white pelicans and rails, plovers and kingfishersÑin all, nearly 275 species along one of the most important migratory flyways in the United States.For more information about the Florida National Scenic Trail, including maps and guides, visit www.floridatrail.org, call 877-HIKE-FLA, e-mail us at fta@florida-trail.org, or write to the Florida Trail Association, 5415 SW 13th Street Gainesville FL 32608.
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