sb
Loc: Florida's East Coast
Cape Coral has their burrowing owl festival every February. The owls that live in Cape Coral are easy to find throughout town - the citizens have placed little wooden "T's" next to their burrows to give the owls a spot to roost, and to warn lawn service people away. So the nests are easy to spot as you drive around, and you can go online and find maps of the nests.
The Corkscrew Sanctuary is wonderful - a little bit of a drive.
If you want to brave the I-4 drive to Orlando (awful traffic) go to Gatorland. Be there early - it gets warm by 10. Gatorland has a huge rookery with a boardwalk meandering through it - February should have a lot of nesting going on. You can get literally within several feet of nesting egrets, herons, and other birds. A great opportunity for fantastic photos.
Fort DeSoto is a nice place to visit but it does have a $5.00 entrance fee per vehicle unless you have a handicap placard which allows free entrance. It really does have an old fort, there are 2 fishing piers which attract schools of dolphins among other kinds of fish, you'll get a grand view of the Skyway Bridge which should be seen on the weekends around 6:15 pm to 7:00 pm in order to capture the HUGE cruise ships passing underneath the bridge, and, of course, the fabulous sunsets that hopefully will cooperate with a vast collection of clouds, simply stunning.
Take a quick trip to St Pete on a rain day for the Chiully (mangled spelling) museum and the Dali museum. Take a trip over the bridge to Sarasota to Shelby Gardens.
Lettuce Lake Park & Zoo if you want aquatic animals. Also just completed two portrait sessions at LLP. You would never guess it was the same place.
NormanTheGr8 wrote:
Headed to the Tampa FL area to see our newest Grandson in February hoping to get time for some nature/landscape shooting in while grandma is fawning over the newborn.Hoping for birds gators etc. Any suggestions from a local would be helpful,
Just for planning purposes, sunset will happen at about 6:20 pm on February 15th, so add or subtract 1 minute for each day away from that date.
postalpm
Loc: Winter in Fl and summer in NH
Is going to Sarasota The Celery fields have a boardwalk and never disappoint for wildlife. Both sides fenerally have a biologist volunteer to help spot or identify.and its free
Crystal River is a great place to all kinds of wild life especially Manatees.
Mac
Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.
nimbushopper wrote:
There is a $2 fee!
You are correct, at the entrance. My mistake, sorry.
Head to Cortez and/or Clearwater. Both offer tons of possibilities.
The Dali museum is wonderful as a few have suggested. But they may not permit photography.
VTMatwood
Loc: Displaced Vermonta in Central New Hampsha
Two thumbs up for Lettuce Lake Park. My favorite shooting location when I visit Tampa (which I do a half dozen times a year).
Go to Floridabirdingtrail.com and it will give info on all kinds of nature parks all over Florida but it breaks it down into sections.
sb
Loc: Florida's East Coast
VTMatwood wrote:
Two thumbs up for Lettuce Lake Park. My favorite shooting location when I visit Tampa (which I do a half dozen times a year).
I have not been there, but judging from the many posts here of great photos taken there, this is an important spot I have missed! So I will give it my thumbs-up!
My wife and I enjoyed the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo...
IDguy wrote:
The Dali museum is wonderful as a few have suggested. But they may not permit photography.
They do permit photography, just not for some special exhibits........such as the Disney /Dali exhibit that was there a couple of years back. I took phoyo all over on the Dali side.
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