National Audubon Society

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Boardwalk. Photo by Arnold Collens

We Are Opening! Registration is Required.

Great News! Starting October 3, we will be open to the public with our new hours, Wednesday - Sunday from 7 a.m. - 1 p.m. with the last admission at noon. We are closed Monday and Tuesday. All visitors must pre-register – no walk-ins, please. Find all of our reopening procedures and registration details at this link.

We appreciate your support and patience while we have been closed and we are so excited to welcome you back. We will continue to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in Collier County and the world and are committed to protecting our visitors, volunteers, and staff from the novel coronavirus.Find all of our reopening procedures and registration details at this link.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Boardwalk. Photo by Arnold Collens

Our Nature Store is Now Online!

Your purchase from our Nature Store is a great way to enjoy Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary away from home. Proceeds from all store purchases go toward the protection and restoration of the Sanctuary and our educational programs. Some of the merchandise is locally made or Fair Trade. Now online, the Nature Store is open every day of the year, with new merchandise continuously being added.

Shop online now!

Nature Store items

Lunch and Learn: Finding Fluorescence and Past Webinars Online

Join our Lunch and Learn series on Oct. 15 to hear Florida State University Ph.D. student Courtney Whitcher discuss the glowing world that surrounds us. Her talk will cover her studies of biofluorescent frogs, the Finding Fluorescence resource, and the community science project she created. The best part? Her many photographs of glowing organisms. Find out more about biofluorescence and how you can illuminate the unseen in your own backyard.

If you weren’t able to join us for “Ghost Orchids of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary,” you can find it on our YouTube page.

Audubon Florida hosted another webinar recently. Doug Tallamy, the author of Bringing Nature Home, discussed the importance of native plants and insects. His presentation, “A Guide to Restoring the Little Things that Run the World,” can be found here.

Both of these programs and many others are archived on Audubon Florida’s website.

Register for Lunch and Learn.

A frog showcases biofluorescence

South Florida Wading Bird Report

The 2019 South Florida Wading Bird Report has been published and includes data from surveys conducted by Sanctuary staff during the breeding season last year. A total of 504 wading bird nests were counted in the Western Everglades.

Because water levels peaked relatively early in the nesting season, a dry December heralded the start of a difficult 2019. Unfortunately, heavy rainfall in early 2019 inundated nesting areas and spread out prey, and successfully feeding chicks became nearly impossible for early nesters including Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, and Great Egrets. Birds that nested after water levels ebbed in February were more successful.

Find the report, and Audubon's summary, here.

Wood Stork photo by RJ Wiley

Maintaining Our Ramsar Designation

Did you know? Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one of the U.S.-designated Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention and one of more than 2,300 so-called Ramsar sites worldwide. In 2009, the United States selected the Sanctuary for this honor for many reasons, including its role as the home of the largest remaining stand of virgin bald cypress trees in the world and the habitat it provides for nearly 200 species of birds.

Over the summer, Sanctuary staff members have been working with Ramsar representatives to update the ecological characterization for Corkscrew’s wetland determination. These criteria include soil types and plants and animals present. Since 2009, we have identified hundreds of new plant and animal species using the wetland habitat that Corkscrew provides. These wetlands do a lot for the community as well, including recharging the aquifer, providing flood protection, improving water quality, and serving as a carbon sink.

Learn more about this prestigious designation.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Photo: RJ Wiley

NEW Virtual Adventure for Students

This year, so many more students are learning from home, with no opportunities for in-person field trips. Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has created a virtual exploration to bring the Western Everglades to them! During a typical year, hundreds of Collier County Public School students enjoy an immersive experience in the swamp, learning about the Sanctuary’s 13,000 acres of pine flatwoods, wet prairies, and cypresses as part of the Collier County Public School Field Trip Specialist program.

With the new field trip, fifth-grade students and teachers will virtually experience the richness of Florida’s natural resources through the Wild Florida Adventure Tour, developed by Sanctuary staff with the support of the Community Foundation of Collier County.

Take the tour!

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary's "Wild Florida Adventure"

Reimagining Audubon Florida: A Call for Inclusive Conservation

Join us virtually for Audubon Assembly, Florida’s premier conservation event. Each year, grassroots leaders from around the state connect with Audubon’s professional staff and partners to grow their knowledge and skills to protect Florida’s precious natural resources. This year’s virtual event will include learning sessions, panel discussions, a chapter celebration, and field trips via video with a theme of inclusive conservation. Of course, one of those field trips includes a visit to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary! The Keynote Presentation by J. Drew Lanham, author, poet, and wildlife biologist, will tie it all together.

Find event details and registration here.

Assembly promotion

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in the News

Outlet: Fort Myers Florida Weekly
Headline: Take a Bough
Excerpt: And sometimes magnificence in a tree — the greatest trees — simply won’t earn a place in the national or the state registers, something officials at the 13,000-acre Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County point out. “At Corkscrew, we have the largest stand of ancient old-growth bald cypress trees in the world, about 740 acres of them,” says Sally Stein, director of public programs for the sanctuary. “The largest as far as circumference is 24 feet — and we had a hard time measuring that.”

Outlet: Boston Herald
Headline: Maturity, wisdom, compassion, patience key to dealing with coronavirus
Excerpt: The president of a south Florida university, one so far south that it encroaches on the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp, laid down the law on students who fail to wear masks, keep six feet apart and avoid large groups. He said he’ll kick them out, and if you are kicked out of one Florida state university you are kicked out of all 12.

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Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
375 Sanctuary Rd., Naples, FL 34120 USA
(239) 348-9151 | corkscrew.audubon.org

© 2024 National Audubon Society, Inc.

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