This morning a photographer friend and I visited Prairie Creek Preserve.  This land was recently purchased by Charlotte County and was opened to the public about a week ago.  The entrance to the area is off of US17, about ½ mile north of Washington Loop Road, directly across Palm Shores Blvd.  When you turn right off of US17 there is a gate that looks like it is locked.  It’s not; however, you must open the gate and close it after passing through.  

The gravel road you will be traveling on is about five miles long.  For the first three miles, there are fences on both sides.  We noticed a lot of birds, such as Grackles, Doves, Savannah Sparrows, Loggerhead Shrikes, Palm Warblers, and a few Eastern Phoebes, along this stretch.  After about three miles, you will enter the County land, which is marked by a sign.  Further along the road, we found Scrub Jays, Vultures, and a Bald Eagle.  The gravel road ends near a hunter’s shack.  The road then splits; if one goes to the right you will come to Prairie Creek.  We walked a portion of this road and noticed a lot of butterflies.  I even saw a Dorantes Longtail, a first for me.

While spending a week at a vacation resort in Kissimmee, I went over to Kaliga Park in St. Cloud.  This park is located at the south end of East Lake Tohopekaliga.  Although the day was sunny, there were 15-20 mph wind gusts from the north, which made the south end of the lake quite rough.  I walked the path along the lake for about 0.5 mile.  I was hoping to see a Snail Kite, and by golly I saw one on the walk back.  The time of day was 11:30 am to 1:00 pm.  Following is my ebird report.

During our week visit to the Kissimmee, I also visited Brinson Park in Kissimmee.  This Park is located on the south side of Lake Tohopekaliga and is adjacent to the Lakeshore Park.  I walked the path adjacent to the lake for about a mile.  There were a lot of water birds further out, but because of the bright sun, they were hard to identify.  So, I just tallied the ones close to shore that I could positively id.  Following is the eBird report I submitted.

We visited our daughter and her husband in Lakeland for Thanksgiving.  They live about 15 minutes from the Circle B Bar Reserve, so I decided to visit there Friday morning.  I arrived around 7:30 and walked the trails for the next three hours.  The Reserve just reopened a couple of weeks ago after some great renovations.  There is now a paved road that goes close to the marshes, so you don’t have to walk there.  Polk County built four buildings near the marshes, a Visitor’s Center, classroom, inner workshop, and outer workshop.  They also established some great walking trails through and around the marshes.  The marshes were very birdy with all sorts of wading birds and ducks. I even saw several Otters.  Following is a list of my observations that I submitted to eBird.  I walked a 3-mile loop that went through and around the marshes.  There are other trails that I didn’t explore yet, but hope to in the future.  This is a really great place for birders and photographers.