Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (WH)

Location: East of Naples, southwestern Florida
Why Special: Corkscrew sticks in my mind because of the approachability of the birds that are there and the old-growth cypress swamp that serves as their backdrop. It’s literally possible to see birds like Anhingas or night-herons a few feet beside, over or even under you. The birds’ tameness lets you not just see a bird, but really watch it and learn what it does for a living.
Habitat: southeastern pine forest, cypress swamp
When To Go: March, April
Birds to Look For: Swallow-tailed Kite (spring/summer), herons, Wood Stork, Painted Bunting (winter)

Anhinga Trail in the Everglades National Park (EIE)

Location: South Florida, Homestead near U.S.1
Why Special: The large diversity of both aquatic and land birds, and that they are so tame and close that is the best place in the US to see in detail the iris color differences between species and among ages in birds!
Habitat: Sawgrass marsh, wet prairie/slough, swamp forest, willow and cattail marshes, alligator holes, hardwood hammocks. Within the sawgrass marsh are channels and ponds of deeper water that contain water year round, except in the driest years. The wider, deeper channels of water are called sloughs, while the smaller ponds are often maintained by alligators and thus are called gator holes.
When To Go: January to March when you have local breeders and lots of migrants such as ducks and passerines. Go early in the morning when there are few tourist and few mosquitos
Birds to Look For: Anhinga, Limpkin, Sora, Glossy Ibis, Purple Gallinule, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis

Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge (AW)

Location: Titusville, Florida
Why Special: This place is saturated with birds and other wildlife, especially during migration and winter. We visited during the Space Coast Birding Festival in November when our son was only 3 _ months old and especially enjoyed cruising around the Black Point Wildlife Drive. Along with hundreds of herons and egrets and ducks, we watched a family of otters cavorting up the waterway near our car.
Habitat: Wetlands and grassy palm savannah.
When To Go: Fall through spring.
Birds to Look For: Roseate Spoonbill, White Pelican, Anhinga, many species of ducks, shorebirds, herons and egrets, terns, etc.

Audubon Bird Sanctuary (CC)

Location: Dauphin Island, AL
Why Special: Great beach-side birding in a beautiful setting, huge fallouts of migrants
Habitat: lots of habitat types - fresh water lake, beaches, swamp, pine forest, dunes, and hardwoods
When To Go: during spring migration, just before a storm
Birds to Look For: every neotropical migrant!

Little St. Simon's Island (JF) (SS)

Location: near Brunswick, coastal Georgia
Why Special: Undisturbed, relatively pristine barrier island with miles of undeveloped shoreline provide original coastal forest habitat, top-quality rustic lodging, huge numbers of staging shorebirds in late April, and deserted Atlantic beaches
Habitat: coastal pine/oak forest, sand dunes and pristine beach below mouth of Altamaha River, saltmarsh estuaries
When To Go: any time of year is fabulous, but mid-April to early May is best for shorebird numbers and diversity
Birds to Look For: 30 species of shorebirds regularly seen during spring migration including Piping Plovers, thousands of Red Knots, hundreds of Whimbrel; Peregrine Falcon and Merlin common fly-overs; Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Orchard Oriole, Summer Tanager, and Painted Bunting are common breeders