Wildlife
Karla Brandt
Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills in Flight
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Dinner Island’s large acreage and mix of wetlands and uplands create
outstanding wildlife viewing opportunities. Heron, egret, ibis, roseate
spoonbill and wood stork regularly congregate at ditches and wetlands.
Crested caracara and Florida sandhill cranes are easy to spot in open
pastures and prairies. Watch for the yellow flashes of the eastern
meadowlark as it perches in low shrubs in pastures. Power lines and
fence posts provide convenient perches for kestrels, loggerhead shrikes,
hawks and tree swallows. Listen for screech, barred and barn owls in the
palm and oak hammocks that also host migratory warblers in the spring
and fall. Blue-winged and green-winged teal, Florida mottled duck and
wood duck use the wetlands in the winter. White-tailed deer and wild
turkey prefer woodland edges or are attracted to clearings such as the
dove field, which is planted in a mixture of permanent grasses and
seasonal grains. Swallow-tailed kites are a spring and summer specialty
usually spotted in flight over open areas. Autumn blooms in wetlands and
roadside ditches attract numerous species of butterflies.
