Nature in Southwest Florida This Week: Painted Buntings Arriving, Final Turtle Nests, and Fall Programs

October 27 through November 2 is a transition week for nature in Southwest Florida. Painted buntings are arriving to spend the winter, fall migration is still at its peak on the Atlantic Flyway, and sea turtle nesting season closes on October 31, which makes this the final week of the season. The area's nature centers are running their fall programs, and the bald cypress trees are turning their seasonal color. This guide covers what is happening in nature this week and where to see it best, with locations, hours, and links to official sources. Every event and place below is one I can verify from current reporting or the managing agency's own pages.

Painted buntings are arriving for the winter

Late October is prime painted bunting season in Southwest Florida. The eastern population of these small, rainbow-colored songbirds breeds in the Carolinas, Georgia, and northern Florida, then migrates south starting in early October. The majority arrive across central and south Florida, including Collier, Lee, and Hendry counties, from early to mid-October and through mid-November, and most stay until March or April. Right now they are showing up at feeders and wintering hotspots across the area.

The best way to find them is early in the morning around dense undergrowth, native gardens, and feeders stocked with white proso millet. The swamps, dunes, and coastal gardens listed below all turn them up week to week, and the Audubon Everglades painted bunting flyer has the details on what they eat and where they winter.

Fall migration is still peaking this week

Fall migration on the Atlantic Flyway runs roughly from August through mid-November, with September and October the heaviest months, and we are still in that window. BirdCast radar showed an estimated 1.68 million birds crossing Florida on the night of October 25-26, 2026, with peak counts of about 2.39 million birds aloft at once, moving to the south-southwest. Late-October waves of birds ride cold fronts down the peninsula, so dawn is the time to look, when the night's arrivals settle in to feed.

Corkscrew's guided programs this week

Corkscrew is running a full slate of guided programs this week, and each one is a different way to see the same forest:

• Early Birding Tour, Tuesday, October 27, 8 to 11 AM. A naturalist-guided sunrise walk on the boardwalk, timed for the morning's first birds.
• Beginner Swamp Walk, Thursday, October 29, 9 AM to noon. A guided introduction to the swamp's plants and animals at a relaxed pace.
• Sunset Stroll, Monday, November 2, 4 to 6:30 PM. The boardwalk at dusk, ending with sunset views from the observation tower.

All three programs book through the sanctuary's events page, where dates and times are confirmed.

Sea turtle nesting season closes October 31

Florida's sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 through October 31, so this is its final week. Nearly all new nesting has ended, but because hatchlings emerge about 60 days after the eggs are laid, and nesting can continue into early-to-mid August, hatchling emergence generally runs from early July through October. Naples was still reporting multiple hatches per week in mid-October, so a few late nests may still be incubating or hatching on area beaches this week.

The beaches to walk this week include Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park in North Naples, Barefoot Beach Preserve in Bonita Springs, Tigertail Beach on Marco Island, and Lovers Key State Park on Fort Myers Beach. The same rules apply at every beach: keep your distance from nests and hatchlings, never use lights or flash on the beach at night, leave hatchlings to find the water on their own, and fill in holes and flatten sandcastles before you leave. The City of Marco Island sea turtle page and the City of Naples sea turtle page both explain how to share the beach through the final days of the season.

For beach hours and parking details, our water activities guide for this week lists each beach with current water-quality and red tide status.

Manatees begin gathering at warm water

Florida's manatee season officially runs from November 15 through March 31, when cooler Gulf waters drive manatees into warm-water refuges. Manatees need water above about 68 degrees, and the big gatherings come in winter once the water cools. At Manatee Park in Fort Myers, park staff have counted manatees from roughly November through March, with the most reliable viewing from late December through February, especially during a cold snap.

If you are out on the water, manatees can also show up in the Caloosahatchee River, along the Naples coast, and near Lovers Key State Park as the season progresses. Boaters are reminded to go slow in manatee zones and give them space.

Naples Botanical Garden: a fall celebration weekend and Tuesday birding

Naples Botanical Garden has two good reasons to visit this weekend. Its signature Día de los Muertos Celebration runs Saturday and Sunday, October 31 through November 1, from 10 AM to 4 PM, with community ofrenda altars, live music and dance, arts and crafts, and a memory wall set among the tropical gardens. It is included with garden admission and free for members, and it welcomes people of every background to learn about and take part in the tradition. Our community events roundup for October 26 through November 1 has the full details.

For birding, the garden runs a weekly "Birding in the Garden" walk on Tuesday mornings from 8 to 10 AM, included with admission and free for members. The next two dates are October 27 and November 3, and the walk explores the garden's restored wetlands and native plantings, which are full of songbirds during migration. The Ánima Botánica exhibition of botanical art is also on view in the Fogg Café. The garden is at 4820 Bayshore Drive in Naples; the Naples Botanical Garden events page lists current walk dates, the celebration, and admission.

Rookery Bay: Science Saturdays and the exhibit's final week

Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center, on the edge of the Ten Thousand Islands, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM, with admission of $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 4 to 12. Every Saturday it runs Science Saturdays, hands-on nature and wildlife activities for kids and adults, free with admission. The center's "Through the Light of the Estuary" art exhibit is on view Tuesdays through Saturdays through October 29, so this is its final week. For birders, the next Birding with Biologists walk, a beginner-oriented session on identifying birds, is Friday, November 6, from 8 to 11 AM at $30 per person.

The center's events page has the full fall schedule with program times and registration.

"The Birds of Southwest Florida" continues at Edison & Ford

Fort Myers has a good birding stop that keeps running past October. Edison & Ford Winter Estates is showing "The Birds of Southwest Florida," an exhibit honoring Mina Edison's bird-watching, in the Edison Caretaker's House on the historic river estate. It opened September 1 and runs through December 6, 2026, open daily from 9 AM to 5:30 PM, with Audubon illustrations and Mina Edison's antique spy glasses, bird books, and other belongings. The estate also offers its guided "Breakfast with the Birds" morning walk in partnership with Audubon of Southwest Florida, bookable through the estate's online store.

Bald cypress are turning for the season's fall color

Southwest Florida's version of fall foliage comes from the bald cypress. Unlike most conifers, bald cypress is deciduous, so in late October and November its feathery needles turn rusty copper and orange before dropping for winter. The two best places to see the color are the big cypress stands at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the closer-in Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in Fort Myers.

Along the coast, the fall color comes from goldenrod. Seaside goldenrod flowers from late summer through fall along dunes and salt-marsh edges, and it is one of the best nectar sources for the monarch butterflies still moving through Florida.

Monarchs and fall wildflowers are still out

Monarch butterflies pass through Florida during fall migration from September through October, and the state also hosts a year-round resident monarch population, especially in South Florida. The easy way to find them is to look for blooming goldenrod on a warm afternoon. Alongside seaside goldenrod, the late-October to early-November bloomers across the region include blazing stars, goldenasters, camphorweed, and asters, all of them heavy nectar sources for the migrants. Coastal trails and gardens where the native fall flowers are left standing, including several of the places listed above, turn them up week to week.

How to check conditions before you go

Nature changes week to week, and the agencies update their pages continuously. These are the official pages worth a check before you head out:

• FWC red tide status: current Karenia brevis concentrations, updated weekly. FWC's October 23, 2026 update reported only background concentrations offshore of Lee County, with no bloom-level readings off Lee or Collier, no fish kills, and no respiratory irritation.
• DOH Healthy Beaches, Collier County: weekly bacteria sampling for Naples, Bonita Springs, and Marco Island beaches.
• DOH Healthy Beaches, Lee County: weekly bacteria sampling for Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel-area beaches.
• Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary: current program dates, hours, tickets, and the latest bird and bloom sightings.
• Edison & Ford Winter Estates: exhibit and Breakfast with the Birds times and registration.
• NWS beach forecast for Florida: daily surf zone conditions and rip current risk for Collier and Lee beaches.

If you are planning a beach day, our water activities guide for this week has current water quality and beach details. And if you missed it, last week's nature guide covered peak migration at Corkscrew, Bunche Beach, and Ding Darling, plus the Birds of Southwest Florida exhibit and the start of the manatee season.

Frequently Asked Questions

A note on fair housing: every home and community in Southwest Florida is open to all qualified buyers and renters, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. The beaches, trails, and parks here are shared public places, welcome to everyone, and the viewing rules are the same for all visitors.

A note from the author: I'm Catalina Quintero, a bilingual REALTOR with The Miranda Group at Premiere Plus Realty, Co., serving Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers, and Marco Island. Every week I put this nature guide together from current, published reporting and the official pages of the agencies that manage these places, so things can shift and it always pays to confirm before you head out. If you're exploring Southwest Florida with a move in mind, email or text me any time.