Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West delivers on birding promise
Roger Simmons,
On our recent Keys trip, I decided to revisit Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West.
My wife and I had visited it years ago, but that was before I got into birding and discovered the park’s website page that said, “Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park is proud to be a part of the Great Florida Birding Trail. Come see the fall and spring bird migrations.”
Boy, did I see migrating birds.
I spent more than an hour walking around the park and coming across many birds, including lots of warblers plus some birds of prey.
But it was while walking back to our car that I hit a birding bonanza of new-to-me birds, which were feasting on ripe seagrapes from the parking lot trees. The Black-throated Green Warbler, Cape May Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler were all there fueling up.
Overall, the variety of birds at the park was very impressive. See for yourself:
Black-throated Green Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Black-throated Green Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Black-throated Green Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Black-throated Green Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Black-throated Green Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Female Cape May Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Male Cape May Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Male Cape May Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Tennessee Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Tennessee Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Northern Harrier, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Northern Harrier, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Female Blue Grosbeak, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Male Common Yellowthroat warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Female Common Yellow-throat warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Black-and-white Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Black-and-white Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.American Redstart, Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West, October 2024.Female American Redstart, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Male American Redstart, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Immature male American Redstart, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Northern Parula, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Northern Parula, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Prairie Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Laughing Gull, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Young Laughing Gull, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Orange-crowned Warbler, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.A white Rock Pigeon, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.Magnificent Frigatebird, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, October 2024.
I visited Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive this past Sunday knowing I would see a lot of different birds there but hoping to see one kind in particular: Barn Swallows.