Possum Long Nature Center. Forested 8-acre Audubon office property in Stuart; nature trails; cardinals, Red-bellied Woodpecker, nesting yellow-crowned night heron, migrants, native and exotic plants. Located between East Ocean Blvd and 7th Street, on Palm Beach Road in Stuart. Free; open dawn to dusk; guided tours are available by appointment. Level of Difficulty: Easy, 1-4 hrs, fall-winter-spring. (772) 288-2637. more

St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park. Oceanfront at North end of Jupiter Island, remote, accessible only by boat or 3-mile walk from Hobe Sound NWR; gulls, terns, shorebirds. Level of difficulty: Med-Difficult, 4-8+ hrs, year-round. more

Seabranch Preserve State Park. + 900-acres of upland sand pine scrub, flatwoods & wetland forest East of State Road A1A, South of Cove Road and bordering the Indian River Lagoon, Port Salerno; scrub jays, warblers, hawks. Level of Difficulty: Med, 2-4 hours, no fee, fall-spring. more

Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge. + 980 acres, composed of a mainland parcel, of sand pine and scrub on ancient sanddunes, where offices and an education center are located on U.S. Hwy 1 South of Hobe Sound and a beach parcel. The beach is accessible by car at the North end of Beach Road on Jupiter Island; gulls, terns, shorebirds, migrants. Level of Difficulty: Med, 2-8 hrs, year-round, fee. more

Blowing Rocks Preserve 67-acre Nature Conservancy property on Jupiter Island; gulls, shorebirds, terns, passerines, including migrants in hammock areas West of Beach Road; very limited parking. Level of Difficulty: Easy, 1-4 hrs, year-round, fee. more

Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie Inlet and Causeways. Mangrove-lined shorelines, islands in Indian River Lagoon and sandbars are accessible primarily by boat. Causeways and bridges across Indian River Lagoon are easily accessible; wading birds, gulls, terns and shorbirds. Level of Difficulty: Easy, 1-4 hrs, year-round. more

Savannas Preserve State Park. Located in Martin and St. Lucie Countys, this long, narrow + 5,000-acre network of wetlands and uplands is located West of Indian River Drive and East of U.S. Hwy 1, extending from Jensen Beach Blvd North to Ft. Pierce. Access is via Walton Road of Indian River Drive; Wading birds, waterfowl, raptor, woodpeckers. Savannas Preserve State Park has on the the few remaing natural savannas left in the the state. Level of Difficulty: Med-Diffficult; ADA accesssible, 4-8 hrs, year-round. Contact preserve office: (772) 398-2779. Canoeing and kayaking opportunities available. A St. Lucie County Park, which charges a nominal entrace fee, is accessible off Midway Road. Heron, egrets and moorhens are common, with occasional sightings of snail kites, sandhill cranes, rails and purple gallinule. more

All Local Beaches. Numerous public beach access locations along barrier islands, include Bathtub Beach near S. end of Hutchinson Island; heron, gulls, terns, sanderlings & plovers. Level of Difficulty: Easy, 1-4 hrs, year-round. The entire shoreline of Martin County offers good birding, with the best areas being the remote sections of St. Lucie Inlet State Preserve. The best birding occurs from September to April while the shorebirds are most abundant. Sanderlings, ruddy turnstones, black-bellied plovers and willets are numerous as are various gulls and terns.

Shepard Park. Small City of Stuart park overlooking the St. Lucie River; wading birds. Located a the west end of Ocean Blvd., where it dead-ends at the St. Lucie River. The herons, egrets and others that are there are quite tolerant of people, so you can get good views. Level of Difficulty: Easy, 1 hr, year-round (A picturesque setting at sunset.)

Jonathan Dickinson State Park. 11,480-acres of flatwoods & scrub; nature trails, observation tower, access to the nationally designated "Wild and Scenic" Loxahatchee River; scrub-jays, bald eagles, waders, ospreys, cardinals, raptors, woodpeckers, migrants. Med-Difficult, 2-8 hrs, year-roung, fee. Located on the west side of U.s. 1, between Hobe Sound and Tequesta. The variety of habitats present in the park (sand pine scrub, pine fltwoods, isolated herbaceous wetlands, cypress and mangrove lined banks of the Loxahatchee River) provide habitat for a wide variety of bird species. Habitat restoration, the use of intentional fires, is ongoing. Good park vistas are available from the observation tower atop "Hobe Mountain:. Level of Difficulty: Easy-Difficult, Contact phone: (772) 546-2771. more and more

Pal-Mar and Hungry Land. Thousands of acres of low flat wood and wetlands; accessible off West Indiantown Road in Palm Beach County and from the roadside along SR 711 in Martin County; waders, raptors, migrants. Level of Difficulty: Moderate-Difficult, 2-8 hrs, winter-spring. more

DuPuis Management Area. Approximately 22,000 acre mosaic of pine flatwoods and wetlands which straddles the Palm Beach and Martin County line; hiking and equestrian trails; woodpeckers, raptors (eagles), wading birds. I-95 to Exit 101 (Stuart Indiantown Rt 76) go west on Rt 76 for 12 + miles (West of Rt 710 overpass bridge) to the Visitor' Center entrance at Gate 5. Contact their offices for information on the new auto accessible trail. Level of Difficulty: Easy-Med (800) 432-2045 x 3339. more and more

Lake Okeechobee. Florida's largest freshwater lake is Martin County's Western boundary; accessible from U.S. Hwy 441 North of SR 76 at Port Mayaca; waders, gulls terns, white pelicans (winter). Level of Difficulty: Easy, 1-4 hrs, fall-winter-spring. more

Jensen Beach Causeway. The north side of the causeway, between the draw span and the west shore and on the south side near the west relief bridge are excellent areas to observe herons, egrets, gulls, pelicans and terns. It offers something of interest throughout the year, and is best at low tides. (Look for oystercatchers behind the "Snook Nook" bait shop). This site is temporarily closed until the bridge repair work is completed.

Hawk's Hammock. + 430-acre wilderness tract of pine-palmetto flatwoods and herbaceous wetlands. Located west of Palm City, on the north side of Markel St. (approx 2 miles est of 84th St. (a.k.a. SR 76 A, Loop Rd., and Citrus Blvd.). Hiking and equestrian trails. Woodpeckers, towhees, quail, nighthawks (summer). Level of Difficulty: Moderate (no facilities), 1-4 hrs. Trails may be wet and/or underwater during the rainy season. For accesss, call Martin County (772) 288-5476 in advance. location map

Allapattah Flats. The Allapattah Flats hiking and bicycling trailhead on County Road 714 was dedicated for public use. The trailhead was developed in partnership with Martin, County. Visitors may hike or bike along a 1.5- mile long "user-friendly" shellrock road leading to a panoramic open vista of marsh that wading birds frequent. There are separate trails for horseback riding. You might see an alligator or two, but they are not here in great numbers. arial photo and map