Christmas (1 Viewer)

iraqbabbler · Dec 11, 2010

Hi folks,
I'm thinking of travelling to Fl sometime around the end of Dec. to look for special birds such as Painted Buntings as well as other Fl specialties..

Would Sanibel Island be a good place to search for them this time of year, and what other places would you guys recommend ?? ..

Also, what's the deal with the Whooping Crane breeding program ? .. can the birds be seen by birders or are they off limit ?

Thanks o

cassowary · Dec 11, 2010

iraqbabbler,
greetings,
this link you may find helpful:

http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?src=...continue.x=79&continue.y=10&continue=Continue

KHamblett · Dec 11, 2010

What area or areas will you be visiting?

Outside of Orlando is Joe Overstreet - a rural dirt road that passes sod farms and cow pastures - where I've seen whooping cranes grazing amongst the cows.
Also in that area, I spotted a Sherman's squirrel - a rare and large squirrel.

Here's a link to Joe Overstreet area:
http://www.wildlifesouth.com/Locations/Florida/JoeOverstreet.html

Florida has some very active Audubon chapters with individual websites offering information on birding hotspots and field trips.
http://fl.audubon.org/who_chapterList.html

iraqbabbler · Dec 11, 2010

Thanks Mike, the ebird.org website is an incredible useful resource :t:

Thanks KHamblett, Joe Overstreet sounds great and I was also thinking of Sanibel Island, would you recommend it for this time of year ??

Interestingly, no-one has recommended The Evergaldes !!! :smoke: , would that be a worthwhile place at all ?

cassowary · Dec 12, 2010

iraqbabbler I have seen painted bunting in the everglades but that was 22 years ago, so not really current info!

merryslug · Dec 12, 2010

Sanibel's Ding Darling is good, especially in the AM and at low tides. It's been an embarrassingly long time since I'v been to the Everglades. I've been meaning to hunt down there for some Great White Herons but can't seem to make the trip yet. I'm more familiar with the southeastern coast.

Are you looking for anything in particular?

eta: we've got Painted Buntings at Green Cay wetlands here in West Palm Beach, along with a whole lot of other birds including almost every major wading bird (except Reddish Egrets and the aforementioned Great White Herons). I could also point you towards Snail Kites and Burrowing Owls within an hour's drive (or less) from here. Monk Parakeets and Common Mynas are close by too.

iraqbabbler · Dec 12, 2010

merryslug said:
Sanibel's Ding Darling is good, especially in the AM and at low tides. It's been an embarrassingly long time since I'v been to the Everglades. I've been meaning to hunt down there for some Great White Herons but can't seem to make the trip yet. I'm more familiar with the southeastern coast.

Are you looking for anything in particular?

eta: we've got Painted Buntings at Green Cay wetlands here in West Palm Beach, along with a whole lot of other birds including almost every major wading bird (except Reddish Egrets and the aforementioned Great White Herons). I could also point you towards Snail Kites and Burrowing Owls within an hour's drive (or less) from here. Monk Parakeets and Common Mynas are close by too.

Thank you Merryslug o

Actually as I live in Australia, I'm not particularly interested in the Myna, Great white Heron or the Parakeet, but would definitely be into the Reddish Egret, Whooping Crane, Painted Bunting, Snail Kite and perhaps in seeing an Alligator or two

At the moment, Joe Overstreet is looking great, but I'm still considering going to Sanibel Island too, perhaps driving from one place to the other .. I wonder if I do that drive, would I cover a reasonable cross section of Fl habitats, and thus see a greater variety of birds ? :king:

savi · Dec 12, 2010

well it depends on how long you plan to stay.I think you are going at the right time of year. We will be there at the same time and we are definetly going to Ding Darling from Joe Overstreet, via Kissammee State Park,where Bachmanns are meant to be "abundant year round",which I doubt- its best when they are singing but still its worth a try! Dont forget to try for the Red Cockaded WP at Three Lakes entrance early am or maybe a very lucky Bachmanns Sparrow. If you do go to Ding Darling and have time, go to Fort Myers Beach for Plovers and Corkscrew swamp for Painted Buntings or Barred Owl, both nearby. From there we plan to head off to the Everglades for Snail Kite, Sparrows, Flamingo, and lots of other Florida goodies including a possible Magnificent Frigatebird! Theres a place called Lucky Hammock near the entrance which can be good for wintering Warblers. Also any local birders should be able to give you directions to any juicy arrivals like Vermillion Flycatcher, Le Sangria Flycatcher or Cassins Kingbird which have been spotted in the past. On the way back we want to stop off at Merritt Island for a few days which will be near you at Joe Overstreet and gives you another option. Its meant to be a brilliant place brimming with birds and its only an hour or so back to the airport ( depending on traffic ). Thats the problem with Florida - what to miss out ! Prantys Birders Guide and Rapozas Florida Birding are both must haves and should help you decide.Good Luck and good birding.
Savi

KHamblett · Dec 12, 2010

Merritt Island has the reddish egrets and is a great place for the Florida scrub jays.

Corkscrew Swamp - which is close to Naples and Sanibel - has painted buntings this time of year. http://corkscrew.audubon.org/

Also, if you're driving on I-95 going north or south on the eastern FL coast, you may consider Viera Wetlands (my favorite photog place when Orlando Wetlands is closed for the winter) - which is in the Melbourne area. Caracaras, eagles, cranes, limpkins, black necked stilts, alligators, otters, whistling ducks, bobwhites, and shrikes can be spotted. - and the American and Least bitterns! Best place for bitterns....

merryslug · Dec 13, 2010

I haven't tried Merritt Island yet but you should see Reddish at Ding Darling (Sanibel).

Zackiedawg · Dec 14, 2010

Viera is a good spot...I'd probably consider it, along with Ding Darling, Wakodahatchee, and Green Cay as the best places for spotting birds in South Florida, most notably at a very close range. It's the thing that makes these spots stand out for me - how close you can get to the wildlife.

iraqbabbler · Dec 15, 2010

South or Central ??

Great info guys, thank you for that o

However, I wonder if it is necessary to visit both Central Fl as well as South Florida to have a good chance of seeing the species mentioned in this thread ? .. or would I get away with sticking with either one region ?

merryslug · Dec 15, 2010

Zackiedawg said:
Viera is a good spot...I'd probably consider it, along with Ding Darling, Wakodahatchee, and Green Cay as the best places for spotting birds in South Florida, most notably at a very close range. It's the thing that makes these spots stand out for me - how close you can get to the wildlife.

By Viera do you mean the general area, or a specific park?

eta: Oh I just read back - Viear wetlands

* goes to google *

Zackiedawg · Dec 15, 2010

iraqbabbler said:
Great info guys, thank you for that o

However, I wonder if it is necessary to visit both Central Fl as well as South Florida to have a good chance of seeing the species mentioned in this thread ? .. or would I get away with sticking with either one region ?

I would say it depends on how flexible your schedule is. You would likely have any birder's dream spotting anywhere in Florida - central Florida will probably give you dozens or hundreds of species in just a day or two. Of course, the spotting is random enough that you just might hit a weird day where some species didn't show up where you went...the more places you can cover in the trip, the more likely you are to see all possible species. South Florida will likely have a few different species, or different numbers of, than central Florida. And vice versa. So if you think you can carve the time out to squeeze both in, that would be ideal...otherwise, you'll still probably have a fine time in just one of them and with a chance of still getting to see all the species you were hoping for.

Zackiedawg · Dec 15, 2010

merryslug said:
By Viera do you mean the general area, or a specific park?

eta: Oh I just read back - Viear wetlands

* goes to google *

yeah, Viera Wetlands in Melbourne. It's west of Melbourne actually - it's a drive-around type of wetlands area - similar to Wako and Green Cay in being a water treatment area, but it's spread out and you drive your car around, pulling over to shoot when and where you want...there are a few spotting areas and a tower there too. Good selection, like our Green Cay and Wako.

merryslug · Dec 15, 2010

iraqbabbler said:
Great info guys, thank you for that o

However, I wonder if it is necessary to visit both Central Fl as well as South Florida to have a good chance of seeing the species mentioned in this thread ? .. or would I get away with sticking with either one region ?

I pulled up this recent data on Whooping Crane sightings in Fl -

http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?speciesCodes=whocra&reportType=species&bMonth=01&bYear=1900&eMonth=12&eYear=2010&parentState=US-FL&countries=US&states=US-FL&getLocations=states&continue.x=52&continue.y=14

Based on this, my guess is you're going to have to try at least one Central spot if you really want to see them.

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