Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Scottwdw

Scottwdw

Member
Thanks to @Joanie Eddis-Koch who mentioned this in another thread, I checked out the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive today. It is an 11 mile well maintained dirt road through a Florida wetland. The drive changes directions so sometimes the light is good for the left side of a vehicle, sometimes the right. There are many turnoffs to either let other vehicles go by or to get out and stretch. There are hiking paths and trails which I will explore in the future.

Here's a reference link: Lake Apopka North Shore

I used a Nikon D500 dSLR camera coupled with a Nikon 80-400mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S VRII lens. With the crop factor, it goes out out to 600mm.

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Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

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Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)

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Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)

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Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

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Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)

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Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) panting to keep cool

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Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

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American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
 
giving serious thought to driving over there on the wednesday morning before pixel mania, it is only about 19 miles according to google maps and looks like a fairly easy drive

NEVER MIND, IT IS ONLY OPEN FRIDAY TO SUNDAYS
 
Yeah, it worked out for me as we moved out of WDW on Thursday to my daughter's place in Tavares.

Note, use this address for the start of the wildlife drive as it is one way: 2850 Lust Road, Apopka, FL

Chances are it will add a bit of time and distance as it did for us.
 
You could also consider a quick drive over to Gatorland during Pixelmania. They have a rookery there around the alligator breeding ponds that attracts large numbers of Florida birds at very close distances. It's very close to Disney - about 10 miles east on Osceola Parkway to 441 N. It's a walking boardwalk, and you could do fine even with a 200mm to 300mm lens there.
 
zackiedawg said:
You could also consider a quick drive over to Gatorland during Pixelmania. They have a rookery there around the alligator breeding ponds that attracts large numbers of Florida birds at very close distances. It's very close to Disney - about 10 miles east on Osceola Parkway to 441 N. It's a walking boardwalk, and you could do fine even with a 200mm to 300mm lens there.
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I’d be up for that too if others want to make it a shoulder season event...


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gator land is really starting to look good for wednesday, they open at 10, which allows plenty of time for a stroll and photograment before heading back to get readymade for the traditional meat before the meet dinner

and, there is a waffle house right on the way, we can stop at for breakfast, cheaper than disney and i like waffle house, a lot, i never ever pass up a chance to have breakfast in a waffle house on the road
 
gary said:
gator land is really starting to look good for wednesday, they open at 10, which allows plenty of time for a stroll and photograment before heading back to get readymade for the traditional meat before the meet dinner

and, there is a waffle house right on the way, we can stop at for breakfast, cheaper than disney and i like waffle house, a lot, i never ever pass up a chance to have breakfast in a waffle house on the road
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Gary, I drive out to Pennsylvania at least 1 time each year to our closest one just for the waffles, 1.5 hours away.
 
I guess I'll have to confess now...I've never been to a Waffle House. Don't have them in my town, and didn't grow up with them. Back in the early 70s, when I was going to Disney with my grandmother as a child, we always ate at a Perkin's, which was right next door to the Ramada Inn we always stayed at on 192. In my hometown, the greasy spoon local was always Denny's. I guess I may need to try a Waffle House one of these days!
 
pecan waffle, home fries, covered, smothered & scattered, coffee, nothing else needs to be said, no other words need be exchanged with the waitstaff past "how are you today hun"
 
Scottwdw said:
The Lake Apopka people sent me a message on Facebook. There is a North Shore Birding Festival there every January. Not sure how photography friendly it is as it looks to be geared to the birder side. There is also a FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/northshorebirdingfestival/
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This birding festival is January 16-20, 2020.

This might be cool Pixelmania side trip. Lake Apopka is 45 minutes North of WDW.

I am tempted to do this. The variety of migrating birds wintering over here is spectacular. It would be great to try and photograph them.

~Joanie
 
reviving this thread for a reason
i facebook followed the north shore birding festival this year so i got quite a few live updates, sometimes multiples in one day, it looks like they were able to pull it off even with masks and social distancing, since i do like birding it is something that interests me, i just might be looking to pull something together for next years, if i keep down the amount of gear i have a backpack that can hold the 200-600, the A9 body and the 1.4 tele extender, i may be able to fit in the 70-180 which gives me good range for a birding festival. unfortunately if i wanted to bring more lenses i would have to drive down as my monster tim sized photo pack is too big for flight certainty. so i may be looking for a road wife to meet up in orlando and share car and hotel costs
 
Gary - if you really want to get in a serious birding trip, you might consider heading farther south down my way. While Apopka drive is a great spot, we have wetlands spots down here that are as good, and some better, but more importantly, many different ones all within one county and no more than 45 minutes' drive - so you can hit multiple parks in a single day. The density of birds down here is astounding especially in winter/spring, the diversity of species, the heavy rookery/nesting action, migratory birds passing through in fall and spring, and the fact that we can get closer to the birds and wildlife down here than any other place in the United States. I regularly pass within 2 feet of birds who don't blink or move at all - not a care in the world...worst they might do is poop your way if you don't time it well!

The drive down isn't that much farther than Orlando - just another 2 hours or so. I'd be happy to tour you through my 'locals' - Green Cay Wetlands, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Peaceful Waters, Arthur Marshall Wildlife Refuge, and Wellington Wetlands - if you ever come down this way. Hotels shouldn't be hard to find some inexpensive choices by staying west away from the beach, you would do fine with the flying gear, and all of the parks I mentioned would be free with no entrance fee other than Arthur Marshall - and if you came with me, I have an annual pass there. You could drive to just one spot and park there, then I could drive us over to the other nearby parks. Green Cay and Wakodahatchee are just 1 mile apart, and Arthur Marshall just another 6 miles or so away. The A9 would get a serious workout with birds-in-flight - late in the afternoon, before sunset, we have thousands of birds descending from every direction, plus untold numbers flying food and nest supplies back to their islands, hunting for fish, fighting with each other, etc.

I need to do some culling soon as the gallery is bloated, but almost all of the photos here were taken in 2020 - including a majority during the pandemic. Most recent shots are first, through the past few weekends:
https://pbase.com/zackiedawg/sony_a6600&page=all

The birding/wildlife stuff is mostly with the 200-600mm G, and the 100-400mm GM.
 
well another plus is that i can fly from islip to ft lauderdale, only 1 nonstop at 12:45 but about 8 flight options a day also west palm, 2 nonstops one morning at 7:20 and 1 evening at 6;55, and about 4 other departures with either orlando or twi transfers which one is closer??
 
West Palm would be closest to all of the wetlands. Ft. Lauderdale isn't far, but WPB is definitely closer. If you looked at staying overnight, hotels in the middle to western Delray, Boynton, Lantana, Boca Raton, or Lake Worth areas, or to the west in Wellington, would all put you close enough to drive 15 minutes or less to the wetlands and could be found in the $80-120 a night range for a decent place. If you wanted to go a little more spendy, any of the beaches in Palm Beach county have tons of hotels and boutique places - Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach in the $180 and up range would all be just 10 - 20 minute drives to 3 of the main wetlands. If you stayed in one of the Boca Raton hotels near the Boca airport, you'd be a mile or so from my house, so I could provide taxi service to the wetlands. ;)
 
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