Palm Beach

This site is home to 217 animal species and over 500 plant species. Florida Sandhill Cranes, Swallow-tailed Kites, multiple kinds of herons, numerous species of waterfowl various raptor species can be seen. Visitors can hike, paddle, cycle or horseback ride on designated trails in this beautiful natural area.

Follow the paved ADA trail through the palm-oak hammock to a strand swamp and observation platform at the end, watching along the way for Gray Catbirds, Palm Warblers and other songbirds in spring/fall. The dirt path hiking trail can be worth checking for similar species. This small property is a quick visit in migration if you’re in the area.

This lovely site in busy Palm Beach Gardens is filled with big old live oaks and sabal palms, traversed by an old-growth cypress strand. This mosaic of habitats is excellent not only for migratory songbirds but also for residents like Great Horned Owls and Pileated Woodpeckers. The ADA trail offers good access, and the red trail also provides entrée to the hardwood swamp via boardwalk.

This water catchment area for West Palm Beach covers 20 square miles of glades-like wetlands. Snail Kites are common here, as are Glossy and White Ibises, Limpkins and more. Bald Eagles nest here as well. Several options for exploring the area include: (1) From the parking area, walk the 0.65-mile ADA boardwalk through a cypress swamp to the water, watching for songbirds like Blackburnian and Yellow-rumped Warblers on migration; (2) Call ahead to join a scheduled, guided “swamp tromp” or canoe/kayak trip of the area; (3) Hike or bike the 16.6-mile Owahee Trail, and hike the Apoxee (2.5 miles) and Eagle (0.5 miles) Trails.

This nature center has a boardwalk through tropical maritime hammock good for songbirds like waterthrushes on migration, continuing on to mangroves out to the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW); don’t miss the observation tower! Check the ICW for plunging terns year-round and mergansers in winter, as well as the mangrove edge for waders like Yellow-crowned Night-herons.

Portions of this 60,000-plus-acre conservation area are quite rugged. The main route described below is generally passable in two wheel drive vehicles, though four wheel drive is necessary if venturing off onto other numbered trails and roads. From the south entrance, follow the signs to the Bald Cypress Boardwalk. This 1.3-mile walk through cypress domes and pine flatwoods is good for Wood Storks as well as upland species like turkeys, Common Yellowthroats, Barred Owls and more.

At the northernmost parking area, bird the Satinleaf Trail for migratory songbirds in season like Kentucky Warblers and Ovenbirds, then walk or ride the long boardwalk across the lagoon to the beach overlooks. Here, look for raptors migrating and foraging along the dune line in October. At low tide, flats are exposed in the lagoon, so keep an eye peeled for waders like Roseate Spoonbills and shorebirds.

his property has two tracts, Oceanfront and West; the latter is the most rewarding to bird. The Oceanfront Tract’s 0.3-mile wheelchair-friendly trail leads through a hammock to an observation platform with an ocean view. From there, a 0.2-mile foot trail runs to the beach where sea turtles nest. The West Tract’s paved trail leads west from the parking lot to a boardwalk and observation platform by a restored wetland; check here for waders and skulking migrants.

This scrub habitat site has some serious topography for Florida, with very hilly sections on its south loop. For birding purposes, follow the paved trail to the wetland overlook (and check for vagrants and migrants; a Black-faced Grassquit was present here in 2004). From the overlook, pick up the sand trail to Ski Beach. The scrub surrounding this trail and Ski Beach are the most likely locations on the property to view threatened Florida Scrub-Jays.

This wetland wonderland attracts colorful wading birds including Roseate Spoonbills, Tricolored Herons and Limpkins. Northern Bobwhite quail, and Eastern Meadowlarks, Florida Sandhill Cranes and Snail Kites are common year-round. Look for Blue-winged Teal and King Rail in fall and spring.

This 773-acre flatwoods site includes an extensive trail system that winds through flatwoods maintained with regular prescribed fire, punctuated by small ephemeral marshes. Cooler months are the best for exploring this tract, watching for Bald Eagle, Osprey and Great Horned Owls, as well as roving flocks of wintering songbirds such as Palm and Prairie Warblers, in the pines overhead.

This 54-acre remnant of sand pine scrub includes a brief ADA trail (Gopher Tortoise Nature Trail) and an additional 0.75-mile sandy trail (Sand Pine Hiking Trail). While not very big, it’s a pocket of green in the middle of an otherwise urban area and gets songbirds in migration and winter. A Black-throated Gray Warbler (rare) was seen here in February 2005, along with more common migrant species.

This city park has extensive parking areas and picnic pavilions under large, old ficus and gumbo limbo trees, and has a reputation as a good spot for migratory songbird fallouts as well as the occasional rarity (Cuban Pewee in 1995, a La Sagra’s Flycatcher in 2012 & 2014 and a Western Spindalis in 2013!). Best bets are birding the hiking trail that bounds the western edge of the park, checking the trees for migrants like Blue-winged Warblers and Swainson’s Thrushes (most years bring 25+ species of warbler!).

STA 1 West is an integral part of the water-moving network from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, located at the northern tip of Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Despite the very precise technical purpose of these man-made filter marshes, this area has become an important refuge for clouds of waterbirds including American Coots, Roseate Spoonbills, Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, wintering shorebirds and American White Pelicans.

Access to this large property is limited to only a small segment, including a paved trail through thick pine flatwoods to a wetland overlook. Check the wetland for waders like Little Blue Herons, and be on the lookout for Pine Warblers and other flatwoods denizens. However, this site’s main strength is its reliable Bachman’s Sparrows.

These constructed wetlands were designed to recycle highly-treated wastewater from the county’s Southern Region Water Reclamation Facility. In addition, they provide approximately 50 acres of freshwater marsh habitat for wetland bird species. A 0.75-mile elevated boardwalk offers unbelievable views of Purple Gallinule, Sora, Least Bittern, Limpkin, Black-bellied Whistling-ducks and more. Eye-candy birding at its best!

Bring your kayak or canoe to paddle at this urban wetland. This 548-acre urban oasis preserves freshwater wetlands, cypress swamps and slash pine forests in urban West Palm Beach. These diverse habitats attract abundant birdlife with Bald Eagles, Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, Loggerhead Shrikes, Anhingas and Belted Kingfishers making regular appearances.

Located less than two miles from the Atlantic Ocean, Yamato Scrub is a rest sto” for warblers and other migratory birds during spring and fall. Expect to see American Redstarts, Palm Warblers and Common Yellowthroats. Exploration of the site is facilitated by the ADA-accessible 0.7-mile Cicada Nature Trail and the natural surface 2.8-mile Cicada Nature Trail. American Bittern have been observed foraging in the restored wetland.