Sarasota

This small site is worth stopping by quickly to check a few specific areas. Offering patches of hardwood hammock, a 1.5-acre lake, and a small reclaimed swamp within one of the most densely developed parts of the city, there is no telling what may stop in here briefly or might even decide to nest. The 0.7-mile paved walkway through this urban park provides a low-stress option to other more strenuous sites.

Encompassing a mile of relatively unvisited Gulf shore, this is the perfect site in this county for uninterrupted beach birding. Across the street is a short trail through mangrove swamp that leads to a lagoon off of Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve. Scan the mudflats at low tide for more shorebirds and watch the mangrove edges for wading birds, including reddish egret.

Depending on the scale of the experience you are looking for, this site offers a little bit of everything. The main public use area is a little more than 100 acres and offers trails through hardwood hammock and pine flatwoods (listen for Bachman’s sparrows), and around freshwater marsh and forested swamp (hotspots for migrating warblers). For the more adventurous, the full 24,500 acres of the preserve borders the huge Myakka River State Park and offer continuous trails and power line rights-of-way that can be hiked or biked as far as you care to go.

This county park boasts 2 miles of Gulf coast beach, replete with all the gulls, terns and shorebirds one might expect. Walk the beach or through the coastal hammock, which offers sanctuary for warblers during migration. Canoe or kayak into Red Lake and skim the mangrove edges for close-up views of waders such as reddish egrets and night-herons during high tide, or scan the mudflats from the boat ramp at low tide for more shorebirds. One of the biggest draws of this site, along with neighboring Shamrock Park, is an island of remnant scrub habitat that hosts two families of Florida scrub-jays; slowly walk the trails and watch and listen carefully.

Almost a true “postage stamp” park, this tiny site offers a place for either a quick scan of the bay or a comfortable spot to set up a scope for an hour while you have lunch. Only 7 acres in size, this site provides a vista over Lemon Bay, where you can see American oystercatchers, ruddy turnstones and western sandpipers, as well as a host of other shorebirds at low tide.

This 600-acre site consists of pine flatwoods and mesic hammocks with remnant wet prairie and freshwater swamp, all bordered by the hardwood-lined Myakka River. These sandy trails will take you through warbler and vireo habitat, under canopies of bromeliad-fringed hardwoods that are home to pileated woodpeckers and barred owls. At the river overlooks you will find ospreys and white ibises, egrets and herons, and sometimes wood storks.

Situated on the shore of Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve, this park offers a mile of coastal trail as well as 2.2 miles of trails into pine flatwoods. Be sure to ask about nesting bald eagles, and keep an eye out for wood ducks, which have also nested on the property.

More than 12 miles of hiking and biking trails within this park will introduce you to large areas of scrubby flatwoods, home to one of the densest populations of Florida scrub-jays in southwest Florida. This habitat, which is closely managed for these birds’ benefit, gives way at times to cooler walks beside South Creek, through the campground, and around Lake Osprey – all great places to be during migration as the warblers and vireos settle into the canopy to feed in this oasis. The scrub-jays share this park with nesting bald eagles, and sandhill cranes even raise their young in the northernmost part of the park. Call ahead for scheduled walks or to organize group trips.

This small 15-acre site contains a mesic hammock habitat located at the south end of the park that is unique in south Florida. Its character feels much more northern with its high, dense canopy of elms, hickories and oaks. Visit during early spring and look and listen for thrushes, wrens, warblers, vireos, flycatchers – just about any small migratory species passing through will make a stopover in this oasis.

This site is an interesting mix of mangrove estuary, tidal swamps and uplands, all being restored to natural function. Walking from the parking area at Overlook Park, you pass under a bridge and onto a short trail system that leads along stretches of Sarasota Bay.

This site, part of the county’s environmental lands program, contains beautiful mesic hammock habitat that is just waiting for birders to document what lives there. Already known for fallouts of warblers during migration, this property also provides habitat for species such as belted kingfishers, green herons, limpkins, wood ducks and mottled ducks.

This is one of the best sites in the area to spot Florida scrub-jays. The two closely monitored families of jays here (along with neighboring Caspersen Beach) are as likely to be seen along the ADA-accessible paved walkway as they are on the scrub trail system. The local Audubon chapter census for this park documented 118 bird species, but for scrub-jays, this one’s a sure bet.

An easily-accessible roosting and resting area for a variety of wading birds, this site is great for those who like to sit still and watch closely. Offering a covered pavilion for shade and plenty of pond-side grassy areas for lawn chairs, this small site has become a mecca for bird photography.