Fort De Soto Park February 2025

Introduction

Welcome to my latest photography adventure summary straight from Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. I did a previous adventure in St. Petersburg a while back which you can find here. On that trip we visited a bunch of locations, almost like a photo scouting trip, but this time I was planning on spending almost all of my time at Fort De Soto Park. What? Why? Ah, because not only is it widely regarded as one of the top bird photography locations in the United States, I love being there. Definitely one of MY favorite spots for photographing birds. Especially in February when it's freezing in St. Louis!

It seems like every February there's some kind of weather event that tries to keep me from leaving. It's sort of like when you're trying to leave a party and the host keeps talking to you. You inch your way toward the door and keep glancing at your watch but they just keep talking. I don't know anything about that, but on the morning of my departure from St. Louis the snow was coming and the airport was tense. All the flights going west were cancelled and my flight originating from Oklahoma City sat on the runway for a couple hours before departing. Thankfully, just as the snow started falling in St. Louis our plane (well, actually the pilots) took us outta there! Sunny and eighty-one degrees when we landed in Florida.

It's Historic!

Located on Mullet Key, Fort De Soto spans over a thousand acres across five interconnected islands with beaches, mangroves, wetlands, and woodlands that supposedly support over 330 species of birds. Wow, that's pretty impressive. I'm not sure where all those species were though because there were probably about 300 of them I never saw. I'm sure those birder people can find them though. I was just there to enjoy nature and take pictures! If you like these photos and want to see more feel free to follow me @psmithusa on Facebook, Instagram or X.

The area was originally inhabited by the Tocobaga Native Americans from around 1000 to 1500 CE. They thrived on Mullet Key and nearby barrier islands sustaining themselves with fish, clams, oysters, and other shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. Um, I mean Gulf of America. Now they would probably have to eat grouper ruebens or a pastelitos with a café con leche.

European contact began in the 16th century when Spanish explorers like Pánfilo de Narváez and Hernando de Soto sailed past these areas. The fort is named after Hernando de Soto. The spellings are all very confusing since Hernando didn't capitalize the "d" in his name but the park does. And then sometimes they make "Desoto" one word. I may never figure these things out. And while the park is named after Hernando de Soto, since he didn't take any selfies we don't have any real evidence that he was ever actually there.

I knew that the fort had a lot of history, but really had no idea to what extent. Apparently it's so historic that there are even Historic Fort Desoto Restrooms. I used it with great reverence.

Tomato, Tomato, Isla, Isla

Ok, so I may be a little too sensitive about spellings and pronunciations but being shy and insecure (ahem, right?) I always want to sound like I know how to pronounce things when I'm talking with the locals. In the past when we've visited St. Petersburg we've always stayed at The Hollander (a great boutique hotel recommended by my world traveler brother), but this time I wanted to stay a little closer to the park. I found this awesome condo on the golf course at Isla del Sol and rented it for a couple of weeks from my new friend Jim. It was the perfect place to stay and just a few minutes from the park.

A few years back while visiting Key West I was corrected by a waitress on the proper pronunciation of "Isla". She instructed me that the proper pronunciation is "EYE-luh", which made sense since Isla is Spanish for Island and isle is also pronounced with the silent "s". And she was very convincing. So in my high and mighty confidence I was pretty sure I had this down. Until I heard several locals pronounce it "IS-luh". Uh oh. I approached a group of golfers at one of the local restaurants and asked how they pronounced it. They were emphatic that it was "IS-luh". But they had been drinking a few beers. So I did some research. Unlike in English, Spanish speakers pronounce every letter, so the "s" is not silent, and the "Is-" is supposed to sound like "ees" in English, meaning that the correct pronunciation is "EES-lah". Look it up.

Another Great Adventure!

Thanks for following along on my latest adventure! I hope you enjoyed it. If you missed any of my other photography adventure summaries you can find them here. If you want to see more of my images you can check out my photography Portfolio Page or follow me on Instagram, Facebook or X. See you next time!