Birding Across the State
These three state parks are just a taste of what you can find.
For those unfamiliar with birding in Florida, the idea may conjure images of wading flamingos, but Florida has much more to offer! If you want to see just how spectacular birding can be in…the Real Florida, check out the upcoming Office of Greenways and Trails webinar on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail. The three state parks featured below are all located within the trail and provide opportunities for both casual observers and those looking to add to their lifetime list.
Three Rivers State Park
Located along the Florida-Georgia border, this park is so popular for bird watching that they have their very own bird-watching checklist readily available to those interested.
American bald eagles make their nests within the park and can be seen soaring over the lake. Waterfowl by the hundreds seek refuge in the quiet bays and sloughs that surround the park. Kentucky warblers, wood thrushes, Acadian flycatchers and yellow-throated vireos can be seen at this park, as well as golden-crowned kinglets and, in some years, pine siskins.
Colt Creek State Park
In 2007, the Lake Region Audubon Society did a yearlong survey identifying 150 species of birds at Colt Creek State Park. The following year, the park was designated on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.
Eastern bluebirds, bald eagles, black-bellied whistling ducks, meadow larks, swallow-tailed kites and a variety of wading birds and warblers are just some of the species that can be seen at Colt Creek.
North Peninsula State Park
Many shorebirds, such as laughing gulls, ring-billed gulls, least terns and royal terns are found resting on the beach and feeding in the tides at North Peninsula State Park. Water birds such as great blue herons, tricolor herons, great egrets and yellow-crowned night herons stalk the shallows of the salt marsh and intracoastal waterway. Ospreys can be seen high above the water perched on platforms or in trees feeding on a freshly caught mullet.
The interior of the park hosts different kinds of warblers, cardinals, robins, sapsuckers and woodpeckers, to name a few.
