Apparently, I had found the fabled 'Gopher Tortoise Graveyard'
On reading SFWMD's website, I discovered that Sturm, Rabbit, and Bird Islands, as well as Lightsey Point, all on Lake Kissimmee, were SFWMD properties, and that camping was allowed on all of them.
I already had camped on Rabbit Island and Lightsey Point, and had 'beachcombed' on Sturm island, but I had always believed Bird island to be nothing more than a marshy patch of weeds growing up from the lake bottom with no significant dry ground. And I figured it would be a Bird Sanctuary and therefore off limits anyway.
The website indicated otherwise, so I decided to check it out.
Lake Kissimmee gets choppy when it's windy, so of course, it was a breezy day (winds 11 - 20 MPH). The wind was predicted to be from the Northeast, so I figured I could stay near the shore of Sturm Island most of the way and it would block the waves.
Following the shore of Sturm island and the peninsula that almost connects it to shore, I found a nice 'camping zone'. There is a long stretch of high sandy ground with big oak shade trees and even a few scattered picnic tables. This zone is on SFWMD land, so it is all campable (GPS coordinates N27 58.178 W081 19.512 at the West end, to N27 58.315 W081 18.362 on the East end) . The only drawback is that you will need a canoe, or a small boat, or an airboat to get ashore. There is a barrier of weeds just offshore through here. You will need to put your canoe in as far as you can, then get out and walk, dragging your craft behind you till you get to solid ground (unless you have an airboat).
I continued on to Rabbit Island, which was on my way to Bird Island. I had to cross some open water between Sturm and Rabbit islands. It was rough but manageable.
Both Rabbit and Bird islands have a 'ring' or barrier of weeds around them., with occasional small gaps in the ring. Once inside these 'harbors', wave action from the open water is reduced. I made good use of that, plus I traveled down the West side of Rabbit Island to get relief from the rough 'seas'.
The gap between Rabbit and Bird islands was rough once I emerged from Rabbit Island's 'harbor' at the South, but it was manageable. Once I got inside Bird's 'harbor', it was much better, of course. I started circumnavigating Bird Island, looking for a decent place to land a boat. I went nearly all the way around before I realized there wasn't one.
I saw a clump of oak trees fairly close to the water and paddled the canoe toward them, running aground in the weeds. I then got out and walked the rest of the way, dragging the canoe behind me.
The area around the oaks was high and dry. There was a lot of windfall left over from the 2004 hurricanes, lying everywhere. I also noticed several white things on the ground.
This was a cold, breezy day, and it had been too cool for me to want to be nude. However, I didn't feel like getting my jeans muddy/wet while wading ashore with canoe in tow, so I took them off, while leaving my T-shirt and sweatshirt intact.
By the time I had camp set up and lunch eaten, It wasn't so cold anymore. I decided I could stand to do the on-foot exploration of the island in proper wilderness attire - my birthday suit.
It was sunny, and with the warmth of the island soil rising, it was actually quite pleasant to be naked. With the added warmth of excertion, clothing would have been too warm.
I very quickly found droppings of some animal I didn't recognize all over the place (I actually had to watch my step). It only took a few minutes to identify them, though. I accidentally startled a medium-sized feral hog, who in his panic ran straight at me. I yelled at it to 'git', as I braced to jump out of his way. My voice startled him again, and he abruptly changed course and ran off to the side.
As I continued exploring, I flushed quite a few hogs from their hiding places
I found another larger, better campsite than mine, but it's boat 'landing' was much farther from the campsite than mine has been. Clearly folks are accustomed to hiking into this one. Shotgun shells on the ground suggested that this was a hunting camp. (Certainly there were plenty of hogs to hunt, as the island is basically overrun by them.)
During the night, several hogs came by my tent, but I had no food out, and a simple yell scared them off each time.
Bottom line about Bird island is that yes, you can camp there, but the 'payoff' is minimal unless you are hog hunting. It is difficult to get in/out, the scenery is average, and the place is so overrun by hogs you literally have to watch where you're stepping to avoid stepping in their droppings
There are much easier places in and on Lake Kissimmee where you can camp, even Naturist style. I would only recommend Bird island to experienced outdoor folks who really want a secluded campsite, and don't mind hard work.
