The second Wood Stork survey flight of the 2023 season was conducted on January 10, and nesting activity was observed at three of the five known colony sites in Southwest Florida. The three sites with activity were BC-29 (west of SR-29, north of Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge), Lenore Island (Caloosahatchee River west of I-75), and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary!

Wood Stork nesting is an increasingly infrequent occurrence at the Sanctuary and nesting activity encourages us that regional and on-site restoration efforts may be working. We are hopeful that Wood Stork nesting will increase with continued progress on our marsh and prairie restoration that is improving foraging habitat.

If this year’s nesting effort proves to be successful, it will be only the seventh successful nesting effort at the Sanctuary since 2007. We did have successful nesting at the Sanctuary in 2021 with 18 nests. The third flight of the season will take place in early February.