FL location to observe Osprey? Does anyone know the location(s) in Florida to observe Osprey? I have watched the excellent Youtube videos by Mr. Mark Smith. It was mentioned that the...

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

Does anyone know the location(s) in Florida to observe Osprey? I have watched the excellent Youtube videos by Mr. Mark Smith. It was mentioned that the Osprey photos (or at least part of them) are from FL, I believe. Thanks in advance!

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

The Ding Darling preserve on Sanibel Island is a great spot. I was there one day when an Osprey had brought a fish to an observation platform and was casually picking it apart, totally ignoring the nearby humans. I have taken good shots at Lakes Park in Fort Myers as well.

hahersh Loc: Burlington, ON, Canada

Blue Cypress Lake near Vero Beach. Dozens of nesting Osprey. March, April best time to see chicks in nest.
You will have to hire someone to take you out in a pontoon boat, but it's well worth the money.

roxiemarty Loc: Florida

Almost everywhere in Florida has osprey nests. Near any water..........their nests are big, and easy to spot.

rplain1 Loc: Dayton, Oh.

Merrit Island has plenty of them. Mostly along the roads in the area. Even driving through Titusville there are a couple of nests in town. Last time I visited there was a nest very near the visitors center.

Lloyd LeZotte Loc: Gainesville, Florida

I've done some of that at Cedar Key, plus an incredibly more to photograph. Good Luck!

Lloyd A. LeZotte, M.D., Ph.D
Photographer & Scholar
4150 NW 65th Terrace
Gainesville, FL 32606

jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

Richard HZ wrote:

Does anyone know the location(s) in Florida to observe Osprey? I have watched the excellent Youtube videos by Mr. Mark Smith. It was mentioned that the Osprey photos (or at least part of them) are from FL, I believe. Thanks in advance!

Anywhere on the Saint Jones River.

ppkwhat Loc: Gibsonton, FL

Richard HZ wrote:

Does anyone know the location(s) in Florida to observe Osprey? I have watched the excellent Youtube videos by Mr. Mark Smith. It was mentioned that the Osprey photos (or at least part of them) are from FL, I believe. Thanks in advance!

Richard, in reality Osprey are all over Florida - look for piers alongside Marinas and you probably will find one. Here in the area where I live (South Tampa) the city builds square platforms on top of long telephone poles so they can build their nests and therefore they are pretty common around here. ( Ruskin, Apollo Beach area) Good Luck on your search - they are beautiful birds.

andiamo236

I have had good luck at "Honeymoon Island" on the west coast just north of Clearwater.

hcmcdole

ppkwhat wrote:

Richard, in reality Osprey are all over Florida - look for piers alongside Marinas and you probably will find one. Here in the area where I live (South Tampa) the city builds square platforms on top of long telephone poles so they can build their nests and therefore they are pretty common around here. ( Ruskin, Apollo Beach area) Good Luck on your search - they are beautiful birds.

I agree with that statement. I saw several nests when I came down to Debary every summer and the high voltage towers seemed to be a very popular nesting spot for families of ospreys.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

Osprey are plentiful in Florida. My favorite one was nesting on the drawbridge light going from Nokomis to Casey Key.

Fotoserj Loc: St calixte Qc Ca

I’ve had good shot at gatorland near Orlando, but they where a bit far for my 100-400 on the left pond as you walk across a 500 would have been better, I did manage to get a couple of great shot

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

MrBumps2U wrote:

The Ding Darling preserve on Sanibel Island is a great spot. I was there one day when an Osprey had brought a fish to an observation platform and was casually picking it apart, totally ignoring the nearby humans. I have taken good shots at Lakes Park in Fort Myers as well.

Thank you very much for the information!

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

hahersh wrote:

Blue Cypress Lake near Vero Beach. Dozens of nesting Osprey. March, April best time to see chicks in nest.
You will have to hire someone to take you out in a pontoon boat, but it's well worth the money.

Thank you very much for the information!

Richard HZ Loc: Indiana, US

roxiemarty wrote:

Almost everywhere in Florida has osprey nests. Near any water..........their nests are big, and easy to spot.

Thanks!