Tricolored Heron

Image taken recently at Apopka Wildlife Drive in Apopka, Florida. Residents are excited that the wildlife drive has reopened after closure due to COVID-19.
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Image taken recently at Apopka Wildlife Drive in Apopka, Florida. Residents are excited that the wildlife drive has reopened after closure due to COVID-19.
Lake Apopka went from being the bass fishing capital of the eastern US to Florida’s most polluted lake, essentially a dead body of water. Farmers around Lake Apopka had created levees to keep their farms from flooding and were pumping water filled with fertilizer and pesticides back into the lake. The state of Florida bought all farmland around Lake Apopka and began a huge restoration project which continues to this day.
Lake Apopka North Shore offers extraordinary bird-watching opportunities. It is one of the top three birding areas for the entire state (includes Everglades National Park and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge). The Lake Apopka North Shore is considered one of the most renowned birding destinations in Florida, with 369 different bird species recorded on the property.
Lake Apopka is the state’s fourth-largest lake and is fed by a natural spring, rainfall and stormwater runoff. It is the headwaters of the Ocklawaha Chain of Lakes. The drive is a one-way, 11-mile drive meandering through the eastern portion of the property and now regularly showcases bobcats, bald eagles, great blue herons, otters and alligators, all because of the restoration.

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