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St. Johns RiverIf you’re into birding, the St. Johns River is a paradise. In addition to numerous wading birds, raptors can frequently be seen soaring over the river or perched in snags along the floodplains. Toward evening, thousands of birds leave the floodplain and move to nighttime roosts.The most exciting way to bird the river is from an airboat. Some large Indian middens are accessible by boat. Middens often provide resting space and feeding areas for neotropical migrant songbirds. You should see alligators, raptors and lots of wading birds at any time of the year. Birding is best, of course, during fall, winter and spring. Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, American White Pelican, Mottled Duck, Flue-winged and Green-winged Teal, Wood Stork, Sandhill Crane, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs are fairly common. Roseate Spoonbill, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, Crested Caracara, Wide Turkey, Black Skimmer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Limpkin, Wood Duck, Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Sora, King Rail and Marsh and Sedge Wrens are a possibility. Short-tailed Hawk and Snail Kite are rare, but occasionally seen. Directions: There are two ways to take an airboat ride. One way is to spontaneously drop in at Midway Fish Camp on SR 50 or Lone Cabbage Fish Camp on SR 520. Small airboats offer a better quality experience. Reservations are required for small airboat tours. |
Tosohatchee Wildlife Management AreaSixty miles of trails wind through this 28,000-acre property, offering plenty of opportunity for birding, hiking, biking, primitive camping, nature study, horseback riding, and fishing. A road system offers the opportunity for birding from a vehicle. Shaped by alternating cycles of fire and flood, Tosohatchee WMA is a mosaic of marshes, swamps, pine flatwoods and oak hammocks.The marshes are feeding areas for wading birds, and, during winter months, huge large numbers of migrating waterfowl. Forested uplands support deer, bobcats, gray foxes, Wild Turkeys, woodpeckers, hawks, owls and songbirds. Some of the threatened and endangered species found at the reserve include Bald Eagle, Wood Stork, eastern Indigo snake, gopher tortoise and, on rare occasions, the Florida panther. Birds of interest include Bachman’s Sparrow, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, Red-headed Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, Red-headed Woodpecker and Sandhill Crane. Directions: From Titusville, take SR 50 west to the town of Christmas. Look for a brown sign for Tosohatchee. Turn left and travel three miles south on Taylor Creek Rd. The entrance will be on the left. Make sure you have some dollar bills to put in the fee box located on the right just inside the entrance. There is some seasonal hunting on this property.
407-568-5893 |
Orlando Wetlands ParkOrlando Wetlands Park (OWP) is a large treatment facility that uses water plants to polish already treated wastewater before discharging it into the St. Johns River. Visitors are sure to see numerous wading birds, and often Purple Gallinule, Least and American Bitterns, Red-shouldered Hawk and King Rail can be found foraging in the marshes. Ospreys and Bald Eagles feed throughout the wetlands complex, and Purple Marins nest in tree cavities each spring – on of the only places east of the Mississippi River where they nest in anything other than man-made houses! Sunset brings on a spectacular sight as thousands of wading birds move from daytime feeding areas to their nightly roosts.A trail that begins at the parking lot and winds east around Lake Searcy then north through a hammock can be good for migratory songbirds in season. Watch for ducks and shorebirds in the wetlands in fall and winter and large flocks of migratory tree swallows coming to roost in late fall and early spring. Closed for seasonal hunting Nov. 15 – Feb. 1. Directions: From Titusville, take SR 50 west to the town of Christmas. Turn right (north) onto Ft. Christmas Rd. (CR 420) and go 2.3 miles to Wheeler Rd. Turn right on Wheeler and go east for 1.5 miles. The parking area will be on your left.
407-568-1706 |
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