Description: The Fred C. Babcock/Cecil Webb Wildlife Management Area (BWWMA) is a 102 square mile area (~13 miles x 9 miles)(65,775 acres) located in Charlotte County. A large percentage is open to the public for Bird watching and other out door activities.
Vegetation Communities: Dry Prairie (39%), Pineland (26%), Wet Prairie/Freshwater Marsh (18%), Grasslands (disturbed)(5%), Lakes and Ponds (3%), Shrub and brush (disturbed)(3%) Hardwood Hammock (2%), Barren land (disturbed)(2%), Cypress Swamp (1%), Mixed Pine/Hardwood 31 (<1%) .
The BWWMA and the YPU are the largest remaining tracts of South Florida slash pine habitat in Southwest Florida. These two areas combined comprise 79,018 acres. Both areas are similar in habitat being comprised primarily of pine-palmetto flatwoods with interspersed ponds. The ponds vary from seasonal to permanent. Most of the ponds are seasonal. The YPU has pond cypress and bald cypress (Taxodium ascendens and distichum, respectively) strands that are not present on the BWWMA.
Approximately 40% of the area is comprised of freshwater marshes, sloughs and seasonal ponds, 25% is pine flatwoods, 28% dry prairies, 5% hammocks and 2% cypress strands. Freshwater marshes are dominated by saw grass (Cladium jamaicense), pickeral weed (Pontederia cordata), fire flag (Thalia geniculata) and buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). Pine flatwoods are dominated by south Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), wiregrass (Aristida spp.), and slough grass (Scleria reticularis). Dry praries are dominated by wiregrass, saw palmetto, broomsedge (Andropogon spp.), gallberry (Ilex glabra) and blueberry (Vaccinium spp.). Hammocks are dominated by live oak (Quercus virginianus), south Florida slash pine, green briar (Smilax spp.), and poison ivy (Rhus radicans). Cypress strands on the YPU are dominated by pond cypress and bald cypress.
Location: 5 miles south of Punta Gorda on Interstate 75, take exit 158,(Tuckers Grade). At exit ramp turn East, (Left) and drive 0.25 miles to the entrance.
Amenities: No rest rooms. Asphalt roads run alongside the lake for seven miles. All other roads are crushed shell and sand. Roads offer good wildlife viewing. There are several places to walk.
Animal Species: You may not be able to see all these species
Babcock-Webb is well known for the following birds:
| Red Cockaded Woodpecker | Brown Headed Nuthatches | Bachman’s Sparrow |
Birds that you may encounter year-round include:
| Anhinga | American Bittern | Least Bittern |
| Red-winged Blackbird | Eastern Bluebird | Northern Bobwhite |
| Cardinal | Gray Catbird | Carolina Chickadee |
| Chuck-will’s Widow | American Coot | Double-crested Cormorant |
| Shiny Cowbird | Sandhill Crane | Brown Creeper |
| American Crow | Fish Crow | Common Ground Dove |
| Eurasian Collared Dove | Mourning Dove | Ringed Turtle Dove |
| Rock Dove | Mallard Duck | Mottled Duck |
| Wood Duck | Bald Eagle | Cattle Egret |
| Great Egret | Common Gallinule ( Moorhen) | Purple Gallinule |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | American Goldfinch | Boat-tailed Grackle |
| Common Grackle | Pied-billed Grebe | Laughing Gull |
| Ring-billed Gull | Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk) | Cooper’s Hawk |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | Red-tailed Hawk | Sharp-shinned Hawk |
| Great Blue Heron | Green Heron | Little Blue Heron |
| Tricolored Heron | White Ibis | Glossy Ibis |
| Blue Jay | American Kestrel | Eastern Kingbird |
| Belted Kingfisher | Swallow-tailed Kite | Limpkin |
| Eastern Meadowlark | Hooded Merganser | Red-breasted |
| Northern Mockingbird | Common Nighthawk | Black-crowned Night-heron |
| Yellow-crowned Night-heron | Brown-headed Nuthatch | Osprey |
| Barred Owl | Great Horned Owl | Screech Owl |
| Northern Parula | Eastern Phoebe | King Rail |
| Virginia Rail | American Robin | Spotted Sandpiper |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Lesser Scaup | Short Billed Dowitcher |
| Northern Shoveler | Loggerhead Shrike | Common Snipe |
| Sora | Bachman’s Sparrow | Chipping Sparrow |
| House Sparrow | Savannah Sparrow | Song Sparrow |
| Roseate Spoonbill | European Starling | Black-necked Stilt |
| Wood Stork | Rough-winged Swallow | Tree Swallow |
| Blue-winged Teal | Caspian Tern | Least Tern |
| Royal Tern | Brown Thrasher | Swainson’s Thrush |
| Tufted Titmouse | Rufous-sided Towhee | Wild Turkey |
| Black Vulture | Turkey Vulture | Black-and-white Warbler |
| Palm Warbler | Pine Warbler | Prairie Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Yellow-throated Warbler | Whimbrel |
| Whip-poor-will | Downy Woodpecker | Hairy Woodpecker |
| Pileated Woodpecker | Red-bellied Woodpecker | Red-cockaded Woodpecker |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | Carolin Wren | House Wren |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Lesser Yellowlegs | Common Yellow-throat |
Documented Mammals:
| White Tailed Teer | Feral hog | Fox Squirrel |
| Armadillo | Rabbits | Gray Squirrels |
| Raccoons | Opossums | Skunks |
| Armadillos | Bobcat | Otter |
Documented Herps:
| Alligator | Gopher Tortoise | |
| A great variety of reptiles and amphibians are found although a list has not been compiled | ||