Florida birding info...

[Pam]

I live in Florida, one of the best birding areas in the western hemisphere. Our Fish and Wildlife Commission has put together a set of birding guides for the state. There are 4 guides, covering the South, East, West and Panhandle areas of Florida. They are very nicely done with maps and info for many, many birding areas. In fact, they have created a "Florida Birding Trail". It's 2,000 miles of birding heaven and encompasses the entire state. The guides are available in PDF form online or can be ordered by mail for free:
http://floridabirdingtrail.com/

The Southern section guide is now available, pay no attention to the "link coming soon" statement. Just click on the guide itself to download, or here is a direct link:
http://floridabirdingtrail.com/SFBT.pdf

BTW, for those of you that have upcoming Disney World vacations, the Disney area is covered by the East section ; )

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Pam
http://www.pbase.com/pam_r
'art is working on something 'til you like it...then leaving it that way'

[FocusingOnFlorida]

That can be a bit misleading. I saw one of the Birding Trail signs when they first started going up. I drove down the road and it dead ended. Their were no trails on the road at all. So, they are really not trails but roads you can drive that you may be more likely to see birds than others, I guess. Looking at the maps will help people to locate possible areas that may enhance their chances. Looking at the map, if it ends at a lake, it is most likely that you will see wading birds and possibly other birds that rely on the lakes and rivers for food such as Ospreys, Eagles, Seagulls, Swallow Tailed Kites, etc...

It does have quite a bit of information, though. Looking at the East section, it recommends the The Three Lakes Wildlife management area. That is quite a large piece of land and trails, but they also allow hunting at different time of the year. It is a good list of sites, but I recommend researching them before driving the distance to get there.

All in all, great information and a very informative and interesting first post. They put an article in the Florida Wildlife Magazine as well.

Here is a like to the Florida Wildlife Magazine as well. http://www.floridawildlifemagazine.com/

Welcome to PhotoCamel, Pam!

[dc2]

Welcome Pam

[JDArt]

I wonder whether Rob Amy can contribute any new locations to this thread?

[RobAmy]

Originally Posted by JDArt

I wonder whether Rob Amy can contribute any new locations to this thread?

The areas I hit this Vacation in Florida are:

Hudson Harbor
Cabbage Key, requires a boat ride
Venice Rookery
Everglades (Shark Valley, Anhinga Trail)
Ding Darling
Cape Coral
Big Cyress Bend, RT 41
Pine Key, in the Keys ( Key Deer and a few birds)