If you want a quick spot for a birding outing, but which still gets you away from all the craziness of Fort Myers traffic, then visit Six Mile Cypress Slough. This boardwalk takes you deep into the slough, and makes it difficult to imagine the millions of people which live nearby. Given this wildlife preserve is right in Fort Myers, the best visits will be right at sunrise. As the day progresses the preserve fills up with people.

I followed my own recommendation and was the second visitor to arrive yesterday morning. Thus, birds had not been flushed by the hordes of visitors who will come later in the day. Having said that, many of our feathered friends are people tolerant at this spot. For those of you who like to bicycle, I feel the best cycling which avoids the most car traffic but also allows for nature viewing opportunities in the Fort Myers area is bordered by Six Mile Cypress Road on the east, John Yarbrough Linear Bike Trail on the West and then Daniels Parkway and Colonial Boulevard to the south and north.

Here are just a few of my sightings at Six Mile Cypress …

Black-Crowned Night Heron (video link for email subscribers)

Great Egret (video link for email subscribers)

Pileated Woodpecker

Learn more about this fantastic location near Naples, Florida from my prior post, but suffice it now to know the magical trails attracted me back quickly because of some Roseate Spoonbills. When some Long-Billed Dowitchers spooked one of the nearby spoonbill also took flight (I was not the cause of the Dowitchers alarm). Anyhow, the birds flew in circles and landed darn close to from where they had taken off.

Roseate Spoonbill

A Glossy Ibis Wanted in on the Action!

And a video of the Spoonbill feeding (video link for email subscribers)

Most folks visit Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary,  but a much better birding excursion is to walk the trails at CREW Trails (Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed). I find the birding fantastic, and I enjoy the solitude (no crowds). Make certain you visit the second pond, as this is the the pond with all the birds! I often start my hikes at the Orange Trail Head as I love the walk through the forest regrowth. However if you are pressed for time, or only want to visit the water birds, park at the Lake Parking Trail Head. I love both areas. The forest regrowth is in an area of managed burn, and the wildlife including birds is dramatically different than at the ponds. While not a butterfly person, I love seeing these small insects flitter about.

Here are highlights from yesterday’s birding. My biggest excitement was watching a Loggerhead Shrike hunt for almost 30 minutes. Loggerhead shrikes are much more tolerant of humans than our Northern Shrikes back in Minnesota. Shrikes are songbirds which think and act like a raptor … truly a bird with an attitude! (Cornell link)

Loggerhead Shrike Hunting (video link for email subscribers)

Roseate Spoonbill

Herons a Three! (yup … three species in one photo)

Long Billed Dowitchers

Were you able to identify the three heron species?! Here are their names … front of the image to rear … Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Tri-Colored Heron.