Andre's Corner: Camping and Birding in South Florida

Collier-Seminole State Park

It's time for a break. Camping and birding will be good. Except we are in January and it's freezing temperature at night in Georgia now. Florida is calling! South Florida to be exact.

Setting up camp only takes about an hour!

We left Georgia before dawn and were able to set up camp by early afternoon in South Florida, Collier-Seminole SP, not too far from the Everglades but closer to Naples.

This waterway is in the State Park. The trip through the canals was peaceful and serene but did not yield a lot of bird species. We did have some interesting encounters with Ibises and Yellow-crowned Night Herons among other birds.

Juvenile White Ibis.

Debbie paddling

Ten Thousand Islands Wildlife Refuge

We saw a life bird the next day at the Ten Thousand Island Wildlife Refuge, a Mangrove Cuckoo. We felt we never fully explored this hidden gem!

Andre on a birding trail

Debbie at a Wildlife Refuge

Debbie relaxing, I think.

There were many quiet and peaceful moment as well.

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve

At the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve, we enjoyed seeing a Great Horned Owl sitting on a nest and a pair of Bald Eagles, also nesting. Not a sight you see every day. We picked up another life bird nearby, a Snail Kite. This Preserve is just ...wonderful! Will take a whole blog post just to share the uniqueness of it.

Some trees are so beautiful, men have to build the boardwalk around them!

Lowdermilk Park Beach in Naples

Willet

Sitting on a pretty beach is also birding. Lowdermilk Park Beach was beautiful but a bit crowded. The whole city of Naples is a bit ritzy but folks are friendly enough. We left after a couple of hours and headed to the Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary.

This may be Debbie's favorite birding spot, the beach.

We spent a couple of hours at the Corkscrew Audubon Sanctuary. A great place that we could have enjoyed better if our feet haven't started hurting after all the walking the previous days. It's still a gorgeous place. It will take a whole blog post about this unique place too. Just the old trees will take your breath away! I saw a pretty snake (non-venomous) and almost reached out to pick him up for a minute or two!