DUNEDIN, Fla. — Near unspoiled beaches in an undeveloped forest just off the Dunedin Causeway, an American Bald Eagle family has set up a nursery at Honeymoon Island State Park.
The migratory visitors are about a mile into the park’s Osprey trail.
“So if you look around here, this is the real Florida,” said Bob Fortner, president of the Friends of the Island Parks. The trail offers a walk through a virgin slash pine forest, filled with osprey nests, gopher tortoise burrows.
The group supports the park, and they spent the last six months repairing from damages from the 2024 hurricane season. Other projects: managing volunteers on the nature center and installing a handicapped accessible playground.
“You know, the park service itself is dedicated to being for everyone,” said Fortner. “Plus, we just care for people we want everybody to get to enjoy the beauty we enjoy.”
Fortner enjoys all this thanks to his family connection.
His wife’s grandmother was the only child ever raised on nearby Caladesi Island at the turn of the 20th century. Her book recounts this unique life, where, as a 9 year old, she used a boat to the mainland.
“She would get in that and row to school about a mile and a half from Caledisi to Dunedin, tie her boat up and then go to school,” said Fortner.
And as a bonus back on the Osprey trail, we happen upon a Great Horned Owl and her camouflaged babies.
Fortner may be here because of his family’s history, but it’s this family’s future that keeps him coming back.
