Visitors and staff observe flora and fauna from the boardwalk on a daily basis. Below are some of the highlights since September 6, 2021! 

 

Birds:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Wild Turkey

Common Ground Dove

Mourning Dove

Chimney Swift

Purple Gallinule

Sandhill Crane

Wood Stork

Anhinga

Limpkin

Great Egret

Little Blue Heron

Green Heron

White Ibis

Black and Turkey Vultures

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Barred Owl 

Belted Kingfisher

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Pileated Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Acadian Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher

White-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

Tufted Titmouse

Barn Swallow

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Carolina Wren

Northern Mockingbird

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Northern Waterthrush

Louisiana Waterthrush

Black-and-White Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Parula

American Redstart

Prothonotary Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

Worm-eating Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Black-throated Blue Wabler

Pine Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Summer Tanager

Northern Cardinal

Baltimore Oriole

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

American Crow

Butterflies:

Zebra Longwing

Orange-barred Sulphur

Cloudless Sulfur

Gulf Fritillary

Palamedes Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail

Ruddy Daggerwing

Polydamus Swallowtail

Pearl Crescent

Phaon Cresent

Gray Hairstreak

 

Reptiles and Amphibians:

5-Lined Skink 

Carolina Green Anole

Cuban Brown Anole

Yellow Rat Snake

Alligator 

Florida Red-bellied Turtle

Green Treefrog

Pig Frog

 

Mammals:

River Otter

Raccoon

Gray Squirrel

Cottontail Rabbit

 

Blooming Plants:

Saw-grass  (Cladium jamaicense)

Starrush Whitetop/White-topped Sedge (Rhynchospora colorata)

Southern Cattail  (Typha domingensis)

Saltmarsh/Everglades Morning Glory  (Ipomoea sagittata)

Elderberry  (Sambucus nigra)

Scarlet Rosemallow  (Hibiscus coccineus)  + white form can be seen from our observation deck on the far end of our boardwalk

Swamp Hibiscus /Swamp Rosemallow   (Hibiscus grandiflorus)

Virginia Saltmarsh Mallow  (Kosteletzkya pentacarpos)

Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)  + several white forms of this flower are visible in the wet prairie on the exit trail of the boardwalk

Alligatorflag/Fireflag  (Thalia geniculata)

Eastern False Dragonhead  (Physostegia purpurea)

Skyflower (Hydrolea corymbosa)

Bretonica Peluda  (Melochia spicata)

Musky Mint  (Hyptis alata)

Black-eyed Susan  (Rudbeckia hirta)

Four-petal St. John's-wort  (Hypericum tetrapetalum)

Swamp Milkweed  (Asclepias incarnata)

Swamp Lily  (Crinum americanum)

Lanceleaf Arrowhead (Sagittaria lancifolia)

Chapman's Arrowhead  (Sagittaria graminea var. chapmanii)

Nuttall's Thistle  (Cirsium nuttallii)

Spurred Butterfly Pea  (Centrosema virginianum)

Winged Loosestrife  (Lythrum alatum)

Blue Mistflower  (Conoclinium coelestinum)

Beggartick  (Bidens alba)

Leavenworth's Tickseed  (Coreopsis leavenworthii)

Rosy Camphorweed  ( Pluchea baccharis)

Yellow Helmut Orchid (Polystachya concreta)  - several have bloom spikes starting, some flowers are starting to open

Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii)  - Super Ghost Orchid has one bud and two seed pods 9/13/21

Wild Coco Orchid  (Eulophia alta) - a terrestrial species, grows in the pine flatwoods