Hillsborough

Take a kid or two (or an adult) birding! This small urban park north of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium is well-suited for beginners who want to practice their waterbird and songbird identification. The park’s best birding features are two large ponds and two well-established trails which lead through hardwood hammocks and open grassy areas. A fishing pier on the north pond’s southern shoreline provides a great vantage point.

Home to Hillsborough County’s largest contiguous piece of sand pine scrub, the amazingly diverse Balm-Boyette Scrub Nature Preserve also protects pine flatwoods, oak hammocks, oak scrub, grassy meadows, freshwater marshes, wet prairie, cypress and hardwood swamps and creeks. Together with the adjacent Triple Creek Preserve to the north, 6 miles of hiking trails are available on the western side of the property (west of Balm-Boyette Rd.); 18 miles of mountain bike trails can be explored on the preserve’s east side.

With frontage on the Little Manatee River, hardwood hammocks, pine flatwoods and sandhills, this environmental education facility has much to offer visitors of all ages. Its trails, bird garden and birding blind are good places to practice your ID skills on common woodland birds and to introduce newcomers to birding.The Paleo Preserve fossil museum is open on Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM.

Don’t be alarmed by the moniker—Spanish explorers dubbed the area “Cockroach Bay” due to the abundant Horseshoe Crab population. Modern-day visitors will experience a great full day of birding at this site, thanks to impressive habitat restoration efforts. In fact, this preserve contains one of the most pristine portions of Tampa Bay. Start at the kiosk (A) on Gulf City Rd. 0.25 miles south of the preserve office for hiking and paddling maps and a birding guide; a labyrinth of foot paths fans out from here.

Dead River Park is located where the Dead and Hillsborough Rivers converge. From Monday to Thursday, park along on the entrance road where the pavement ends and hike/bike the final 1.8 miles into the site. From Friday to Sunday, visitors are allowed to drive all the way in. The entrance road, the 2-mile multi-use trail and the river views all provide lovely birding, especially during fall for migratory warblers.

Mangroves, sheltered mudflats and sandy beachfront habitats at this coastal site showcase some of Tampa Bay’s best waterbird-watching action. Beginners can sharpen their identification skills, compare/contrast behaviors and study the fishing techniques of many species. For example, you can watch Reddish Egrets dancing in the park’s shallows to startle and locate fish, and Double-crested Cormorants swimming and diving in hot pursuit of their prey.This park is an excellent, easily accessed site, with several camping options available.

One of the park’s prominent features is a paved, multi-use, 7-mile loop trail (with four rest shelters, water stations and 3 additional miles of paved connecting trails) that is popular with cyclists, skaters and runners. This loop trail, and miles of unpaved trails, wind through flatwoods, past cypress domes and seasonal wetlands.

Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and opened in 1938, this gem of the Tampa area is one of Florida’s oldest and most scenic state parks. Hardwood/sabal palm hammocks, pine flatwoods, cypress swamps, freshwater wetlands, ponds and Florida river “rapids” (a few are class II) provide valuable shelter for wildlife and endless enjoyment for outdoor recreators. Hike the extensive trail system (four trails totaling 7.3 miles, including a segment of the Florida National Scenic Trail), or canoe downstream on the Hillsborough River State Canoe Trail.About 25 percent of the park lies in lowland areas which are prone to seasonal flooding; call the park for trail conditions prior to your visit.

A wheelchair-friendly boardwalk and a multi-use trail allow birders to explore this productive LHWP tract once known as Flint Creek Park. Visitors will encounter a picturesque swamp and adjacent uplands.Hikers, bikers and equestrians may also ramble down the historic Old Fort King Trail (6.7 miles), which is paved for the first 2 miles (mind vehicular traffic at all road crossings) and connects with Hillsborough River State Park.

A serene oasis on the northern outskirts of the greater Tampa/St. Petersburg metropolis, Lake Rogers Park is an easily accessed site that is perfect for beginners. A 2.5-mile trail circles its namesake lake, where you can watch Ospreys fishing and Snowy Egrets, White Ibises and Little Blue Herons wading in the shallows.Additional amenities include picnic shelters, a canoe/kayak launch and rentals (gasoline motors are not permitted in the park’s two lakes).

Twelve natural communities are represented at this state park, including flatwoods, scrub, hydric and xeric hammocks, floodplain forest and freshwater swamp. The Little Manatee River (an Outstanding Florida Water and part of the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve) flows for 4.5 miles through the park and separates the main public use area on the south side of the river from the wilderness area on the north side. The short Oxbow Nature Trail along the river’s south side gives a good introduction to the park’s wildlife-viewing possibilities, but the best birding here is actually on the hiking trails north of the river (part of the Florida National Scenic Trail, accessed from a separate entrance off US 301).

There’s more here to this park than first meets the eye. From the parking area, visitors have two options. The first is a short nature trail which leads to a 915-foot boardwalk, where you will journey through the mangroves to the bountiful mudflats of McKay Bay. The second option is to take the paved 1.25-mile multi-use trail which winds southward through the park; this trail circles the southern tip of the peninsula before heading west back to 34th St. Shorebirding can be excellent but difficult at this park; a spotting scope is recommended.

This county-run park on the Hillsborough River has excellent songbird viewing. It’s also another access point for the Hillsborough River State Canoe Trail and the multi-use Wilderness Park Off-Road Trail System (see above for a list of connecting GFBWT sites). On the north side of the park, bird the 0.25-mile boardwalk and nature trail which runs through lush riparian forest, and then walk the 0.75-mile trail on the south side of the park to an abandoned bridge.

Stop by this City of Tampa park on the Interbay Peninsula for a quick birding break and to take in the views of Tampa Bay. Start at the 350-foot fishing pier. From the southern parking area, a paved path leads to an observation platform at the south tip of the island. Boat and kayak launches enable visitors to watch wildlife on Picnic Island Bayou from the water.

These two interconnected city parks create a nice patch of green in greater Tampa. Visitors will enjoy the boardwalk and 2-mile nature trail system shadowing the Hillsborough River. From the parking area for Riverhills Park, take the boardwalk and trail southward to a forested area in the adjoining 30-acre Scout Park, a good spot for songbirds like Great Crested Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-eyed Vireo and Palm Warbler. A trail loop at the end, a spur trail running north, and another restroom encourage longer searches for skulkers such as House Wren and Common Yellowthroat.

The observation platform at the Tampa Electric Company’s Big Bend Power Station was constructed to allow viewing of Florida Manatees, one of Florida’s most popular and iconic wildlife species. Up to 300 manatees spend the winter resting and feeding in the shallow waters, especially when water temperatures fall below 68° F. They are drawn here by the warm water emerging from the utility plant, and in fact, the discharge canal is a designated state and federal sanctuary! Manatee and bird watchers alike love the 900-foot, ADA-compliant boardwalk that runs through the adjacent mangrove forest; it creates an excellent vantage of the mudflats.

Trout Creek Park provides visitors an opportunity to check the boardwalk and hammock for migrants, and to scan the river for waterbirds; it’s worth a quick peek when you’re in the vicinity. If you have limited time, focus your attention on the boardwalk and loop trail immediately north and south of the parking area. Download park maps from the SWFWMD website.

A stone’s throw from urban Tampa, you’d never guess such primordial solitude could be so close by. The Upper Hillsborough River is part of the state canoe trail system managed by the Florida Park Service’s Office of Greenways and Trails; this particular river is an easy paddle for most of its length, with great birding and wildlife watching.

Bordered by Old Tampa Bay (Mobbly Bay) and Double Branch Creek, this peninsular park protects salt marsh, mangrove, freshwater marsh, maritime hammock and pine flatwoods communities, plus freshwater ponds, oyster bars, salt barrens and Native American shell mounds. Visitors may explore the park via hiking trails and boardwalks or via canoe/kayak; a launch on the east side of the park provides access to the creek and the bay.