MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

Hi fellow UHH members. As usual, I’m reaching out to people I can trust for advice. Florida members, I’m counting on you!

My husband has finally agreed to go with me to Florida this spring so I can follow my passion of photographing birds. He’ll more than likely be hanging out on the beach, reading, and watching the girls go by.

I really don’t know the best time to go, where to go, or where to stay. We are both retired, so we are open as to how long we can be away from home. Home is as far south in NJ as you can get. We will be driving down rather than flying and renting a car once there. Once in Florida, we would rather stay in one location with fairly easy access to great locations for birds. I am not averse to basing out of one place. My preference would be to observe and photograph the mating and nesting behavior of birds we do not usually see in southern NJ. I’m thinking Burrowing Owls, Spoonbills, Pelicans (white abd brown), Woodstorks, Reddish Egrets, etc. Open to other suggestions.

This will be our first trip to Florida for this purpose so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. If there is a “must-see! spot on the way down, please feel free to bring it to my attention.

Thanks in advance!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Florida is a pretty big state. How long and where do you plan to be there?

What equipment do you have or plan to bring / rent?

Burrowing Owls would put in you in the Ft Myers area, with national wildlife refuges and moderate (hourish) drives to the south tip and access to start parks and national parks / refuges.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Merritt Island near Canaveral has a wildlife refuge.

MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

Dave, I don’t know where I need to go to see what I want to see - birds, birds, and MORE birds. As I said, we are open on how long to be there. Without knowing too much about Florida, I think I’d like to stay a week in one area and then maybe a week in another area. Drive time between location one and location 2really is not a consideration. I am NOT including drive time from NJ and back home again. So I’d have to say. maybe 2 weeks in Florida. My biggest problem right now is that I really don’t know the names and locations of the best “reserves” and what birds can be dxpected to be seen at each. When I googled the subject, the list I got was just ridiculously long. Since we have lots of members from Florida, I expect to receive a lot of really good guidance.

As for equipment, I have that more than covered. I’ve shot wildlife and birds on 5 continents, in pretty much all conditions, and all climates. Our most recent trip was 7 weeks in Africa followed immediately by 5 weeks in Scotland. Now, chosing and packing my gear for that trip was absolutely insane due mainly to very restrictive weight and carry-on limits.

Oh, I just happened to think that you’ve had some recent posts from zoos in Florida. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m going to take a look for those posts.

Thanks!

lorvey Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

I suggest you set up residence in Cape Coral and travel from there. Rental houses are more plentiful in Cape Coral than any other city in Florida, unless you are planning to stay in a village of trailers. Some of those are pretty nice.

Cape Coral-Burrowing Owls.

Travel to Sanibel Island (Ding Darling National Park) for spoonbills, pelicans, reddish egrets, big blue herons, and others. Of course, seeing all of these is hit and miss.

Travel to Shark Valley south on Hyway 41 for a variety of birds.

Travel to Venice (north of Cape Coral) to the Venice Rookery. Go early for sunrise to see the birds leave the roost, or go about 4pm to see them come in for the evening. (I prefer the evening). You may get to see some chicks here.

Travel east to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to see the painted bunting, hawks, possibly an owl or two, ibises, great egrets, and others.

The Six Mile Cypress Sough Preserve is in Fort Myers if you don't want to travel to far. It has a nice boardwalk. Takes an hour or two depending upon what you run into. The rest of the trips are day trips, but Cape Coral is a nice base for travel.

And one more issue--it is very car and restaurant crowded in the winter in Florida, but maybe since you are from New Jersey, it will be no big deal. Hope this helps.

PM me if you want some suggestions on renting a house. We have worked with a couple real estate companies. You want to make sure you work with someone with a good reputation.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Most of what I've edited and posted to UHH via links from Flickr has covered zoos in Florida from a 5+ week trip to GA-FL-SC. I spent a week+ in Ft Myers and hit the following for wildlife:

Sanibel Island - JN Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Pine Island - Galt Nature Preserve
National Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
CREW Trust Bird Rookery Swamp Trail
Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve

I drove over to the Cape Coral library to see the burrowing owls, but realized I should have been there closer to dawn rather than mid morning.

Everything above is south from Ft Myers, there's a lot along the Gulf Coast heading north toward Sarasota, St Petersburg and Tampa.

MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

Fabulous, helpful information. I’ll be PM’ing you soon for rental info.

I had to laugh at your comment on the traffic in NJ. We live in a resort town which is so crowded every summer that we actually leave town for most of the summer. In the off-season, it is wonderfully quiet here. Wanna rent our house for the summer?

MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

Thanks, Dave. That is the sort of info I was hoping for. Looks like I’ll be spending lots of time on the internet over the next few days.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

You sure you want to go to Florida? Nothing against Florida, but how about SE Texas during migration, say, April and May. I moved here 1 1/2 years ago after spending my whole life in Illinois. I am still amazed by the number of lifers I've photographed in 2018. I have seen many, many more birds here than in the many trips I made to the St. Pete's Beach area and a few of the Keys.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I will try and make this succinct - I would stay at one place on the West coast and one place on the East coast. I would go thru the everglades on US41 when going from the East coast to the West coast or vice-versa. I am not intimately familiar with the West coast - but there are lots of GOOD places. In addition to those already mentioned I would add Myakka river state park airboat rides and the celery fields. There are good STA's ( storm water treatment areas) towards the center of the state.

I am familiar with the East coast - Wakodahatchee is a must. The Palm Beach Zoo is also very good. I am in Stuart which is sort of the middle of the East coast and there are a couple of good local Stuart places.

Some other places to look at are Viera, Black Point Merrit Is., Christmas Fla. Orlando wetlands, Gatorland, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, Fellsmere Rookery, Blue Cypress lake, Joe Overstreet Rd.

Some good people to PM would be DaveO, Gregoryd45, and Mark Smith. Mark Smith knows some GREAT places - not sure he will divulge them tho.

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swartfort Loc: Evansville, IN

I cannot recommend Wakodahatchee enough!! I have been to zoos where the conditions are not as good as at this location. Easy parking (except at high mating season), easy access (boardwalk) VERY close to many bird species of many kinds, and a group of photographers who are regulars who can be very helpful. Also in that area are Green Key (about 4 miles away and set up very similarly) and Laxodahatchee (this is a National park so the visitor center may be closed) . There is a "side entrance" on the west side of Boca Raton that is self pay park ($5.00) then you can simply walk into the Everglades. Really cool.

This area is close to the beaches and an easy drive back and forth from the wildlife so you can access golden hour light, go join your husband for mid-day activities, then back for evening golden hour.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-570886-1.html

just a few of the hundreds of images I kept from 4 days visiting this area

roxiemarty Loc: Florida

St Augustine is a wonderful area near me, and I highly recommend the Alligator Farm. If you look at my topics, you will see examples of the nesting birds that come there every year to nest. They are wonderful and the boardwalk is close to the nesting area. I have already bought my pass to go again this Spring. We are on the Great Florida Birding Trail.

Revet Loc: Fairview Park, Ohio

I just got back from a kayak in the everglades tour (evergladesareatours.com). The birds along the way were plentiful and spectacular. If you are down that way, put it on your list. Our guide paddles while I took pictures.

wteffey Loc: Ocala, FL USA

Florida has 175 State Parks, and most offer excellent opportunities for bird watching. You can't go wrong with any. Unfortunately most are very busy on weekends and holidays and those with water, fresh or salt, are often at capacity. Under those conditions wildlife retreats to less popular and/or unreachable places. Many parks have well groomed trails or even boardwalks to take you "back-country". If you can find parking most Florida beaches are nice even on weekends and holidays, but if you are not staying at a hotel parking is a problem. Kayaking on some north Fl rivers is wonderful but the water is always COLD. Again, avoid weekends and holidays.

sergio

I would agree with Merritt Island (East FL) and JN Ding Darling (West FL). You cannot be unsatisfied there.