Archbold Biological Station, Highlands County, 6 April 2026 (Google Map)
Archbold Biological Station (123 Main Dr., Venus, FL) is an extraordinary scientific facility that has an international reputation for its research and conservation programs, yet is little known to many Florida residents. The core of the station comprises 8,841 acres located on central Florida's Lake Wales Ridge, a 115-mile former island archipelago where most of Florida's rare terrestrial plants and animals occur. Much of the habitat at Archbold is sand pine scrub, an ecosystem of grave conservation concern.
Our trip, unfortunately, is limited to 12 participants. The cost is $25.00 for each participant. This is the club's first trip to Archbold in many years. If demand for the trip is high, we will try to schedule a fall trip (and perhaps a spring trip) next season, with signups that prioritize those who have not attended previously. On this first trip, we will begin by being driven some distance through the scrub to an active population of Florida Scrub-Jays in order to learn about the habitat and research projects at the station. Later, we will caravan in our vehicles to Buck Island Ranch, about 15 miles by road SE, where we will board a 12-passenger swamp buggy and learn about more-sustainable ranching techniques while getting to view and photograph a much wider variety of bird species than we are likely to see in the scrub. If time allows, we will continue to Lake Istokpoga Park, which is located about 35 miles NW of Buck Island Ranch, to do some lakeside birding along a boardwalk.
Directions: Archbold Biological Station is located about 60 miles from I-75, Exit 141, FL-80 (Palm Beach Blvd). If you choose this route, head E on FL-80 about 22 miles to LaBelle. Turn left onto FL-29N/Bridge St and continue for 14 miles. Turn left onto US-27N and continue for 16.2 miles before turning left onto Hickoria Rd. Continue on Hickoria Rd for 1 mile. Then turn right onto Old FL-8/17. Follow Old FL-8 for 2.1 miles until you see the station entrance, Main Rd, on the left. Drive in slowly. When you come to a T intersection turn right and park in the lot of the Frances Archbold Hufty Learning Center, where we will gather. From Archbold to Buck Island Ranch (300 Buck Island Ranch Rd, Lake Placid): Exit the station E on Main Rd. Turn left (N) on Old FL-8 and continue for 1.9 miles. Turn right onto FL-70E and continue for 8.2 miles. Turn right onto DC Bar Rnch Rd/Jc Durrance Rd and continue for 4.1 miles. Turn right onto Buck Island Ranch Rd. Entrance is 0.1 mile, on the left. From Buck Island Ranch to Lake Istokpoga Park (127 Istokpoga Park Access Rd, Sebring): Turn left onto DC Bar Ranch Rd/Jc Durrance Rd and continue for 4.1 miles. Turn left onto FL-70 W and continue for 7.1 miles. Turn right onto US-27 N and continue for 9.8 miles. Turn right onto County Rd 17 and continue for 6.7 miles. Take a sharp right onto US-98 S and continue for 7.3 miles. Turn right onto Istokpoga Park Access Rd and continue for 0.3 miles. The parking lot is on the left.
The avian stars of the show in the Archbold scrub are Florida Scrub-Jays (our new State Songbird!), which have been studied intensively and continuously there since 1969, first by USF Professor, Glen Woolfenden (1930-2007), and more recently by other scientists, including John Fitzpatrick, Director Emeritus of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (and the former Executive Director of Archbold). In any given year, 40 visiting scientists from the U.S. and other countries conduct studies at Archbold. In addition to its ecological, taxonomic, and farming sustainability research (the latter at Buck Island Ranch), Archbold offers environmental education programs to students of all ages.
The station had its earliest beginnings in 1929 when John A. Roebling II (of the family that designed and built the Brooklyn Bridge) and his wife, Margret S. Roebling, purchased 1,058 acres of scrub in order to establish a winter estate. Work began on constructing sturdy warehouse structures that would store materials for the main house. However, Margret died in 1930, and John apparently began losing interest in the project. John's son, Donald Roebling, donated the estate in 1941 to his friend, Richard Archbold (1907-1976), an explorer and patron of the American Museum of Natural History, who, in the 1930s, led major scientific expeditions on behalf of the museum. Archbold was the grandson of John Archbold, who succeeded John Rockefeller as President of Standard Oil.
Today, the Roeblings' essentially railroad warehouse structures are modified as the modern laboratories and offices at the station. Archbold now owns and manages over 20,000 acres, since it purchased the 10,500-acre Buck Island Ranch in 2018. The more-sustainable ranching methods tested there are starting to be applied by ranchers at other localities.
eBird Summaries of the Three Sites
Users of eBird report 204 bird species from Archbold Biological Station. The most frequent iconic bird species reported in April (for our list occurring at 3X or more than the regional average), listed in order of frequency, include: Florida Scrub-Jay, Brown-headed Cowbird, Prairie Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Cooper's Hawk, and American Kestrel.
Users of eBird report 144 bird species from Buck Island Ranch. The most frequent iconic bird species reported in April (for our list occurring at 3X or more than the regional average), listed in order of frequency, include: Burrowing Owl, Crested Caracara, Savannah Sparrow, Barred Owl, Limpkin, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Western Cattle-Egret, Tree Swallow, Red-tailed Hawk, Mottled Duck, Green Heron, Loggerhead Shrike, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-shouldered Hawk, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Common Gallinule, American Crow, and Great Blue Heron.
Users of eBird report 159 bird species from Lake Istokpoga Park. The most frequent iconic bird species reported in April (for our list occurring at 3X or more than the regional average), listed in order of frequency, include: Purple Gallinule, Green Heron, Limpkin, Tricolored Heron, Osprey, Little Blue Heron, Common Gallinule, Glossy Ibis, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Swallow-tailed Kite, Bald Eagle, Wild Turkey, and White Ibis.
Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, Lee County, 13 April 2026 (Google Map)
Six-Mile Cypress (7751 Penzance Blvd, Fort Myers) is a 3,500-acre mostly wetland preserve that got its name as a cypress slough that indicated a traveler was about six miles away from Fort Myers. A slough (pronounced "slew") is a slow-moving, relatively narrow freshwater wetland, which, in Florida, is usually a narrow cypress swamp dominated by bald-cypress. Six-mile Cypress Slough is 11 miles long and 1/3 of a mile wide. Its waters drain into Estero Bay.
The Preserve was established in 1976 as a Lee County Park, largely due to the efforts of Cypress Lake High School students in Dr. Bill Hammond's 'Monday Group,' a seminar that linked environmental concerns to advocacy and action. The boardwalk opened in 1991 and currently is 1.2 miles in length. The interpretive center was completed in 2008 and received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification in 2009, apparently as the first 'green building' in Lee and Collier Counties. The interpretative center is closed on Mondays but modern restroom facilities also are available at the boardwalk trailhead. Parking availability can be a problem at Six-mile Cypress, especially on the weekends. Parking is $1.00/hour or $5.00/day, payable at a kiosk in the parking lot, unless you have a Lee County Parks Annual Parking Pass ($60.00).
Users of eBird report 222 bird species from the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. The most frequent iconic bird species reported in April (for our list occurring at 4X or more than the regional average), listed in order of frequency, include: Tufted Titmouse, Barred Owl, Wood Duck, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black-crowned Night Heron, Louisiana Waterthrush, Downy Woodpecker, Black-throated Green Warbler, Hairy Woodpecker, Limpkin, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Parula, Wood Stork, Short-tailed Hawk, Black-and-white Warbler, and Carolina Wren.
Fort De Soto Park, Pinellas County, 20 April 2026 (Google Map)
Fort De Soto Park is a Pinellas County Park located about 115 miles by road NW of Exit 141 (Palm Beach Blvd) on I-75. It is about a two-hour drive under optimal traffic conditions. The park was established in 1962 and comprises about 1,100 acres that include a Spanish-American War era fort that was active from 1898-1910. The park has five different barrier islands with beautiful beaches and is known to birders especially for its shorebirds and for its avian migrants and occasional vagrants. In 2025, members of the CBC got good looks at Golden-winged, Blue-winged, and Worm-eating Warblers. In 2024, we were treated to a Piratic Flycatcher from South America that really put on a show. Parking is $6.00/day plus a $0.35 fee (payable with a cell phone at a lot kiosk) and the park has modern restroom facilities at various locations.
Directions: We are meeting at Bay Fishing Pier Parking (Fort De Soto Park, Pinellas Bayway S, St. Petersburg). The fastest route involves a Sunshine SkyWay Bridge toll of $1.75 plus $2.50 administrative fee for toll-by-plate ($1.16 total for SunPass or accepted equivalent) each way. Take I-75 N to Exit 228 (right two lanes) for I-275 N toward St. Petersburg for 1.1 miles. Continue onto I-275 N for 16.3 miles. Use the left lane to take Exit 17 for FL-682 W/US-19 N toward Pinellas Bayway/St Pete Beach for 0.3 miles. Follow FL-682 for 9.8 miles to the destination (turn left at the final 'T').
Users of eBird report 355 bird species from Fort De Soto Park. The most frequent iconic bird species reported in April (for our list occurring at 3X or more than the regional average), listed in order of frequency, include: Western Kingbird, Eastern Warbling Vireo, Pomarine Jaeger, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Nashville Warbler, Black-whiskered Vireo, Snowy Plover, Wilson's Plover, Common Tern, and Baltimore Oriole.