Best compromise in timing between migrating birds and egrets/herons in breeding plumage

[Markus Hanika]

Hi there,

as i plan a trip to Florida (Little Estero, Corkscrew, Cape Coral, Fort deSoto, Meritt Island, Viera, Wako...) in February or March, i would like to get some input from the local experts which month is a better compromise to take pictures of migrated birds (still in Florida) AND herons / egrets in breeding plumage.
Since i have been able to find a significantly higher number of shots showing herons/egrets in breeding plumage in March than in February i currently plan to do the trip between Mar 11- Mar 23.
Would you recommend something else?

Thanks in advance
Markus

[Marina Scarr]

Hi Markus:

The Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons may well be out of breeding plumage by that date. However, the Reddish Egrets probably will be in breeding plumage and I find they are the most beautiful. You may have a lot of luck at that time of year at the Alligator Farm or Gatorland as well (which now has extended hours for photographs again 3x a week). There will be a LOT of nesting going on there. The reddish egrets at Fort Desoto would be great to photograph at that time, and I am confident the birds at Viera, Merritt Island and Estero will look great too.

If I were in your shoes, I would come in March rather than February. I agree with your dates for best photo opps. As far as migrating birds, I can't really help you much but that would probably be in April.

Let me know if you have other questions.

[Markus Hanika]

Hi Marina,

right, GBH and GE are most likely not "perfect" targets anymore.
My main targets are reddish (as i also find them very beautiful), little blue and cattle egrets.
Also very nice would be if i could get some decent shots of burrowing owls, cara caras, spoonies, skimmers,...
Well let's say most of the birds in Florida are desireable ;-)

Nice ... , glad to hear that the "photo pass" something similar is available again at Gatorland. So i most likely will put it on my location list again. And i just checked their homepage, they also offer an early entry as well as a stay late option. But it seems somehow senseless as it costs 10 bucks in addition to the price of the daily ticket 24.99 compared to the 29.99 for the one day photo pass (7:30am to dusk). However it's unclear to me if these two options can be utilized every day?
By the way, i've read that, due to newly opened "Gator Zip Line" the rookery is negatively affected. In that case one could safe his/her money for something else. Can someone confirm that the rookery at Gatorland is still busy this year?

Best regards
Markus

[Marina Scarr]

I will see what I can find out for you as far as Gatorland. I have a feeling the rookery will still be rocking b/c the zipline is on the opposite side of most of the nesting.

[Robert Strickland]

I went to the gatorland over the weekend. I found the rookery full of nesting Great Egrets and woodstorks. The Zip line has no consequense wit the rookery. The birds dont seemed to be bothered with it. It is way in the back behind the rookery although it does cross the rookery at the end going to Pearls. Never the less the shooting was fantastic.

[Markus Hanika]

Thanks Robert for the update. Nice to hear that.
As my schedule is now fixed, i'm looking forward hoping around the typical locations between march 12th and march 22nd.
Depending on which shots i could already get, i might add a Gatorland stop ;-)
I would be happy to bump into someone from the forum on one of the locations i mentioned in my first post

Markus