Visitors and staff observe flora and fauna from the boardwalk on a daily basis. Below are some of the highlights reported since April 23, 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:
Anhinga
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Black Crowned Night Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture and neslings
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Swallow-tailed Kite
Limpkin
Sandhill Crane
Mourning Dove
Common Ground Dove
Barred Owl
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Great-crested Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
Northern Waterthrush
Northern Parula
Black-and-White Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
American Redstart
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird


Butterflies:
Ruddy Daggerwing
Monarch
Zebra Longwing
Cabbage White


Other Invertebrates:

Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper
Leaf-footed Bug
Okefenokee Fishing Spider
 

Reptiles and Amphibians:

Carolina Green Anole
Cuban Brown Anole
Banded Watersnake
Striped Mud Turtle
Florida Red-bellied Turtle
Alligator 
Pig Frog
Leopard Frog
Green Treefrog
Cuban Tree Treefrog
Greenhouse Frog


Mammals:

Raccoon
Gray Squirrel
White-tailed Deer
River Otter
Hispid Cotton Rat
Black Bear and 2 cubs
Florida Panther (last seen on 4/27/24
 

Blooming Plants:

Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Swamp Lily  (Crinum americanum)
Lanceleaf Arrowhead  (Sagittaria lancifolia)
Chapman's Arrowhead (Sagittaria graminea var. chapmanii)
Narrowleaf Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium)
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
Virginia Sweetspire/Virginia Willow (Itea virginica)
Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)
Leavenworth's Tickseed (Coreopsis leavenworthii)
Carolina Climbing Aster  (Symphyotrichum carolinianum)
Purple Thistle (Cirsium horridulum)
Nuttall's Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii)
Moonflower/Tropical White Morning Glory  (Ipomoea alba)
Pale Meadowbeauty  (Rhexia mariana)
Chocolateweed (Melochia corchorifolia)
Beggartick  (Bidens alba)
Tropical Whiteweed (Ageratum conyzoides)
Fourleaf Vetch (Vicia acutifolia)
Hairypod Cowpea  (Vigna luteola)
Pursh's Milkpea (Galactia purshii)
Tassleflower (Emilia fosbergii) - not native
Cardinal Airplant/Stiff-Leaved Wild Pine (Tillandsia fasciculata)
Northern Needleleaf (Tillandsia balbisiana)
Southern Needleleaf (Tillandsia setacea)
Ballmoss (Tillandsia recurvata)
Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides)
Dingy Flowered Star Orchid (Epidendrum amphistomum)
Delicate Ionopsis Orchid  (Ionopsis utricularioides)
 

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