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December 2023 by Kristina Elissa Bergman (Hidden Pond Farm)
Amazing place for the care and rehabilitation of injured shore birds. Caring people and clean areas where birds are kept. Cute gift shop.
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December 2023 by Sneha Rao
Beautiful!This bird rescue, rehab, release center is a great spot to spend some time. We spent a good hour here watching the birds, learning about them and walking up to the beautiful beach.We stopped by at a time when the staff were busy with the bird-feeding schedules, so we weren't able to interact with anyone. We only watched these hardworking people care for the birds diligently.The rescue center is well maintained and clean. The wall murals bring in a colorful element to the rescue center. We have recommended this to our friends and we will revisit whenever we're able to.A shout out to all the staff, volunteers for their earnest efforts to save and protect these birds. Thank you for all you do ??
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November 2023 by Hailey Atkinson
Wonderful place to take a stroll and enjoy the beautiful birds. Volunteers were out feeding all of the birds and happy to tell you about them!Tower walkout with view of the beach was nice. I try to visit every bird sanctuary and will visit again next time I come to Indian Rocks. Thank you to all staff and volunteers for your hard work and wonderful care.
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November 2023 by Ryder Ojeda Madera
My overall experience here was decent, but there are a few things to note before arriving. First is the parking situation. Extremely small parking area. Impossible to turn around in, so you will need to back out right into the road - so be careful. There is extra parking space if you take the entrance to the left of them, cross that living area and park towards the back. Second, this place is hardly wheelchair accessible. My grandmother has a motorized one that she was able to mostly maneuver, but she got stuck before we even got inside, thankfully, there were some gentlemen working on some enclosures that helped us get her out. They were also kind enough to move some large rocks from their spot so she could get in because a car was parked blocking the majority of the entrance (due to the tight space).Once inside, many of the birds seemed healthy. You'll see many inside large aviaries and also quite a few milling about outside! There were two volunteers holding birds. One came up to us to show us the Screech Owl she was holding, introducing him. The second volunteer never looked at us, unfortunately. I wanted to know about the bird she was holding, but she only provided her attention to a large group of people that walked by after us.The property is very small and it is all sand. I had called ahead of time to ask if it was okay for a wheelchair and was told the sand was fairly compacted, but we still had to be very careful that she did not get stuck anywhere and had to forego some areas due to too much sand. They have an observation tower right on the beach where you can relax and enjoy the view, plus open access to the beach itself which is nice so you can get a two for one ;)The only complaint is that in one small section of the property, it smelled like something was dead. I did not see anything, but it was definitely unpleasant. The gift shop was simple, but cute sporting decently priced bird guides, locally made honey, and t-shirts! This place is also not-for-profit. They rehabilitate birds for release and take care of those that cannot be released. The admission and parking is free, but they do have donation boxes throughout the property.We didn't get to learn much about the birds as there weren't many volunteers hanging around or ones that spoke to us, but the gentleman that helped us when we first arrived did give us a quick lecture on their resident Bald Eagle! I think they were the best part of the trip!
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November 2023 by Paige Smith
I love this place so much we came back the next day . They are doing some amazing things here for wildlife conservation and rehabilitation! I fell in love with Kevin who is a permanent resident due to having a broken wing that makes him susceptible in the wild . They have a beautiful facility with gorgeous birds , beautifully maintained enclosures, and also an aquarium room featuring salt water fish ! Love it
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November 2023 by theo
the volunteers of the seaside seabird sanctuary were wonderfully welcoming to us - I had emailed ahead that I would not be in florida much longer and would be missing their usual saturday presentations, but asked if we could still experience seeing one of their resident birds up-close and learning more about them. sydney, the education coordinator, was more than happy to oblige and let us meet arnie, one of the newer avian ambassadors for the sanctuary, and he was a pleasure to see. I really appreciate the time being taken out of the usual schedule to give us a small tour and a personal experience, it rounded off my trip to florida and sealed the deal as a place to definitely visit again next time I'm in the area.as for the place itself, the location is right next to the beach, the space is open enough for wandering and has plenty of seating (appreciated by my legs), and you can easily spend an hour here birdwatching or viewing their collection of aquatic life too. places like these are really nice to see, both as rescues and protectors of local wildlife and as somewhere people like me can experience really beautiful animals up-close, a super unique experience (especially as a brit). thank you again to the staff for making our trip so lovely :-)
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November 2023 by R LaFrance
Great place to spend an hour or so. Operates on donations. Small onsite free parking lot. Also accessed directly from the beach. We had a picnic lunch on the beach after visiting the birds. Beautiful spot.
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November 2023 by Scott Siewert
Free parking, free to enter. Donations appreciated its a rescue..Well worth a visit and you walk out to a large lookout tower at beach.Time: about 1 hour
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August 2023 by Pete Balzer
What a great place! Many many birds that have been rescued live here or are here to recover. All for free to the public. GIANT pelicans, beautiful owls and many other cool birds. Beach is connected and even a lookout tower. Check this place out!
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August 2023 by lyn Mcs
We spent about an hour here before catching our flight home. Lovely place for injured birds. The observation deck was amazing to cool off in the gulf breezes and the view of the ocean was gorgeous. We saw a barred owl up close with a volunteer.
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July 2023 by Cam
Add this to your itinerary if you are staying on Gulf Blvd. It’s a nice place to stop and learn about the local birds. There is not an entry fee; however, donations are greatly appreciated.Bonus: There is a “Leave a book, Take a book” box at the rear exit, to trade your recently finished books in.
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July 2023 by Victoria Devlin
Arrived 3:30 close to closing time. Got to see the bald eagle eat which was cool. It was free so we did donate. Only thing was I wore sandals and I felt gross after waling around on gravel and bird poop. Wish I had shoes. Dumped water on my feet before I got into the van.
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June 2023 by Kimberly Davidson
Sweet little bird rescue in the middle of the beach.. free entry, they operate and care for injured birds with donations. Animals seem well cared for, workers were very polite and knowledgeable. Sanctuary was clean, didn't smell. Only takes about 10-15 minutes to walk thru.
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June 2023 by Shelly Wilson
Love this place! It is free and open 365 days!! Recommend wearing a hat as the birds are all around. Great place to learn about all kinds of birds, they have aquariums with various sea creatures, a 2 story observation tower with great views if the beach, they have special events like reading with Rufus the owl, birds roaming around for great photo opps, great gift shop with lots of books and information, jewelry, stuffed animals, t-shirts, towels, cold drinks, and more!
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May 2023 by Monroe Marshall
This place actively takes in injured birds, even having an after hours drop off station. I love to see animals in safe, open and protected environments that allow them to be free. Many non-injured birds are just hanging out there too because it is a great environment for them, especially with the trees and ocean.That is another thing- there is a lookout onto the beach and ocean as well as direct access to the beach.Admission and parking in their lot is free. The lot is not big but I went on a Friday afternoon in mid May, and the majority of spaces were open and not many people were there at a single time. There are other paid lots available such as where you can enter from the beach if you wanted to go there first.With admission being free but also aknowledging the high cost of maintaining such a sanctuary for these amazing birds, be sure to donate (they have donation boxes as well as a QR code that brings you to their online donation site) and/or check out their gift shop if you can! The person working there was so kind as I was exploring the items.I came across this sanctuary when looking at reviews from another person who had been in the area and I got so excited. This absolutely was a favorite part of my vacation.