What makes Bush Key notable isn't what's on the island but rather what's above it: hundreds if not thousands of nesting sooty terns and brown boobies. The island is their nesting ground, and the two species of birds flock here en masse between February and November each year. At times, it's like a scene out of a certain Hitchcock movie. Bush Key is off limits to humans most of the year, roughly February to November, but the spectacle can be taken in easily with binoculars from atop Fort Jefferson or adjacent parts of Garden Key. There is a trail on Bush Key that can be hiked during late fall and midwinter when the birds are gone and the island is open to visitors. One other thing about Bush Key: when we visited in April 2017, sand had built up enough to form a "bridge" between it and Garden Key so that the two islands essentially had become one. Park rangers posted signs keeping visitors a good distance from the nesting grounds. This shot was taken from dock on Garden Key. Photo by David Sedore
RETURN TO THE TOUR PAGE. RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE