Compare Florida: Winter Birding In The Sunshine State by Limosa Holidays

Day 1: Fly Orlando, Transfer To Titusville

Our birdwatching tour to Florida begins with a British Airways flight from London Gatwick to Orlando, arriving there in the afternoon. An hour or so drive carries us east to our comfortable hotel at Titusville, close by Florida’s Atlantic coast, which will be our base for the first two nights of the holiday. Night Titusville

Day 2: Merritt Island

We may awake to the unfamiliar sight of a flight of White Ibises trailing across the dawn sky, the Blackbird-sized American Robin hopping about the grounds of our hotel or restless Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers gleaning the trunks of subtropical palms for an insect snack.

Conveniently located within a short drive of our hotel, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is one of Atlantic Florida’s top birding sites. Extending over 80,000 acres of marshes, mangroves and lagoons, the refuge is at its best in winter, when it can literally be heaving with birds. Nine-banded Armadillos forage beside the road and this is one of the best spots in Florida to find the threatened West Indian Manatee. Snowy and Great White Egrets, Tricoloured, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, Glossy Ibis, Reddish Egret and Roseate Spoonbill are all readily approachable - don’t forget your camera!

Ospreys and Belted Kingfishers hover overhead as we check the shallower pools for a host of waders. At this time of year, Least and Western Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Willet and American Avocet should all be about. Wildfowl are usually plentiful too, our ‘own’ familiar Shoveler and Pintail mingling with parties of Blue-winged Teal and Mottled Duck, American Wigeon and rafts of American Coot. The scarce but dazzling Hooded Merganser also occurs and confiding Pied-billed Grebes share the trailside waterways with Double-crested Cormorants, while the petite American Kestrel and persistent Northern Harrier are among wintering birds of prey.

In areas of woodland and palmetto scrub, we may see our first Yellow-throated and Black-and-white Warblers clambering about the limbs and tree-trunks, while Carolina Wrens and Northern Cardinals call loudly from the thickest undergrowth. Along the nearby shore, Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls fill the niche of ‘our own’ Common and Black-headed Gulls back home, and squadrons of Black Skimmers take a breather as American Black and Turkey Vultures ride the sea-breezes over the dunes and enormous Brown Pelicans cruise lazily by. Gazing across the scene, it comes as quite a surprise to suddenly find the tall shuttle launch pads of the Kennedy Space Centre looming in the background! Night Titusville

Day 3: Lake Kissimmee & Three Lakes

Leaving Titusville after breakfast we set off inland, bound for the contrasting habitats and distinctive Cabbage Palm prairies, ranchlands and pine flatwoods of central Florida. Keeping a close watch on the wooded pastures for Wild Turkeys, Red-tailed Hawks and the attractive Fox Squirrel, we head first to Lake Kissimmee.

Kissimmee's shores are a noted haunt of the scarce Snail Kite as well as Bald Eagle, Glossy Ibis and Sandhill Crane, and the lakeside makes a great spot to enjoy our picnic today. Eastern Meadowlarks flute, restless Savanna Sparrows pop up on fence wires as we pass and boggy hollows could produce anything from Wilson’s Snipe to a furtive American Bittern. If we are fortunate, we will come across a family party of rare Whooping Cranes out in the fields, these stately white giants having been successfully re-introduced at nearby Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area to bolster North America’s flagging wild population.

The dry pine woodlands at Three Lakes are home to a number of special birds, including Pine Warbler and Brown-headed Nuthatch. We should find Eastern Bluebird and Tufted Titmouse here, before stopping at a spot where we have enjoyed views of Barred Owl in the past. Three Lakes is also a reliable place to look for the threatened Red-cockaded Woodpecker; although we haven’t missed it yet, this quiet and elusive bird is as difficult to spot in the extensive woodlands as its own red cockade! We have perhaps our best chances of seeing one towards late afternoon when the wide-ranging foraging birds start making their back towards a roosting hole.

Early evening arrival at our next hotel in the Sebring/Lake Wales area, where we stay for two nights. Night Sebring/Lake Wales

Day 4: Lake Wales Forest & Lake Placid Prairie

Next morning will find us exploring the forested Lake Wales ridge, driving slowly along the sandy trails and pausing from time to time to listen out for busy flocks of small birds and the tell-tale ‘squeaky toy’ voice of Brown-headed Nuthatch. Bands of Pine Warblers - sometimes up to thirty or forty strong - rove the winter woodlands, carrying with them an assortment of other birds such as Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Tufted Titmouse, White-eyed Vireo and the dinky Downy Woodpecker. The larger Hairy Woodpecker has all but disappeared from southern Florida, but we have sometimes seen it here.

In the afternoon, investigation of the open prairie grasslands around Lake Placid should reward us with views of Burrowing Owl, Sandhill Crane and Crested Caracara - all species with a restricted distribution in the eastern United States. Winter often brings a few surprises this way and one bird we shall be busy checking roadside wires and posts here for is the elegant Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

In the evening, we may see American Purple Gallinule, American Moorhen and Black-crowned Night Heron from a short boardwalk trail. Night Sebring/Lake Wales

Day 5: Old Venus & Corkscrew Swamp

Heading west to Florida’s Gulf coast, our first port of call today is Old Venus. These quiet backwoods can be outstanding for woodpeckers - notably the stunning Red-headed. We’ll be keeping our eyes open along the way for the localised White-winged Dove and tiny Common Ground Dove, while Northern Bobwhite, Northern Flicker and Loggerhead Shrike are also possible amongst the fields and scattered trees. The colourful and endemic Florida Scrub Jays can often be very confiding around here, too!

Our onward journey takes us next to Corkscrew Swamp, the last virgin stand of Bald Cypress woodlands in the State. After enjoying our picnic lunch, there’ll be an opportunity to shop for souvenirs in the well-stocked visitor centre before setting off to explore the trail. Passing beneath the ancient trees festooned with Spanish Moss, bromeliads and ferns, a raised boardwalk across the swamp offers wonderful close-up views of several species of heron, along with wintering wood-warblers such as Yellow-rumped, Palm and Parula. The handsome Blue-headed Vireo is another species to watch for along the trail, while American Goldfinch and the incredible Painted Bunting are two species attracted to the bird feeders here. We may see a bandit-masked Raccoon fossicking beside the water and we could be lucky to encounter the big Barred Owl roosting beside the trail.

In the late afternoon we continue west to our comfortable hotel in Naples, on the Gulf of Mexico coast, where we spend the next two nights. Night Naples

Day 6: Gulf Of Mexico & Big Cypress Preserve

Naples makes an excellent base from which to explore the tidal flats and mangroves that fringe the immense Gulf of Mexico. We may make a short stop along the way to look for Eastern Towhee and to entice the ever-hungry Florida Scrub Jays, before discovering that Reddish Egret, Black Skimmer, Royal Tern and the recently split Cabot’s Tern are among many more delights that await us on Florida's west coast.

The menacing black cruciform shapes of Magnificent Frigatebirds are sometimes present close to shore - but it’s shorebirds that really steal the show here. If the tide is right, amidst the busy parties of waders we may pick out Wilson’s, Snowy, Semipalmated and Piping Plovers, Least and Western Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs and Short-billed Dowitcher, an American Oystercatcher or two and perhaps some elegant Marbled Godwits - as well as more familiar Grey Plover and Knot. If we haven’t seen the flighty Common Ground Dove yet we may be lucky here, before we pause nearby to check to see if the local - and very friendly - Burrowing Owls are still in residence!

Heading east along the Tamiami Trail, "Big Cypress Preserve" may sound like a locally produced jam but is, in fact, home to another delightful boardwalk through the swamps. Blue-grey Gnatcatcher and White-eyed Vireo occur, and warblers such as American Redstart and the superb Black-throated Green Warbler are regularly present in winter. This well-wooded trail is also a good spot to look for the attractive Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (which winters here) and the outsize Pileated Woodpecker (which is resident). American Alligators lurk among the trees and, depending on water levels, a variety of herons and egrets stalk the margins of its secret pools. Night Naples

Days 7 – 9: Everglades National Park

Occupying most of the southern tip of mainland Florida, the vast Everglades National Park is an immense watery wilderness dominated by forests of impenetrable mangroves and seas of sawgrass, interspersed with lakes, marshes and low 'hammocks' - raised islands of land clad in a jungle of West Indian hardwoods. As we travel east across the northern edge of the park this morning, we’ll keep a keen eye open for the nomadic Snail Kite. With its ‘winkle-picker’ bill, this essentially tropical raptor can be a tricky bird to find in Florida, but we shall be hoping to maintain our 100% success rate by taking in a few key spots that we know.

In the afternoon, we may pay a first visit to the impressive Everglades visitor centre, before devoting the rest of day seven and all of days eight and nine to a fuller exploration of this splendid National Park.

From raised boardwalks across the swamps we can gaze down on Snapping Turtles, the predatory Florida Gar and basking American Alligators. Or marvel as an Anhinga swims eerily by with only its snake-like neck and long spear bill protruding above the water’s surface. We may find ourselves staring eyeball-to eyeball with Double-crested Cormorants lined up on the railing beside the path, watching a Great Blue Heron stalking its prey, or perhaps surprise a shy Hermit Thrush or a furtive Ovenbird feeding in the open along a quiet woodland trail. We’ll relish chances to look again for Wood Stork, American Bittern and American White Pelican, while scanning the skies for raptors such as Florida Red-shouldered Hawk and the very much scarcer Short-tailed and Swainson’s Hawks, both of which winter sparsely here.

Making a series of scheduled (and unscheduled!) stops along the way, the road runs south through the park to Flamingo, where we’ll break for lunch. Ospreys fish over the idyllic blue-green waters of the bay, dotted with subtropical islands of mangroves and white sand beaches which at low tide provide a safe haven for resting pelicans, gulls and shorebirds. We’ll discover that the peculiar looking "Wurdemann’s Heron", widespread Great Blue Heron and huge Great White Herons of the Florida Keys are in fact one and the same species! And we’ll hope to find a true local rarity here - the endangered and very sinister-looking American Crocodile, with its characteristic long, narrow snout. The peculiar Marsh Rabbit often emerges from cover to feed in the late afternoon sun and we’ve come across any number of scarce and unusual birds in the Everglades over the years: from ‘Cape Sable’ and Grasshopper Sparrows to Western Kingbird, Vermillion Flycatcher and the desperately elusive Mangrove Cuckoo. Three nights Homestead (South Miami)

Day 10: Key Largo & Wakodahatchee

Lying to the south of Homestead, the Florida Keys are a string of subtropical islands that point south like an outstretched finger from the USA towards Cuba.

A morning visit to the biggest and northernmost of these islands - Key Largo - may reward us with a sighting of the shy White-crowned Pigeon, a Caribbean species with an outpost on the US mainland here. Migratory Broad-winged Hawks like to perch on the roadside wires here and we have chances to see some more of Florida’s wintering warblers, possibly including Orange-crowned, Prairie and American Redstart.

Picking up the Florida Turnpike we then head north, bypassing Miami to follow the Atlantic coast up to Boca Raton. We’ll spend the late afternoon here, enjoying the cracking boardwalk at Wakodahatchee. Mottled Duck, Shoveler and Green-winged Teal paddle unconcernedly about just a few feet beneath us, Monk Parakeets pass noisily overhead and Boat-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds turn up the volume too as evening approaches. We’ll also see if we can spot the reserve’s famously large alligator,

12 feet in length and affectionately known as ‘The Slob’! Best of all, this can be a great place for close encounters with scarce or secretive marsh dwellers like Least Bittern, Black-necked Stilt, Limpkin and Sora Rail - any one of which would round off our day in style. Night Boca Raton

Day 11: Green Cay Wetlands & Miami, Fly London

We round of our Florida holiday with a visit to another promising local wetland this morning: Green Cay. Covering around 100 acres and with 1.5 miles of elevated boardwalk to enjoy, this man-made wetland was created from farmland only a few years ago, but is bedding-in nicely now. Though lacking the maturity of nearby Wakodahatchee, it’s bigger and we look forward to seeing what surprises it may hold this year.

Past group highlights at Green Cay have included super sightings of Limpkin, Sora Rail and American Purple Gallinule, along with American Redstart and American Bittern. A female Bufflehead was an unexpected surprise on our November 2008 visit, being a new species for the reserve. Although only infrequently seen, Green Cay also has a family of Bobcats in residence so we’ll also keep a keen eye open for them!

All too soon, it'll be time to head back south! We travel about an hour along the Florida Turnpike to Miami International Airport, where we check-in for our evening flight home.

Day 12: Arrival In London

Morning arrival at London Heathrow (not Gatwick!), where our birdwatching tour to Florida concludes.