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U S A – F LO R I D A
USA – Florida
Winter Birding in the Sunshine State
Wednesday 14 January – Tuesday 27 January 2015
Principal Leader: Richard Coomber
2015 Cost: £3,399 single room supplement £400
lorida in late January will provide some excellent birding for the start of the year, in a climate that will help the winter at
F home pass rather more quickly. There is far more to this part of the United States than the concrete high-rise blocks of
Miami, as this tour will show. We start at the famous Everglades National Park, before working our way north to the Gulf Coast
and the delights of Sanibel Island, before crossing the state to end up at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge on the state’s Atlantic
FLORIDA
Fort Myers
Naples Park
Orlando
Titusville
Everglades
coast, where thousands of wildfowl winter. The tameness of the birds ensures excellent viewing and makes this an ideal tour for those
visiting the New World for the first time and provides photographers with many opportunities for wildlife portraiture. We can expect to find a wealth of
egrets, herons, wildfowl, waders and wintering warblers. Richard will be giving some workshops on shorebird identification, as well as helping you
get to grips with American warblers and sparrows! This will be Ornitholidays’ 10th tour to Florida at this time of year.
Sebring
Miami
Florida
City
ITINERARY
Days 1 to 3
We leave London on a flight to Miami and transfer
to Florida City, where we stay for the next three
nights. We have three whole days to explore the
southern part of the Everglades National Park,
which will provide us with some excellent birding
and photographic opportunities. At Royal Park
Hammock, the Anhinga Trail leads us past various
herons and egrets (including the white form of
Great Blue Heron), and with luck we might find a
confiding American Bittern or see Purple Gallinule
at close range. American Alligators bask on the
sides of the water channels and a number of
turtles will be hauled out on the dead tree trunks
in the water. The Anhingas, after which the trail is
appropriately named, are a conspicuous feature
and will probably be well into their breeding
season. Amongst the swamps are ‘hammocks’ -
ridges of slightly higher and therefore drier ground
where large deciduous trees, including West
Indian species such as Gumbo Limbo, grow. Here
we might find a number of passerines and
perhaps Barred Owl. Passing through the
Everglades, looking for Short-tailed Hawk, we
notice habitat changes as we approach the coast.
Sawgrass and Dwarf Cypresses give way to
mangroves and tidal flats, on which a variety of
shorebirds feed and Black Skimmers roost at low
tide and where Ospreys are often fishing.
Days 4 & 5
Today we drive round the northern side of the
national park to reach our hotel near Naples Park
on the Gulf coast where we stay for two nights,
with birding en route in the Big Cypress Preserve
area. Species we shall be looking for include
Snail Kite and Limpkin.
The following day Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
is our main birding area. We explore the National
Audubon Society Reserve from the boardwalk,
which meanders for two miles through lofty
stands of Cypress trees and where, if we are
lucky, we could see a Barred Owl or two.
Limpkin, Green Heron and Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker may also be seen as well as a
number of passerines, including Tufted
Titmouse, Carolina Wren, White-eyed Vireo,
Black-and-white Warbler and the very colourful
Painted Bunting.
Days 6 to 8
We transfer to Fort Myers, for the next three
nights. During our stay we will spend some time
birding around J. N. “Ding” Darling Wildlife
Refuge, one of the best-known birding sites in
Anhinga
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For a previous tour report or further information please call: 01794 519445