Venice Area Audubon Society — Attraction in Florida

This is one of my favorite places to watch birds. The island in the middle of the pond is the nesting area for several types of costal birds. There is a resident gator that patrols the pond and several bat houses where hundreds of bats can be seen shortly after sunset. Very family friendly, good for school groups, and amateur and professional photographers. Very limited parking, one handicap accessible spot, and 1 porta potty. There is a nice picnic shelter with tables. This is behind the Venice Administrative Building accessible by 41 and 776. It is surrounded by multiple gas stations, fast food restaurants, and close to multiple beaches. It is a popular spot for locals and can get quite crowded. Please be patient and considerate of those around you. Talk in low voices, move slowly, make sure you don't step in front of someone taking a picture, do not litter, and pick up and dispose of any litter you do see. Thank you, and enjoy...

We visited from the Miami area, and stopped because we like birds. Bring binoculars! Or a DSLR. Or anything that will help you see across the water better. We saw birds that are familiar to us, and were excited to see a few that we had not seen. We were very excited. And then once we realized how many nests of babies were in there (we saw glossy ibis, anhinga, and black crowned heron babies), it really made this quick stop totally worth our time. There were some locals there who said this wasn't even a great day and they usually see more. But we were thrilled.

There is a large covered pavilion with tables, but there is no restroom. That was our limiting factor for sure, or we might've stayed longer. I'd give it at least an hour if you're a...

Several of us went to the Venice Rookery to photograph Birds. While there weren't a lot there there were enough to make it a very enjoyable afternoon. There are several different types including cormorants anhingas and great blue herons. The island in the middle of the pond is not so far away that you can't get decent photographs. There are a couple other ponds adjacent where there were quite a few Birds including tri-colored herons black bellied whistling ducks great egrets and assorted songbirds. There was...