2 Birding HOTSPOTS in Florida: Ding Darling and Sweetwater Wetland Preserve
On our way home from visiting a customer in Naples, we stopped at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.
We visited Sanibel Island with our girls in 2012, our first full year of full-time RVing, but were looking for shells instead of birds. Taking the advice of YouTuber, Follow Thomas, we decided to check out the Refuge. We visited the Refuge at the wrong time of day and even year to see a lot of different species (we only logged 7 species on eBird) of birds but the day did not disappoint. The wildflowers of the Refuge were in full bloom and there were a lot of lizards.
The tram ride was definitely worth the time and money. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot about the Refuge. The best part of the day was spotting several manatees.
The day after we visited the Refuge, we met up with a friend in Gainesville to spend the morning at Sweetwater Wetland Preserve. It is a gorgeous place. Again, we were told we weren’t there at the right time of year but we were impressed that we were able to log 22 species of birds and 336 individuals on eBird. In addition to the birds, there were a lot of alligators and interesting insects. The wildflowers were beyond beautiful.