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Fort DeSoto County Park
Birding Hot Spot and Great Florida Birding Trail site

drawing of wildlife

Description:
This popular recreation area is located on Mullet Key, an island south of St. Petersburg. Visitors access the island via a toll bridge to see the beaches, mangroves, and hardwood hammock. There is a visitor center and a pier.

Watchable wildlife:
Because this is the first landfall for many migratory birds traveling across the Gulf of Mexico in the spring, it concentrates many birds and as a result, birders from across the country. Check with the visitor center for the best sites. Look for a tremendous influx of warblers from mid-March to mid-May. Brown pelicans, double-crested cormorants, herons, egrets, plovers, gulls, and black skimmers are here year-round.  Sea turtles nest along the beach in the summer.

Ownership:
Pinellas County

Contact:
(727) 582-2267

Directions:
In St. Petersburg, travel west on the Pinellas Bayway (54th Avenue South or Florida Highway 682).  Turn south on Florida 679 and follow signs to the park.

Related Sites:
Other West Central Florida Wildlife Sites
Florida State Parks


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