Mary White Loc: Port St Lucie, Florida

Merritt Island's BioLab Road has been busy with wading birds this season, including roseate spoonbills. There is now a day fee of $10 for this area. There is a great horned owl nest along the main road, and the scrub jays are active beside the ranger station in the early morning. Blackpoint Wildlife Drive is usually a good place to see reddish egrets feeding, but lately I've only seen one. BlackPoint Wildlife Drive is quieter than usual, but still productive from a photography standpoint. Most of the waterfowl are already gone except for the coots. The visitor center puts out feeders that attract painted buntings when the red-winged blackbirds are not there. Gatorland in Kissimmee should be good right now with courting, nesting of waders, storks, herons, cattle egrets, and ibis. Spoonbills visit and roost, but so far do not nest there. It's early in the nesting season for Gatorland but it will still be quite good. Turtles, gators, resident ducks, emus, and the leucistic alligators. There is a resident area for flamingoes as well. If you can do a day at Merritt Island, AND another day at Gatorland, it will be well worth it! If you have more time, consider traveling to Viera Wetlands (Viera), or Boynton Beach to Wakodahatchee Wetlands and/or Green Cay Wetlands. All are very active right now, and at Wako the nests are close to the boardwalk. There you may also see storks, glossy ibis, swamphen, gallinules, warblers, osprey, and more.

rplain1 Loc: Dayton, Oh.

Merritt Island is one of my favorites but it is a bit late for them now - best in Dec-early Feb. Might start picking up with songbirds soon.

sergio

we were there in December and it was very good.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Most (probably all) of the NWR center's visitor logs include what was seen, when and where. Frequently the spot is referenced by map grid.

Note: Happy to say I got my Senior Pass before the price went up last year. Even at the current $70 (I think) this is a life time pass worth the price!

OllieFCR

I went both morning and afternoon for two days. Good luck in morning and bad luck in afternoon, although Roseates were only there in afternoon.

SafariGuy

My wife and I were at Merritt Island less than two weeks ago and were VERY disappointed with the amount of 'available' birds to shoot...however the Viera Wetlands...near Melbourne, FL, which is south of Merritt Island, had a tremendous amount of birds...with numerous of the Palm Trees serving as nest areas...we were very happy with the images we were able to capture.

SafariGuy

What rvhowdy said!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Mary, thanks so much for your comprehensive report !

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TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

If you also like to film alligators, Merrit Island has a plethora once you learn to recognize them (eyes and snouts just above the water), but you do need to pay attention when walking - encountered the largest rattlesnake I’ve ever seen in Fla there. It wasn’t aggressive, but seemingly not afraid either.

Dalek Loc: Detroit, Miami, Goffstown

Was at gatorland yesterday. They let Photographers stay after the 5:00pm closing. It was great. LOTS of nests and nest building. Lots of eggs. Some babies. Should be fantastic in the next few weeks.
ps lots of gators. Take a bag of chopped up hotdogs and the gators go wild for a free treat. They also sell them in the park. I like to bring some extras. The really big gators like kosher dogs.
Good shooting

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Who knew (really big) gators were Jewish?

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

The following book is very comprehensive.
Florida Birding by Mark Smith. ISBN 13:978-1546409076

98corvette Loc: Macon, Georgia

Was there Tuesday March 7th. It was a waste of the $10.00 to get in. I had driven 435 miles to waste the money. Last year was the same thing, no water. Three years ago Jan. it was a birders paradise.
Also took in Viera Wetlands down the road 30 miles. Very few birds, mostly boat tail crackles, a few herons. Was there at 6:45 in the morning. Got a nice shot of a doe.

Left south Florida and headed to the Alligator Farm in St Augustine. That had a great rookery with plenty of white herons, egrets, wood storks, spoon bills, and alligators.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I have not been to Merritt or Viera this year - But the reports are not good IMO - especially relative to prior years - same goes for Wako and Green Cay BTW ! - still your best options - but the expectations must come down. So, is it climate change? the hurricane? or some other anomaly ? ?

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Mary White Loc: Port St Lucie, Florida

This is dependent on a variety of things. Water levels are probably the number one criteria; if the water levels are too high, the wading birds cannot forage for food. Food supply may be less abundant, or not accessible except for the waterfowl. Some of the roads have been closed due to storm damage - i.e., Gator Creek and Peacock Pocket. Pumphouse Road is open at the entrance point for a very short distance. This year the waders are congregating near the south section of BioLab Road, which is a two-way drive, but ends not far into it. The main entrance to BioLab Road is by the north boat ramp area. It is one-way. Yes, the numbers are lower this year, but just two weeks ago, I felt I had a successful trip there with enough to photograph to make it worth the trip for me. I photographed waders feeding in a frenzy (including spoonbills) at BioLab Road, a pair of turkey cultures mating (also on BioLab), the great-horned owl nest, scrub jays, snowy egret, little blue heron, and tri-colored herons on Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, red-winged blackbirds everywhere, kingfishers, terns and even a skimmer. I drove Blackpoint first, then went to BioLab Road, then the visitor center, and back to Blackpoint. This was followed by a stopover at Viera Wetlands to check out the great blue heron hatchlings. There is one nest there with triplets. My idea of a successful day of photography. Imagemeister, are you game? I'm ready to go there again!