Visitors and staff observe flora and fauna from the boardwalk on a daily basis. Below are some of the highlights reported since December 11, 2024!

To find out what to expect in this season, check out our Seasonal Nature Viewing Opportunities page. Click here to download a checklist of birds around the seasons.

Birds:
Anhingha
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Coopers Hawk
Limpkin
Sandhill Crane
Mourning Dove
Common Ground Dove
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Great-crested Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-Headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-White Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
​American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Common Grackle




Butterflies:
Cloudless Sulphur
Orange-barred Sulphur
Ruddy Daggerwing
Zebra Longwing
Gulf Fritillary
White Peacock
Viceroy
Brazillian Skipper
Ocola Skipper
Dorantes Skipper



Other Invertebrates:

Dragonflies
Damselflies
Grasshoppers
Apple Snails
 

Reptiles and Amphibians:

Carolina Green Anole
Cuban Brown Anole
Black Racer
Red Rat Snake
Banded Watersnake
Water Moccasin/Cottonmouth
Red-bellied Turtle
Alligator 
Pig Frog
Green Treefrog
Cuban Tree Treefrog


Mammals:

Raccoon
Gray Squirrel
Marsh Rabbit
Cottontail Rabbit
Bobcat
 

Blooming Plants:
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Swamp Lily  (Crinum americanum)
Lanceleaf Arrowhead  (Sagittaria lancifolia)
Carolina Climbing Aster  (Symphyotrichum carolinianum)
Bretonica Peluda (Melochia spicata)  
Spurred Butterfly Pea (Centrosema virginianum)
Beggartick  (Bidens alba)
Clamshell Orchid (Prosthechea cochleata)"
Night Scented Orchid (Epidendrum nocturnum)
Dingy Flowered Orchid (Epidendrum anceps or amphistomum)
Needleroot Orchid (Dendrophylax porrectus)

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