Fort De Soto

Fort De Soto
Description

Fort De Soto is incredible for bird photography! My favorite time to go is in the spring, when the birds are in their breeding colors, and around September, when the terns congregate prior to migrating. The entire park is good for birding, but my favorite places are North Beach, the East Beach Turnaround, and the Mulberry bush area and East Beach woods (for migrating birds).

 

Photography Advice

Take every lens you can carry! I use my long lens for bird portraits and far-off rarities, my intermediate telephoto for flight shots, and my wide-angle for landscapes.

Fort De Soto is one of those rare places where you can photograph both sunrise and sunset over the ocean!

Check the website for road closures before you go!

When to GoYear Round
Species Photographed (76)American Avocet, American Oystercatcher, American Redstart, Baltimore Oriole, Barn Swallow, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black Skimmer, Black-Bellied Plover, Black-Crowned Night-Heron, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-hooded Parakeet, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Brown Pelican, Cape May Warbler, Common Ground-Dove, Common Loon, Common Merganser, Common Tern, Dunlin, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, European Starling, Fish Crow, Forster's Tern, Gray Catbird, Great Blue Heron, Hermit Thrush, Herring Gull, Indigo Bunting, Laughing Gull, Least Sandpiper, Least Tern, Little Blue Heron, Louisiana Waterthrush, Magnificent Frigatebird, Magnolia Warbler, Marbled Godwit, Nanday Parakeet, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Orchard Oriole, Osprey, Painted Bunting, Palm Warbler, Piping Plover, Red Knot, Red-Breasted Merganser, Red-Eyed Vireo, Red-Winged Blackbird, Reddish Egret, Ring-Billed Gull, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Roseate Spoonbill, Royal Tern, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Sandhill Crane, Sandwich Tern, Scarlet Tanager, Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-Billed Dowitcher, Snowy Egret, Snowy Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Summer Tanager, Tennessee Warbler, Western Sandpiper, Whimbrel, White Ibis, Willet, Wilson's Plover, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-Throated Vireo
Websitehttp://www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_ft_desoto.htm
eBirdhttps://ebird.org/hotspot/L127332
Google MapClick here to view Google Map
Trail MapNone
Royal Terns

Royal Tern Courtship

May 1, 2023 - Royal tern courtship is one reason I love to photograph at Fort De Soto in mid-April. Lots of fish, nagging females, and "piggy-back" rides!

Least Tern Feeding Babies

Least Tern Babies!!

August 3, 2021 - A beautiful morning on the beach photographing cute Least Tern babies. Such excitement when the parents brought in fish for breakfast!