Ultimate Florida Birding Trip...Input Welcomed

[AJ Witt]

Hello all!

I am planning a 7 day trip around south Florida starting next Saturday, the 13th. I think I know the hot spots, thanks to this forum, but I would welcome any input as to places that may be better than I am planning on hitting:

Saturday 13th - Green Cay / Wako

Sunday 14th - Everglades: Mrazek / Eco Ponds

Monday 15th - Flamingo / Snake Bite

Tuesday 16th - Naples Area - Corkscrew / Tigertail

Wednesday 17th - Ft Myers - Ding / Bunche / Estero

Thursday 18th - Ft Myers - Ding / Bunche / Estero

Friday 19th - Ft Desots / Venice / Circle B

...then back home to Jacksonville.

Any input would be greatly appreciated as this is my first year doing bird photography.

Thanks!

AJ

[Michael Pancier]

the fact you have Circle B on the list, you're all set. Make sure you have enough time to get there right before sunrise and plan on spending the whole day there. Pack a lunch. But if you have them all planned for one day, you won't be able to do it. Venice is an am shoot. Ft. Desoto is early am or late pm shoot, though it has been dead with the cold weather we had. Circle B you have to spend a whole day there. or at least sunrise to early pm. It's the best location of all the places on your list.

Corkscrew is nice if you're counting birds, but not good for photography. If you're lucky, you'll maybe get some hawk photos, but most of it is under tree canopy with poor lighting and no clear shots.

Ding is great if you're there when the gate opens which is currently just before sunrise. The spoons congregate in the 1st pond, but shortly after sunrise, they start taking off. By 9:00, or the time you make a complete drive through the park, you're pretty much done there.

Bunche is fantastic again early am and mid afternoon to sunset. Probably one of the best spots in SW Fla right now.

Mrazek pond has been dead. The eco pond has tons of egrets; a few spoons and other birds, but they are far away. Best action in flamingo is the osprey nests. A cool place in the glades early am is Paurotis Pond if you're into counting and shooting with very long lens; huge rookery of spoons, wood storks, osprey, etc. lots of fly bys. well worth a stop, but early in the am only. Also, Fabs reported Shark Valley early in the am has been good lately too. The loop road is always an adventure so long as there is no high water. Lot's of hawks and owls there.

So in sum, I'd suggest you spend more time at Circle B than at some of the other locations if you can.

Another place you may want to consider is Myakka River State Park in Sarasota if you can get there when the park opens; lots of owl opportunities there as well as other species. It's a beautiful park.

[AJ Witt]

Wow! Michael, thanks so much for your time and input!

I think I will skip the Naples area and go straight from the Everglades to Ft Myers area and then plan on skipping DeSoto to spend more time at Circle B.

Thanks again!

[Michael Pancier]

Wow! Michael, thanks so much for your time and input!

I think I will skip the Naples area and go straight from the Everglades to Ft Myers area and then plan on skipping DeSoto to spend more time at Circle B.

Thanks again!

I think you'll surely find more action in Fort Myers Beach/Sanibel area no doubt that Naples/Marco especially right now. Check to see if De Soto has picked up. You may get lucky. But when I was there around New Year, no birds at North Beach yet tons at Circle B.

[Fabs Forns]

You can also skip Anhinga Trail unless you are into Black Vultures.

[AJ Witt]

Thanks for the input Fabs!! I was planning on hitting Anhinga Trail too...so maybe I will scrap that too!

[Alfred Forns]

Hi AJ You can always find something on Anhinga trail and is always good to have a couple of vulture images :)

The Mrazek / Eco Ponds sites are not all that good, Mrazek has lots of water and is an afternoon shoot. Echo could have spoons early morning but hard to get. The good action is for Osprey bringing branches, they are all over the place. All you need is to luck out with the right wind and they will be landing into you !!

Good luck on the trip, will be fun !!

[Jim Buescher]

I'll be in Florida in mid-March doing east and west coasts. Where exactly is Circle B? Sounds like a must see so I'll add it to my list.

Thanks

[Jay Gould]

Just my two cents - and I will probably inadvertently leave someone out who should have been included to be be politically/photographically correct: anyone going to Florida should seriously consider at least one day with the Forns, Jim Neigher, and James Shadle. Giving a day to each of them will result in a great mixture of subjects and a significant increase on the learning curve.

[Adams Serra]

Hi AJ,
Ding has been bad for some time now. Bunch Bch is really good and you are going to have low tide at around 8:00 AM, the number of birds at Estero are way down since that cold front we had here.

[john j. henderson]

Good Luck AJ

[Michael Pancier]

I'll be in Florida in mid-March doing east and west coasts. Where exactly is Circle B? Sounds like a must see so I'll add it to my list.

Thanks

Jim here's the link (http://www.polk-county.net/subpage.aspx?menu_id=52&nav=res&id=6040) to Circle B

it's in Lakeland, Florida which is about an hour from either Orlando or Tampa.

[Jim Buescher]

Thanks Mike, looking forward to it.

[AJ Witt]

Thank you to everyone whom responded!

If anyone is going to be visiting those location on any days that I am going to be there, by all means, send me a message and mabe we can meet up.

Thanks again everyone!

AJ

[john j. henderson]

AJ

How is your trip-having good luck?

[AJ Witt]

John, thanks for thinking of me and my trip!

Well Saturday at Green Cay and Wako, Green Cay was a dissapointment while Wako was about the norm, nothing great, but not bad either. The highlight of Saturday had to be picking up my new (well, new to me at least) lens, the Nikon 500mm AFS-II!

Spent Sunday and Monday in the 'Glades...not much action at all. As the Forns mentioned, lots of ospreys at Flamingo and vultures at Annhinga Trail. I still say the best photos in Flamingo is from a kayak at low tide when you can paddle out to the white pelicans on the exposed sand bars.

Drove to Ft Myers area today. Went to Bunche, lots of turns and got some nice shots of a little blue heron feeding. Then went to Ding this afternoon. Wow, Sanibel Island is CRAZY busy...tourist season seems to be in full swing!!! Despite that, Ding was not great either. Did manage to find some spoonies in the mangroves within shooting distance. Other than that, there wasn't much excitement. Hoping for a better day tomorrow as I will be there at sunrise (which will mean traffic won't be too bad that early) and during low tide.

Still looking forward to Circle B and may try to fit in Gatorland on Friday!

AJ

[Don Hamilton Jr.]

AJ, sorry to hear of the "lack of", this unseasonably cold is putting a damper on a lot of our activity.Hopefully, later this week , we'll maybe reach the 70"s... fingers crossed, and you find more activity!!! Best of luck! If you head to Circle B, let me know, and i'll let my dad know as he lives close by...
Don