Fort De Soto’s North Beach Reopens!

At long last, Fort De Soto’s North Beach has reopened!

Like the rest of the park, North Beach had been closed since Hurricane Milton struck in October 2024. Park managers have been reopening various areas of the park in stages once debris had been cleared and repairs had been made. North Beach was the last main area of the park to reopen and I know there are many birders and photographers who are as thrilled as I am to return.

The big question was, how bad was the damage?

Driving into the park, I was surprised how little damage I could detect. It looked pretty much the same, which is probably a credit to the county workers who have been working hard to clean up the park over the past few months. The parking lot at the North Beach looked exactly the same. Many of the trees I expected to be gone were still standing. The difference was evident when I walked out onto the beach. In short, there’s a lot more sand. The channel area that you would have to ford across to go to the main beach area was filled in with sand. As you turn left on the beach, the little hidden lagoon has a much larger beach area. Turning right toward Shell Key, the beach seems wider and most of the grass is gone. What little remains has been roped off to protect nesting plovers.

What about the birds?

A nesting pair of Osprey have built a nest in a short tree right at the entrance to the North Beach area. I am sure they are going to get a lot of attention.

Osprey. The bird on the left appears to be sitting on eggs, as she didn’t move when the other bird flew into the next with a fish. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 280.

Walking onto the beach and turning right, a pair of Reddish Egrets shadowed by a Red-breasted Merganser were in the lagoon. Both Reddish Egrets are in prime breeding plumage, but one in particular has vibrant blue lores. They poked around in the water for a while, but there must not have been many fish for them to catch because they didn’t do the “Reddish Egret dance” all that much.

Reddish Egrets. A Reddish Egret flying in to meet its mate in the lagoon. Both are exhibiting greeting behavior - spiked up feathers on the neck and head, and the one flying in has its bill pointed up. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 500mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 720.

Reddish Egret. This Reddish is all “spiked up” which is what they do when they fly in and greet another Reddish Egret. They also point their bills up as a greeting. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 500mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 900.

Reddish Egrets. Note the two-toned beak, bluish legs, and in the bird on the right, mauve-colored lores. Beautiful birds. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 560mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 560.

Further down the beach, the only birds I saw were Plovers. I found all four seen in Florida - the Black-bellied Plover, the Piping Plover, the Snowy Plover, and the Wilson’s Plover.

I told myself I wouldn’t get all sandy and wet on this trip. And like every trip to De Soto, that quickly went out the window as soon as I saw the Snowys. I laid right down on the beach and got soaking wet. The things we do…

Snowy Plover. Snowy letting out a big morning yawn. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 200.

Snowy Plover. This Snowy is banded, so I will be reporting it to the North American Bird Banding Program. This bird caught a tiny little crab. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, ISO 180.

Black-bellied Plover. Black bellies are still in the winter plumage. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 250.

A Brown Pelican flew in, and let me tell you, they are looking AMAZING! Just look at the breeding plumage of this fella. OMG! I need to find more pelicans soon.

Brown Pelican. In spectacular breeding plumage. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 sec, ISO 640.

My complete bird list for North Beach:

• Reddish Egret

• Red-breasted Merganser

• Snowy Plover

• Black-bellied Plover

• Piping Plover

• Wilson’s Plover

• Laughing Gull

• Brown Pelican

• Osprey

• Palm Warbler

• Loggerhead Shrike

• Northern Mockingbird

On my way out, I stopped by the Gulf Pier. I saw two Snowy Egrets and a dozen or so Ruddy Turnstones. A few Fish Crow were cawing in the parking lot. I was hoping for more beautiful Brown Pelicans, but they were not there.

I drove down to the East Beach turnaround and found that the loop is closed for traffic. Hopefully this area will reopen this spring as warblers usually turn out in large numbers in this area. I also stopped by the boat ramp to see if last year’s Great Horned Owl was nesting. I didn’t see it.

Admittedly, it was a slow morning at De Soto. It was low tide when I went, which is usually not a good time to visit (I need to remember to check the tide charts before going). Still, I was really happy to be there and got in some exercise.

I look forward to my next visit.

Happy birding!