Every state thinks that they have the greatest natural environment and the best “birding” in the country. They’re wrong, of course. Florida is clearly the best. And we have some photographic proof in this article.
We also have some really interesting courses coming up in our Fall semester. We’ll give you more information about them at the end of the article.









Pileated woodpecker



You can learn more about wildlife in Florida–and have a chance to take some photos yourself–by signing up for one–or both–of these Fall semester courses.
Liz Malyszek’s Natural Florida: Astonishing Diversity of Species and Ecosystems. It runs from October 7 through October 28 and includes a field trip.
Gail Parsons’ Know Your Florida Birds. It runs from September 24 through October 15 (4 sessions) and is an outdoors course.
Look for both of these in the Fall Course Catalog as soon as it comes out. In fact, you can see it online now and download you own copy here.
Gail Parsons is a master naturalist and Tampa native. She has served on the board of directors for the Suncoast Native Plant Society, the Tampa Audubon Society, the Florida Audubon Society and Tampa Bay Sierra Club. She is a graduate of USF College of Business (Marketing). She has been an OLLI member since 2007. She has taken, and in the past taught, technology classes for OLLI and she leads the OLLI Hiking SIG.
Wonderful photos! Thanks for reminding that Florida is a birder’s paradise.
Love the photos, Gail. Great close up shots to help us identify what we see around us. I agree, Florida has the best birding. Thank you for giving a sneak preview of upcoming Florida wildlife classes and for contributing to OLLI Connects!
Gail: Thank you! I didn’t know there was such a thing as a “glossy ibis” and now will be on the lookout for it.