Florida in Summer for Wildlife

Three years ago I did a week in Everglades area in summer. Everyone there said "you should come in winter when there is more wildlife (meaning migratory birds)." I spent three nights in Everglades City and did dawn and dusk/night drives through Big Cypress Preserve looking for panthers, to no avail. I saw deer a couple mornings in one forested area along the dirt road, but they were very skittish. Alligators of course are easy to see. Main highlight was probably American crocodile on the boat tour that runs out of Flamingo Visitor Center in the south of Everglades National Park. Also good views of osprey on this tour. I would highly recommend that one. The other part of the park is Shark Valley for which you take a tram, but that one was basically a bust for wildlife and not recommended. Red shouldered hawks (I think that is what they were called) were fairly common throughout the area. If you really want Florida panther, you will have to shoot it in captivity. I got good shots at Flamingo Gardens (near Miami) but after my visit Miami MetroZoo opened a new Everglades expansion with them as well. Jacksonville Zoo has a decent exhibit also. At Crandon Park (on an island across from downtown Miami), the sandhill cranes were so tame you could almost pet them. Also lots of introduced iguanas at Crandon (not the huge green iguana species you see elsewhere in south Florida but a smaller species with dark bands). Crandon also has signs to watch for American crocodile but I did not see any.
 
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