Trip advice - Raptors SE USA April 2014 (1 Viewer)

I have an opportunity to take 2 - 3 days out of a business trip to Miami and Orlando towards the end of April and would welcome any recommendations of areas to visit. My sole interest is raptors and my US life list is pretty small so Bald Eagle is a must (sadly lacking on my last US trip to AZ), will have car and happy to drive and was thinking of going round the gulf coast towards New Orleans but any advice or must visit places gratefully received. Thanks in advance

I remember most of the raptors on my April 2012 trip to Florida were fairly easy to find. Around Lake Kissimmee we easily found Bald Eagle, Caracara, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red shouldered Hawk and Northern Harrier. Snail Kites are harder to find and you have to visit the Everglades (Northern part of, not the main visitor area). Broad-winged Hawks we found on telegraph lines all along the keys. Merlins migrating through. Missed Short-tailed Hawk, this is the tricky one, as they retreat to the interior woods & swamps to breed and are quite secretive. In winter you can find them in the Miami suburbs though. Don't think you'll add much by heading up North apart from Mississippi Kite and thats a looong drive.

Lots to Florida apart from raptors though. We were lucky enough to be in Key West during a storm and major 'fall-out'. The place was carpeted in migrants!

As Walshey points out, except for Mississippi Kite, which seems to be easier to find in NW FLorida, you should be able to find some mentioned above plus others by checking a variety of habitats without traveling so far from your home base in Orlando.

Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks are woodland and edge species, Harrier and American Kestrel are open fields or marshland birds, Osprey will be hard NOT to see in either fresh or brackish water habitats. Red-shouldered Hawk is best found in wooded swampland. Even Peregrines should be migrating through in April, more likely along either coast. Red-tailed Hawk is also resident. Watch for kettling Turkey and Black Vultures as other raptors often join them in the morning thermals.

EBird is an effective tool for pinpointing likely areas. For instance, Lake Apopka Loop Trail (17 miles from Orlando) lists Bald Eagle, both Vultures, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Swallow-tailed Kite and Osprey for April. Joe Overstreet Landing, on the east side of Lake Kissimmee (50 miles), lists Crested Caracara, both Vultures, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Harrier, Swallow-tailed Kite and Snail Kite.

Steve

Another good place for Snail Kite is a place called Harns Marsh in Lehigh Acres - a few miles east of Fort Myers. I had several of them there one Christmas.

Mississipi Kites start arriving in the Gainesville area in the last week of March and by mid-April are fairly numerous. Gainesville is a 2 hour drive from Orlando. La Chua Trail in Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is a good spot to see them in April. They are also common in residential neighborhoods in Gainesville west of Main Street.

Thank you

Thank you everyone for all the detailed information and advice really helpful.

I am lucky enough to travel widely on business and add a few days here and there to watch the local raptors. Oman was one of the best in December with 5 species of eagle as well as Osprey, harriers and falcons but it sounds like Florida in April could be right up there for variety!

I better start brushing up on basic ID skills for those listed or I could be posting lots to the ID forum here.

Thanks again