Florida is always a reliable hotspot to see birds and other wildlife, but I hadn't been since 2013. In the past year, the state has been slammed by several hurricanes and the damage is still evident in some areas, but there was still lots to see.

Most of our stay was in the Sarasota area, but we made one long overnight trip to Key West, just because. Here's the chronology:

• Friday, Jan. 24: After visiting family in Port Charlotte and getting a snapshot of an eagle near their house, we stopped at the Venice Rookery, which I previously visited in 2008.
   
• Saturday, Jan. 25: I went up to Palma Sola Botanical Park in Brandenton, site of the this first image, an ibis. There also were a few wood storks lurking around the pond. Right across the street is the Robinson Preserve where I got some osprey flight shots. I stopped at Red Bug Slough in Sarasota on the way home but couldn't stay long.
   

 
• Sunday, Jan. 26: I went to the arboretum at Historic Spanish Point. It features Florida vegetation rather than a bunch of flowers so I really don't have any plant images. But they have a small butterfly house (next image), and there were a few woodpeckers along the trail.
   

 
• Monday, Jan. 27: We took a dolphin boat tour from Siesta Key. We did see a few dolphins and some big birds, but the tour guide seemed to think we would be most fascinated by a description of all the celebrity houses we passed along Sarasota Bay. Most of the other passengers seemed to appreciate that.
   
• Tuesday, Jan. 28: I needed a Photo of the Day for the 28th, but we got to Key West late in the day and all I got was a rooster. Like Maui, there are chickens running everywhere in Key West. (I only need three more images to complete the Photo of the Day calendar. All three days are between Feb. 26 and March 5, so the pressure will be on in a few weeks.) We roamed around downtown and found a nice Italian restaurant.
   
• Wednesday, Jan. 29: Before heading back north, we toured the Hemingway house and the neighboring Key West Lighthouse. Hemingway's house was big and comfortable, but not opulent. From what I know of him, it seems fitting. The most unusual feature is the 60 cats roaming the grounds.
   
• Thursday, Jan. 30: We went to the Ringling museums, concentrating on the circus displays. We didn't even make it over to the art gallery. There were some interesting birds on the grounds, including more ibises. After that we went in search of the Bradenton Heritage Harbour Lighthouse, which we discovered is a very nice building but not a historic lighthouse. After I took a snapshot with my little camera, I noticed there were osprey nesting on the light tower of a nearby softball field. I missed getting a flight shot as I went back to the car to get my big camera, but I got a nesting shot. It reminded me of osprey nesting at a baseball field on Cape Cod (Hyannis?) about 25 years ago.
   
• Friday, Jan. 31: On our last full day, I wanted to see the Celery Fields, an Audubon-managed site in Sarasota. We started north on the trail from the parking lot and didn't really see anything ahead of us after going a few hundred yards, so I made the executive decision to go back to the south and cross the road. It was the right move as there was a large pond there with at least one roseate spoonbill. I got only a distant image of it, but a little blue heron landed on the railing and allowed me to get some good images, including this one.
   

 
• Saturday, Feb. 1: On our way back to the airport in Tampa, we stopped at the Manatee Viewing Center operated by Tampa Electric. There were dozens of manatees and I got a few images of manatee nostrils. I also saw what was probably a shark, but didn't get an image.
   

I have three favorite spots in Florida, and we didn't make it to any of them. First is Honeymoon Island State Park near Tampa, site of my best owl and osprey images ever. The trail is still closed from hurricane damage so we didn't attempt that. Second is "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge near Fort Myers. Although it seems like it is open, it was a little out of our range and we didn't attempt it. Third is the St. Augustine Alligator Farm on the other side of the state. There is a bit of driving involved, but if you want to see wildlife in Florida, you will see an incredible selection at those three sites. Maybe next time.

From what we saw on this trip, I think Robinson Preserve and the adjacent Palma Sola would be where I would want to return to. In addition to the flying osprey, I got some of this trip's best shots of a variety of wading birds. Due to time constraints, I didn't walk as far down the trail at Robinson Preserve as I wanted to.