If you're going the whole of Florida to the Keys, there are a few great places to bird even in the heat of Florida in June.
- Fort de Soto is good even in summer with a variety of shorebirds like Red Knot, American Oystercatcher and a variety of plovers in the beach. You can also catch up with Reddish Egret and Nanday Parakeets without much effort in the park
- Siesta Key Public Beach access is decent in the morning, with the main target to look out for being the breeding residents of Black Skimmers, Least Tern and Snowy Plover
- Celery Fields in Sarasota has a decent variety of wetland specialties with Mottled Duck, Purple Gallinule and Limpkin both being readily available even in the summer months
- JN Ding Darling NWR can be decent, best birds would probably be the waders like Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill, Reddish Egret and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, along with Magnificent Frigatebird and Swallow-tailed Kite if you've somehow missed them so far
- Babcock/Webb Wildlife Management Area will do wonders for you in the early morning, I've had there everything from Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Bachman's Sparrow, to more widespread species like Eastern Bluebird, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Northern Bobwhite and King Rail
- Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is decent but only if you have missed Barred Owl and Swallow-tailed Kite elsewhere
- Miami area is a mixed bag but if you want exotic birds you would be hard pressed to find a better place outside of Hawaii in the US, everything from Red-whiskered Bulbuls to Scaly-breasted Munia, to Indian Peafowl, a large variety of parakeets (Mitred, Red-masked, White-eyed and Blue-crowned) with 2 species of macaw (Blue-and-Yellow and Chestnut-fronted) and even one parrot species (Orange-winged). Plus searching the wires in the evenings in some parts will give you White-crowned Pigeon and any parking lot will give you Gray Kingbird and Common Myna if you haven't seen one already
- I cannot recommend the Everglades with a clear conscience at this time of the year unless you want to see the scenery, the alligators and American Crocodile (which is easier to be seen in Key Biscayne), the mosquitoes will come for you and the water levels make the bird numbers and variety very low. Maybe in the Shark Valley area you would have a chance of seeing Snail Kite but again, the water levels will make that difficult
- Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Gardens would be good if you want/need White-crowned Pigeon, Mangrove Cuckoo and Black-whiskered Vireo
- If you go further down and are fine with snorkeling, I highly recommend taking a boat trip from John Pennekamp SP and if you reach Key West and have a bit of extra cash, a trip down to Dry Tortugas would be great even if you will only get the nesting seabirds, the fort and the snorkeling in shallow water
A few of these places are birders only kind of spots, but many can be happily be taken with nonbirders and they can enjoy the beach, the scenery, etc. while you enjoy the birds.
If you have any questions or even want help around the Miami, Everglades and Key Largo area, let me know, this place is my backyard and I've seen it at it's best times and the worst times too.
