Indian River County wetlands, Florida, United States
4.5 (24 reviews) Spent Ranking #35 in Vero Beach Nature & Wildlife Areas
Great birding spot
I spent a very enjoyable early morning here, bird-watching. I would have liked to have spent a second morning too as I did not have time to get to the lookouts over the marsh! I had nearly 30 bird species, including 5 species of duck, most of the herons & egrets, Wilson's Snipe, Bald-headed Eagle, Sand Crane, Wood Stork etc. No rails or soars on this trip unfortunately ....
Address
8th Street, Vero Beach, Florida, United States.
Mobile
Website
http://www.ircutilities.com/WRWTF.pdf
Current local date and time now
Saturday, May 11, 2024, 12:54
User Ratings
4.5 based on (24 reviews)
Excellent
59%
Good
29%
Satisfactory
4%
Poor
0%
Terrible
8%
Reviews
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5CJinFL 5:00 PM May 17, 2016
Go early to see the birds!
This wetlands area is now known as the West Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, so you might try entering that in your GPS (or use 8405 8th Street, Vero Beach, FL). You'd never guess it from the name, but it’s part of the Great Florida Birding Trail and well worth a visit! Rather than build another treatment plant, the county constructed a series of ponds to filter waste water. Once the water has traveled through a series of ponds and been filtered by plants and sand, it’s clean enough to be reused for irrigation, golf courses, etc. But best of all, this is a great wetlands habitat frequented by a large variety of birds—egrets, herons, ducks, coots, kites, anhingas, cormorants, grackles, sandhill cranes, and more. We’ve also seen otters several times—and once, an alligator! Go in the morning when the birds are most active. You hike along the dikes separating the ponds, and there’s no shade. Be sure to bring sunscreen and insect repellent!
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4Truckie351 5:00 PM Nov 2, 2016
Good location for seeing otters
Have visited this area several times. I have seen otters here on nearly every visit. As others have said if you want to see lots of birds it is best to go at 7 AM. There are birds there all day they are just not as active as first thing in the morning. The location on the map on this site is wrong. It is off of 8th Street but just past 82nd Avenue and before I95 not after as shown on the map.
