On nowwildlife

Sea-turtle hatchling season

A permitted release is the only lawful way to be on the sand, and no light of any kind may reach it — this is a shoot you book rather than one you find.

Go when permitted programs; no lights on nesting beaches

741 subjects within two hours of Lakeland · 2 of them in season right now

This is the index built for the week of 2026-09-13, not this week — the newest one did not finish. The times below were computed for that week, so treat them as a guide rather than as tonight.

In seasonnowgo when it lines up

Drive110 minSpace Coast beaches

Gearany lens you like

Droneno

FrameMarlo PerdicasCC BY

Everything about this shoot

The index12

12 of 741 match, in the order they happen.

Each one is a subject, a spot, and the season it runs — grouped by how soon it matters. 2 of the 8 on the map are in season right now, in May. Say what is in your bag and it will tell you which of these your longest lens actually reaches.

Show me anything wildlife night skies water weather events bloomswithin any drive 30 min 60 min 90 min 120 minand anywhere where I can fly where flying might be allowed

No account needed — your kit stays in the address bar.

4 subjects in May, soonest first · open one to see what fires it

On now

Conditions are met, or the season is open. Go this week.

Jay · CC0Rare-bird drop-ins (vagrants)varies weekly · 60 min · drone noIn seasonnow
Fires when eBird notable-observation alert within the radius
Flamingos after storms, painted buntings, snail kite wanderers — viral precisely because rare.
Everything about this shoot →

Later this season

Worth knowing now so the gear and the drive are ready.

Zygy · CC0Wood storks feeding in drying marsh poolsCircle B Bar Reserve · 10 min · drone noFebseason opens
Fires when dry-season water levels concentrate prey
A drought subject: storks feed by touch and crowd wherever the water is going, so the drying pool is the picture as much as the bird.
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Further out

Not yet. Here so the year can be planned around it.

kerykeion · CC0Gatorland rookery photographer's passGatorland, Orlando · 50 min · drone noMarseason opens
Fires when pass dates announced Jan-Feb and sell out — booking gate, not condition
The 7a early-entry light is the entire value of the pass.
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Tom Lazar · CC0Swallow-tailed kites — arrival & courtshipCentral Florida (incl. over Lakeland) · 0 min · drone noMarseason opens
Fires when in season; aerial acrobatics anywhere in Central FL
The courtship flight is the shot and it happens anywhere overhead — the rare subject here you can take from your own driveway.
Everything about this shoot →

When the conditions are not there, this says watch, not go — and names what is missing. A wrong moon or a front that never arrived is worth more to you than a confident guess.

The region8 spots

Everything within two hours of Lakeland.

wildlife
night skies
water
weather
events
blooms
out of season

Ocala to Sarasota, coast to coast. The shaded ground is a two-hour drive from Lakeland on real roads, not a radius — generalised to about a mile for drawing. Dashed rings are 30, 60 and 90 minutes. Coastline from Natural Earth, served from a file in this repository: no tile vendor, no key, and nobody outside this site learns where you shoot.