Birding is fun in Florida

 This week I am thinking warm and reliving my Florida trip. A warm and sunny place compared to the extreme cold we are having this next to last week of January.

I am sharing my birding fun in Florida back in April 2013.  We started out in Tampa drove down the gulf coast stopping in various places along the way to Key West and then back to Tampa. We saw awesome birds, beaches, preserves, wildlife refuges and gorgeous sunsets.  I will show some of the highlights of the trip and my Florida lifers.

 We started out in Tampa with a quick visit at my SIL’s place. It was neat to see the Sandhill Cranes walking around her development. This Sandhill Crane should watch out for the golf balls. BTW, no birds were hurt with golf balls at least at the time of my visit.

 Driving south we made a quick detour to see the Burrowing Owls in Cape Corals.  The Burrowing Owls were easy to find and a lifer for me. Another lifer seen with the Burrowing Owls was a Loggerhead Shrike.

Our next stop was to see the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. At the Corkscrew Swamp we saw the Wood Stork which was a lifer. The Roseate Spoonbills and the Painted Buntings are always a treat to see.

 Next we headed to Sanibel Island and Ding Darling NWR. It is a beautiful spot to see Egrets, Little Blue Herons were plentiful, many White Ibis and my first sighting of the Swallow-tailed Kite.

Our next stop was Key West, just the drive to the Keys is a treat. The scenery and birds are awesome along the way. 

 Leaving Key West we stopped for a couple of days to explore the Everglades Nat’l Park. We rode the tram at Shark Valley and also walked the boardwalk trail.

 We drove west to the Flamingo Visitor Center, stopping along the way for some trails and birding.  There were many Wood Stork, Heron and Anhinga rookeries in the Everglades National Park.

Leaving the Everglades behind we headed north up the gulf coast again. Stopping at Marco Island for another quickie sighting of the Burrowing Owls.

 Continuing our drive north we made another stop at the Myakko River State Park. It was at Myakko, I saw my lifer the Limpkin.

 Leaving Myakko and as we headed back to highway to Tampa we came across this family of Sandhill Cranes. A very cool sighting for me to see the crane chicks.

 The Venice Audubon Rookery was another stop on our way north to Tampa. Here we saw my favorite the Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron Rookeries and some Glossy Ibis.

Fort Desoto was our final birding stop before heading to the Tampa Airport hotel. Florida is an awesome place to visit, especially for the birding.  Many of the places we stopped at were on the Florida Birding Trail. I love that various states have these birding trail map, beside Florida I have loved using the Delaware Birding Trail. Does you state have a birding trail? They come in handy while traveling.  I hope you enjoyed the birds and my post.

Florida lifers: Wood Stork, Burrowing Owl, Loggerhead Shrike, Swallowtail Kite, Sora, Eurasian-collared Dove and Limpkin. Linking up with my Saturday's Critters

Eileeninmd

Viewing nature with Eileen