The Gulf coast of Florida has always been known for magnificent beaches and vacation spots. Each year thousands of college students flock to the Fort Myers area to catch their first rays of sun in hope for those golden tans of summer, to let their hair down, bare some skin and party 24 hours a day.

Now this story is not about spring break and college kids partying, but it is about another tradition which occurs each year, but draws much less attention from the news media. It's about the annual trek to Florida by birders and photographers.

Each winter and spring birders and photographers make their way to Florida to photograph and watch songbirds and shore birds. In this story, we will explore some of the locations that will be of interest to all birders.

I'd like to start on the Atlantic coast side of Florida before we cross over to the gulf coast. The reason is a place called the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Each year Egrets, Herons, and Wood Storks make the Alligator Farm their nesting site. Usually this starts occurring in late February and early March. Many photographers will come here year after year to photograph these nesting birds, their courting ritual and feeding of their young chicks. The Alligator Farm has a boardwalk that takes you right by the birds. Some of them are nesting so close to the boardwalk that you can actually reach out and touch them, but I wouldn't advise it. There are plenty of gators waiting for a meal to drop or fall into the water. While on the boardwalk be sure to look for other subjects such as turtles, songbirds and there are plenty of gators to photograph. You will have to be careful when using your tripods, because you will encounter some vibration from those walking on the boardwalk. There are several other animals in the park, as well as other photographic opportunities. I would allow a minimum of two days at the park and if you can go during the week you will avoid the many weekend visitors. It's a great place and the staff is more than willing to help answer your questions and they understand photographers. Arthur Morris frequently holds photographic workshops at the Alligator Farm. While you're in the area make plans to visit St. Augustine Beach. You will find plenty of birding opportunities along the beach and the late afternoon sun can be a real treat.

There are several reasonable priced motels and eating places in the St. Augustine area and all within a mile or two of the Alligator Farm. After a day of birding, you may want to take in the lights of old St. Augustine, visit some of the shops, or take a guided tour of old St. Augustine in one of the many horse and carriage rides. Don't forget Ponce DeLeon found the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine so you may want to get a few drinks of water while visiting. Who knows, it may work.

Now it's time to cross the state and head west to Venice, Florida and find a small Audubon Park just off Hwy 41. The Audubon Park is known as Venice Rookery. It's actually a small lake or pond with an isle in the middle. Like the Alligator Farm you'll find plenty of nesting birds. In January, we were surprised to find nesting birds with young since we had not seen any when we were at the Alligator Farm. We found herons, egrets, and anhinga either nesting, feeding young, or building nests. You'll need your longest lens to photograph the birds here since there is no boardwalk and you're not able to get as close to the birds as at the Alligator Farm. You should be able to get some shots of the birds flying in and out of the nesting area and fighting over nesting spots.

After leaving Venice Rookery we headed south to Ft. Myers. Ft. Myers is a good central location to several birding places we'd heard about and wanted to visit. There are numerous motels in the area as well as eating-places. We stayed at the Best Western and they had an excellent restaurant. Behind the motel was a beautiful area called the Springs. The Springs is natural spring water that flows at 63,000 gallons of water per day and exits the well at 82 degrees. The area offers several photographic opportunities.

This might be a good time to mention that even though the air temperature can be warm and the weather pleasant in January you'll need to be prepared for weather changes. The first two days we had clouds and showers at both Venice Rookery and at Corkscrew. You'll need your rain gear, some warm clothes and some type of protection for your camera gear. This can be a large plastic bag, poncho or some other item you have to keep you and your equipment dry while photographing. You'll also want to take with you some fast film in the 200 to 400 ISO range or push your 50 to 100 speed film for those times when your slower ISO films are just not fast enough to stop any action or movement.

Within easy driving of the Ft. Myers area are several great birding areas. These include Audubon Society's Corkscrew Swamp, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, and Lovers Key State Park. All of these have easy access and walking areas.

Let's start with the Audubon Society's Corkscrew Swamp located off Hwy 846 south of Naples, Fla. Corkscrew is open year round and has a wonderful two-mile boardwalk that winds through the swamp. Along the boardwalk there are out crops of pinelands, wet prairie, swamp areas with trees, stumps and plants, and small open pond areas. Corkscrew is home to the world's largest remaining subtropical old-growth bald cypress forest. There are benches and shelters along the boardwalk for you to rest or get out of the rain if a shower occurs. There are several Audubon personnel on hand to answer questions and they will help point out birds, plants, and other wildlife found along the boardwalk. The sanctuary covers over 10,000 acres.

Remember, this is a wild and wonderful place and you will need to keep your eyes open for photographic opportunities. It's not unusual to see hawks, owls, songbirds, shore birds, alligators, spiders, lizards, not to mention the various mosses and plant life.

While visiting Corkscrew be sure to check out their gift shop. They had a nice selection of gift items, books, clothes, etc. I purchased the "Florida's Wildlife Viewing Guide" book, which gave me information on the many wildlife attractions and parks in the state. Whenever I'm in a state photographing, I like to purchase these wildlife - viewing guides. These guidebooks have been helpful in determining whether I wanted to visit some of the parks or areas. The information in the guidebooks tells you about trails, type of wildlife present and if hunting is allowed, if there is an entrance fee, what facilities are available and good road directions to each of the locations.

A trip to the Ft. Myers area would not be complete without visiting Sanibel Island. Located on Sanibel is the famous Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers about 1100 acres and is home to numerous feeding birds. The refuge has a nature center and is managed by a nonprofit foundation called the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. There is a paved road that runs through the park. There is an entrance fee and the park is closed on Fridays.

Just up the road (Hwy. 41) you'll come to the Cape Coral Parkway that will takes you over the toll bridge to the town of Cape Coral. You won't find Cape Coral listed in the Wildlife Viewing Guide but it is a place you will want to visit. We found both nesting Eagles and Burrowing Owls. When you cross the bridge, stop at the welcome center and ask them how to get to a park called the racetrack. You'll actually be in a residential area. You'll want to ride around in the area and look for roped off areas for the nesting eagles and burrowing owls. The burrowing owls locations are usually some sticks stuck in the ground with tape or twine around their burrowing holes. We found the owls late in the day and the lighting was great as the late afternoon sun was setting. The owls were very cooperative and you could approach them within 50 foot. I would recommend that you use your longest lens tripod combination and if possible you get down low to photograph them at eye level.

Another place where we found several birds was behind the Holiday Inn at Ft. Myers Beach. There are two small pond areas off to the left of the parking area between the hotel and the beach. We found oyster crackers, pelicans, ibis and several other birds feeding. You can wade out into these ponds and some of the beach goers will wade across the pond on their way to the beach. If you don't mind wading around in the pond you'll be able to keep the sun and the birds at whatever angle you desire. We found the birds to be fairly tolerant of our presence. You'll also be able to get some flight shots as the birds, and especially the pelicans, fly in and out of the ponds.

On Florida's Highway 865 just south of Ft. Myers Beach is Lovers Key State Recreation Area. Here you will find numerous birds feeding and several Ospreys nesting. The park is open from 8am to sunset each day except for Christmas day. There is a small entrance fee and it's well worth the money. At low tide you'll find egrets, herons, white ibis, cormorants, spoonbills, sandpipers, kingfishers and osprey feeding. In addition, there are horseshoe crabs, coon oysters and several other live shell creatures found along the tidal areas and the beach. You can rent a canoe or kayak, if you desire, to explore some of the area. You'll find several scenic opportunities with old trees and driftwood found along the beach.

These are only a few of thirteen areas listed in the Florida Wildlife Viewing Guide within easy driving distance of the Ft. Myers area. Hopefully this will give you an idea of some of the places you can go birding while visiting this wonderful area of Florida.

Until next time, take care, travel safely and have a great time birding.

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