Location: Celery Fields
Trailhead (Google Plus Code): 8HG8+5H Fruitville, Florida
Hike Length: 2 miles
Time Estimate: one hour
Habitats: Wetlands
Notes: Lots of bird life! This is an easy walk around some of the best birding in Sarasota. Additionally, there are a variety of plants of interest.
- Wetlands Ecosystem – This hike includes access to a wetlands ecosystem.
- Black Vultures – Black vultures have black heads, unlike the turkey vulture’s red head, and have light tips on their black wings if viewed from below.
- Egrets – Very popular location for local egrets: snowy egret, great egret and reddish egret.
- Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk) – Identifiable by a white patch at the base of its tail, the northern harrier typically hunts while flying ten to twenty feet above the ground.
- Red-Shouldered Hawks – Florida’s most common hawk, red-shouldered hawk calls are common here and throughout the area.
- Apple Snails – Look for native and exotic apple snails underfoot. As they are popular food for Limpkins, you are unlikely to find anything other than empty shells.
- Cattle Ranch – A cattle ranch nearby will give you a chance to study local bovines and perhaps see cattle egrets.
- Roseate Spoonbills – Famously misidentified as a flamingo, the spoonbills are our local pink wading bird.
