Sanctuary Sightings

Visitors and staff observe flora and fauna from the boardwalk on a daily basis. Below are some of the highlights reported since April 21, 2026.

To find out what to expect in a particular season, check out our Seasonal Nature Viewing Opportunities page. 

Birds:
Anhinga    
Common Gallinule
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tri-colored Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Swallow-tailed Kite
Red-shouldered Hawk
Limpkin    
Mourning Dove
Common Ground Dove
Barred Owl and owlets
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay    
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Painted Bunting
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle

Butterflies:
Viceroy
Giant Swallowtail
Palamedes Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Brazilian Skipper
White Peacock
Twin-spotted Skipper
Ruddy Daggerwing
Cloudless Sulphur
Zebra Longwing
Gulf Fritillary

Other Invertebrates:
Click Beetle
Dragonflies
Damselflies
Grasshoppers
Apple Snails
Okeefenokee Fishing Spider
Six-spotted Fishing Spider
Whirlygig Beetle

Reptiles and Amphibians:
Red-bellied Cooter
Peninsula Cooter
Greenhouse Frog
Southeastern Five-lined Skink
Banded Water Snake
Southern Leopard Frog
Carolina Green Anole
Cuban Brown Anole
American Alligator 
Pig Frog
Green Treefrog
Cuban Tree Treefrog

Mammals:
River Otter
White-tailed Deer
Raccoon
Gray Squirrel

Blooming Plants:
Creeping Cucumber (Melothria pendula) 
Turkey Tangle Fogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) 
Pineland Heliotrope (Euploca polyphylla) 
Marsh Fleabane/ Rosy Camphorweed (Pluchea baccharis) 
Winged Loosestrife (Lythrum alatum) 
Pond Apple (Annona glabra) 
Moonflowers; Tropical White Morning-Glory (Ipomoea alba) 
Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) 
Mock Bishopsweed (Ptilimnium capillaceum) 
Pale Meadowbeauty (Rhexia mariana) 
Hairy Indigo (Indigofera hirsute) 
Florida Bellflower (Campanula floridana)
Tickseed  (Coreopsis leavenworthi)
Nuttall's Thistle (Cirsium nuttallii)
Thickleaf Wild Petunia (Ruellia succulenta)
Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens)
Earleaf Greenbrier  (Smilax auriculata)
Dahoon Holly (Ilex cassine)
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
Climbing Aster (Symphyotrichum carolinianum)
Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Chapman’s Arrowhead (Sagittaria graminea var. chapmanii)
Northern Needleleaf (Tillandsia balbisiana)
Cardinal Airplant (Tillandsia fasciculata)
Oakleaf Fleabane (Erigeron quercifolius)
Coastalplain St.John's-Wort (Hypericum Brachyphyllum)
Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Swamp Lily  (Crinum americanum)
Lanceleaf Arrowhead  (Sagittaria lancifolia)
Beggartick  (Bidens alba)
Dingy Flowered Star Orchid (Epidendrum anceps or amphistomum)
Delicate Ionopsis Orchid (Ionopsis utricularioides)
Fourpetal St. John's-Wort  (Hypericum tetrapetalum)
Fourleaf Vetch (Vicia acutifolia)

Want more info?

Find more sightings, or report your own on our Facebook page, YouTube, or iNaturalist!