Mmcguire
Member
Hi, I'm starting to plan a 3+ day birding trip before a professional conference in Tampa early next November. We want to find places where 3 colleagues/friends, renting a car and vacation cabin together, can enjoy compatible but sometimes separate nature avocations.
Two of us are avid birders, and the third is somewhat interested in the birds but mainly as the subjects of his photography. All of us are very interested in other nature-viewing (manatees would be especially exciting! but even crabs, shells, porpoises, and alligators are fascinating). Two of us are from Texas, and we've birded in Florida only very briefly before (at Ft. DeSoto Park near St. Pete). The third person is a Brit from Warwick who is ready to be dazzled by the birds, many of which will surely be "life-birds for him."
We've agreed that we want to focus on Sanibel and the .. Ding Darling wildlife refuge, but we might also have time for a half-day visit to another site if it isn't too far from the roads we'd be taking back toward Tampa. We'd really welcome folks' hints for how to make the most of our visit to Sanibel and our other birding in the area. Any recommendations of rental cottages for accommodations (none of us much likes the condo or motel scene, but realize that the cottages are older, so we'd welcome recommendations or warnings about specific places for lodging). Has anyone tried birding by kayak there? how is the guided sunset kayak tour?
We'd also like to learn of any sites in Tampa that we might reach easily on foot or by taxi, when we get a few hours' break from the conference (for example, parks or bayshore that we could enjoy at dawn or dusk).
Many thanks for any suggestions you may have.
Two of us are avid birders, and the third is somewhat interested in the birds but mainly as the subjects of his photography. All of us are very interested in other nature-viewing (manatees would be especially exciting! but even crabs, shells, porpoises, and alligators are fascinating). Two of us are from Texas, and we've birded in Florida only very briefly before (at Ft. DeSoto Park near St. Pete). The third person is a Brit from Warwick who is ready to be dazzled by the birds, many of which will surely be "life-birds for him."
We've agreed that we want to focus on Sanibel and the .. Ding Darling wildlife refuge, but we might also have time for a half-day visit to another site if it isn't too far from the roads we'd be taking back toward Tampa. We'd really welcome folks' hints for how to make the most of our visit to Sanibel and our other birding in the area. Any recommendations of rental cottages for accommodations (none of us much likes the condo or motel scene, but realize that the cottages are older, so we'd welcome recommendations or warnings about specific places for lodging). Has anyone tried birding by kayak there? how is the guided sunset kayak tour?
We'd also like to learn of any sites in Tampa that we might reach easily on foot or by taxi, when we get a few hours' break from the conference (for example, parks or bayshore that we could enjoy at dawn or dusk).
Many thanks for any suggestions you may have.
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