There’s place in Lake County on the eastern side of Lake Griffin called Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area, and it’s a place I have been going to photograph endangered Snail Kites.
I’m not scientist — let’s make that clear from the start. But I am avid nature observer and bird lover. Since I starting visiting Emeralda back in the fall, there appear to be more Snail Kites hunting in that area. And among the Kites there now are some banded ones I had not previously seen.
Back in January, Audubon released an interesting report titled, “Snail Kite Population Showing Strain in Dry Years.” Since the kites feed on Apple Snails, those snails need water to reproduce. If there’s not enough water, there’s not enough snails and not enough food for Snail Kites. With very dry springs in 2024 and ’25, Audubon said it found only 30 successful Snail Kite nests in the entire state in 2025.
Fast forward to 2026. Florida is again in the midst of a serious drought. One place in the Kites’ historic range that is lowest on the drought index is Central Florida, which includes Lake County near Emeralda. Maybe the Snail Kites are migrating farther up the peninsula looking for Apple Snails — and finding them at Emeralda?
Hopefully, someone with proper training and credentials will look into this hypothesis. But for now, I’m just happy to have more Snail Kites to photograph. Here are some from recent trips to Emeralda.
