Apalachicola River - Birding

[Note: for more information on the birds listed in the following account, go to the Apalachicola River - Wildlife Sampler.]

At Bloody Bluff and Gardner Landing with their bottomland hardwoods and gum-cypress communities you might observe a bald eagle or osprey over the water, wood duck (and other water fowl), wading birds, red-shouldered hawk, barred owl, swallow-tailed and Mississippi kites, hairy and pileated woodpeckers, red-eyed vireo, Acadian flycatcher, northern parula and Swainson's, prothonotary, yellow-throated, and hooded warblers.

Along Cash Creek and the tidal freshwater marsh one might observe rails, shorebirds, wading birds, and raptors. In the surrounding mesic flatwoods one might see or hear a brown-headed nuthatch, pine warbler, red-bellied woodpecker, southeastern American kestrel or perhaps even a Bachman's sparrow.

In the open bogs and wet savannas you might see wintering species such as sedge wrens or perhaps Henslow's sparrow. On the west side of the river, south of Howard Creek, the dove fields and old agricultural fields are a good place to observe swallow-tailed and Mississippi kites, and other birds of prey such as red-shouldered, red-tailed, sharp-shinned, Cooper's hawks and southeastern American kestrel. In this area biologists have also observed blue grosbeak, indigo bunting, summer and scarlet tanagers, orchard and northern orioles and many species of sparrrows and swallows.