There is actually guite a few places in Florida where these birds can be found. Anywhere there is an ample supply of apple snails there is usually some of these bids. I’ve obtained pretty good results in three different places - Loxahatchee NWR near Miami, Harn’s Marsh near Lehigh Acres and Mitch Grissom Wetlands (formerly Viera Wetlands) near Brevard. There are probably others that I haven’t been to. But since you “home-base” is mid-Florida on the west coast Harn’s would be worth a try. We usually stayed at Fort Myers and the drive out to the Marsh was about 20 minutes or so. Best of luck with your endeavour.

LittleRed (Ron)

PS - try and catch them hunting as they will hover making a BIF at whole lot easier