cosmo54 Loc: Easton, PA but will travel for photos

I usually stay near Melbourne (near mom) and travel around from there (Merritt Island, Circle B Bar, etc). This year I have a weekend to myself (after Christmas), and I'm thinking I'd like to explore the other side of the state.

I only have from Saturday morning till Monday afternoon, so I want to get a hotel for 2 nights and travel around from that base. I was thinking Fort Meyers area? I'm looking for ideas/suggestions on where I can go for wildlife (burrowing owls would be great, or eagles, or just about any birds).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :-)

and I'm not tied to that particular area, its just that I have a limited amount of time and I'll be coming from the Melbourne area.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

In the Naples area the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp is a great place. It has a nice boardwalk through the swamp. The Naples Botanical Gardens is also very nice, though there is no wildlife there.

donrent Loc: Punta Gorda , Fl

Naples would by far be the best for a camera bug, but make sure you take plenty of moola....

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

Cork Screw is great if you like boardwalks and cypress trees, make for good landscape shots. A few resident owls if you can spot them. Call ahead and see when and if the wood storks are breeding this year, the only Real birding reason to go. If your first in line and no noisy kids or family passes you, then you have a chance. But Landscapes are Good.. The burrowing Owls are in Cape Coral and Macro Island. Marco you will get run out from folks parking on the street, they are not friendly when it comes to birders. In Cape Coral you have a much better chance, but they have all but taken down the markers to the barrows. You use to be able to drive thru the neighborhoods and spot real easy, much more difficult now and you would do better to call ahead to any local group and see if someone could show you around.
If it were me, I would do Ding Darling Park in Ft Myers for your Best chance at birding. Anything and everything can show up, But you must go at Low Tide as that's when the birds are feeding in the shallows Next to the road thru the park.. Great birding at low tide. Call ahead to the Park and make sure they are not messing with the roads and everything is open. Remember. Low tide.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Everglades City, and the road to it, are crammed with photo op's.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

My suggestion would be Little Estero in Ft Myers Beach.
http://www.islandsandpaper.com/little-estero-island.aspx

If you want the best of both worlds stay at the Wyndham in Ft Myers Beach

Wyndham Garden Fort Myers Beach
6890 Estero Blvd Fort Myers Beach FL 33931
Phone: ‎1-800-291-9434‎
and you can walk from the Hotel to Little Estero which entrance is next door.
I would also take a trip down 41 to Clyde Butchers place. He is the Ansel Adams of the Everglades.

http://www.clydebutchersbigcypressgallery.com/directions

I did that trip last year and plan to do it again in December. Hope that helps.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

Nice note, and the link is particularly descriptive.
Thank you.

cosmo54 Loc: Easton, PA but will travel for photos

Thanks everyone! I will check these all out. Still have lots of time to decide what to do.

Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

One of the best birding spot I know of in the area is the Venice Rookery. http://veniceaudubon.org/rookery

Best time to visit is early morning until around 10am. Then if you want to see eagles, take 75 north for 10 minutes to Sarasota County Land Fill (which is a polite way of saying the "dump."
No joke - one of the very best locations in the area to see eagles (and hawks, storks, spoonbills and too many other birds to mention and alligators too.)

revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

Ditto these suggestions. Naples also has a great zoo.

Elliern Loc: Myrtle Beach, SC

What about Sanibel and Captiva? Plannning a trip to Tampain February. Have not been to Sanibel or Ft Myers area in several years. Used to be good birding areas

insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida

Don't miss Lake Trafford for wildlife.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Most of Fort Myers Beach is Sodom and Gomorrah with drunken hormone-poisoned teens falling all over the streets 24/7 unless you head to the south end. If you insist, go to the island from the south on Bonita Beach Road (south of Fort Myers considerably) because that's where you'd want to be for nature photography anyway. I-75 to the Bonita Beach exit, go west until it runs out of road, curve right and keep right on going for miles. You end up at Fort Myers Beach but you'll have plenty of places to check out before you even get there.

It many times take you an hour to get there during the day over the big bridge from Fort Myers at the north end of the island so don't bother. Plus there's major road construction going on at that end of the island (stupid to do this during season instead of the summer) right now that causes even more delays. Although they stop the construction early on Friday afternoons, the road is still tore up and causes delays anyway. During Spring Break months it's not uncommon to sit for 1.5 hours to go 3 miles if entering from Fort Myers.

As a matter of fact, Bonita Springs would likely be a perfect location for your hotel because it's equal distance to Fort Myers and Naples from there, hotel prices aren't as high as Naples, and the neighborhood is better than much of South Fort Myers. I run up and down this area every weekday on I-75 and US-41 both.

Look at Sanibel Island and Captiva Island near Fort Myers which are tied together and accessed by one bridge for a $6 toll. SunPass works there if you have that. There's the Naples Zoo in Naples (of course) for wildlife including a butterfly exhibit that a friend of mine goes to a lot. Marco Island is south of Naples. It is very Big Money residential ($1M for a small lot on a canal?) but a really nice visit with beaches, etc. Lots of open country, wildlife, and wetlands on the way out there too. Some Marco beaches are private but some are not. There's also an alligator zoo type place on Alligator Alley which is where I-75 turns east, becomes a toll road, and goes toward Miami from just south of Naples. It's not really I-75 but they're renamed it as that for some reason.

North of Fort Myers about 25 miles is Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda. There's a Port Charlotte Harbor and a whole bunch of islands along the coast, some accessible by car and some not. Those are quiet, peaceful areas for those who want to walk the beach and see various birds dropping by.

I see a lot that people want to come to this area for nature photography but it's not like you can drive over here, and birds start landing on your hood and animals are standing there posing while waiting for you to show up. The area gets it's reputation because of people who live here half the year every year, for example at Sanibel Island, and have the time to roam for season after season, year after year, to get a nice shot or two here and there over a long period of time.

While it may be an enjoyable 2 day weekend, don't be disappointed if you don't find the nature depth that you're looking for in that short of a time. You can see nothing but a snake crossing the road for weeks and then suddenly there's a flamingo watching you go by or a 10 foot 'gator in a gated community home backyard with a couple French Poodles in it's belly. Florida just allowed 300 black bears to be murdered because they were inconvenient to residents.

With all the people here moving at 90 mph in 70 mph zones and running into each other with their eyeballs bugged out with stress, the wildlife thinks we're nuts and keep to themselves far away from the crazies.

Good luck on your visit. You'll like it whether you see a lot of nature or not.