If you had 3 or 4 days in Florida to shoot birds

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DGettisNC said:
I was just looking into Costa Rica myself. My question though, is it doable solo? Or do you pretty much have to get tour guides.
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Wildlife is everywhere, so while a guide is a plus, I think a driver is all you need. All the hotels will be able to put you in touch with someone who can show you around and everyone speaks English. The rainy season is now starting and the rain forest is full of life. Pretty much anywhere except Central Valley (San Jose) is a go.
 
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Nimi said:
Wildlife is everywhere, so while a guide is a plus, I think a driver is all you need. All the hotels will be able to put you in touch with someone who can show you around and everyone speaks English. The rainy season is now starting and the rain forest is full of life. Pretty much anywhere except Central Valley (San Jose) is a go.
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Thank you. I kind of like "winging" it myself on trips a lot but just wasnt sure if that was possible there or not. Plus it always helps if I can avoid a $4000 or more additional expense which is what it seems most of those wildlife photo tours charge for 4-5 days.
 
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DGettisNC said:
Thank you. I kind of like "winging" it myself on trips a lot but just wasnt sure if that was possible there or not. Plus it always helps if I can avoid a $4000 or more additional expense which is what it seems most of those wildlife photo tours charge for 4-5 days.
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I live in Playa Jaco, an hour from the airport where there are probably 150 bird species all within a few miles of me. If you're interested, DM and I'll put you in touch with a friend who can guide you there.
 
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Nimi said:
I live in Playa Jaco, an hour from the airport where there are probably 150 bird species all within a few miles of me. If you're interested, DM and I'll put you in touch with a friend who can guide you there.
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Any decent all-inclusive hotel resorts nearby?
 
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Palmor said:
I only really know the west coast near Naples/Ft Meyers. In that general area I've had great experiences at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, CorkScrew Swamp and Ding Darling NWR.
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We were at Corkscrew yesterday and Lettuce lake is almost dry…so by the middle of May the waders will be elsewhere. It is a feeding frenzy now as the ponds shrink though. Black Point, Circle Bar B and others are still pretty wet though.
 
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jcgamble said:
If you're going to Lee County/Fort Myers check out Bunche Beach and Little Estero Lagoon. Both are smaller places that you walk short distances to and have always been highly productive for me. I live in Volusia County and Merritt Island and North Shore of Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive are my favorite driving locations, one brackish and one fresh. Orlando Wetlands Park is the best walking photography place I've been to.
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Thank you!
 
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At this time of year Gatorland would be at the top of my list followed by Merritt Island NWR. Orlando Wetlands Park is also a great place. A lot dependds on how much time you can afford to spend driving. Being so far south at Miami and option is to photograph roseate spoonbills at Florida Bay on the keys.
 
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Just going to chime in once more and say that you really need to decide what type of shots you want and then go to spots where you can get those shots. Gatorland is a crowded rookery shot from a crowded boardwalk. Merrit Island is all from elevated roadways as is Orlando Wetlands for the most part. Again if you want the rookery shots or shooting down on stuff shots than those places are amazing. But if you don't then they are a waste of your limited time.

I would make a list of the top priority birds you want photos of and the types of photos that you want and then design your trip around that. Otherwise you will be stuck shooting whatever you run into in less than optimal shooting conditions for the most part. Hope that helps...
 
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I would echo Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach. Roseate Spoonbills are gone currently but an amazing quantity of birds, both variety and numbers, in a small area. All varieties of herons, Wood Storks, Osprey, Alligators, Anhinga, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, and Ibis.
A Least Bittern from Friday:
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Abinoone said:
It's hard to go wrong in Florida - there are so many great nature preserves, beaches, wetlands, etc. I favor the Gulf coast, and typically locate in or around Sarasota, or Ft. Meyers. The shorebirds on Siesta Key (especially the black skimmers) are fabulous at dawn, and there's plenty else to shoot there too (pelicans, herons, egrets, dunlins, sandpipers, etc). Sarasota Audubon maintains Celery Fields, which is packed with a little of everything - limpkins, spoonbills, ibises, eagles, ospreys, etc., etc. Then, just about anywhere outside of town you'll find sandhill cranes and bald eagle nests (there's an online eagle nest locator), egrets, herons, etc. You can find a nice spot to park yourself on a lawn chair along Sarasota Bay, and enjoy dozens of osprey feeding, brown and white pelicans fishing, and dolphins surfacing in the aqua-green water. A little south of Sarasota is Myakka State Park - a wonderful place to visit generally, and also packed with tons of birds and other critters - stilts, limpkins, ibises, spoonbills, etc., feral pigs, deer, otters, and alligators galore. Slightly farther south is Cape Coral, where you can find burrowing owls, which are always fun to watch and photograph. Not far from there is Manatee Park, where you can get so close to these majestic and docile creatures, you can practically touch them. Enjoy!
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I agree. Sarasota is central to lots of action. The Celery Fields, The Rookery in Venice, Myaka and Oscar Scherer (Florida Scrub Jays) State parks, plus local Pinecarft for migratory birds.
 
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BFinkelstein said:
I agree. Sarasota is central to lots of action. The Celery Fields, The Rookery in Venice, Myaka and Oscar Scherer (Florida Scrub Jays) State parks, plus local Pinecarft for migratory birds.
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Yeah, Pinecraft is an interesting place, with a nice little park along Phillippi Creek. It's been a destination for wintering Mennonites and Amish for decades, and they keep it fairly undeveloped. As a kid, I often rode my bike to Pinecraft for homemade pie at the Pinecraft Eatin' House, now long gone. Alas, I digress from wildlife photography. 🧐
 
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Stephen Berger said:
where would you go?

I MAY have some unexpected time off next week or the week after, have a ton of frequent flier miles and permission from the wife to disappear. I've never been to Florida (outside of Miami for work) and would love to photograph spoonbills, ahinga's, maybe woodstorks, ospreys -- though at least they exist here, etc.
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Google Florida Birding Trail and pick what you want to see.
 
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Isaac Grant said:
Just going to chime in once more and say that you really need to decide what type of shots you want and then go to spots where you can get those shots. Gatorland is a crowded rookery shot from a crowded boardwalk. Merrit Island is all from elevated roadways as is Orlando Wetlands for the most part. Again if you want the rookery shots or shooting down on stuff shots than those places are amazing. But if you don't then they are a waste of your limited time.

I would make a list of the top priority birds you want photos of and the types of photos that you want and then design your trip around that. Otherwise you will be stuck shooting whatever you run into in less than optimal shooting conditions for the most part. Hope that helps...
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I appreciate that. There are so many birds there I've never seen before I see it as part shooting part scouting trip. I'm happy on 'target of opportunity' type shoot days so wherever the birds are I'll find angles and framings I like. Once I have a sense of the place and creatures I can be more intentional on future visits.
 
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That is exactly the reason that I would recommend having a list of things you want to accomplish. There are so many birds and many are so tame that you can easily get caught up in shooting whatever, where ever and not necessarily at producing the highest quality images. Again there is no right or wrong way to do things and there is joy to going to a new place and learning and shooting. But you come home with the images as well as the memories. For instance I have loads of shots of Piping Plover and Semi palmated Plover so while in Florida I mostly ignored them while I was spending time with the shorebird flocks and instead tracked down the Wilson's Plovers and Snowy Plovers which I did not have any photos of. I passed up countless opportunities with certain species while making sure I got the shot I wanted of the species I did not have. Again my that was my priority but it would be easy to be distracted and just shoot what was in front of me. Either way best of luck, it is an amazing place to shoot and I am sure you will have a blast.
 
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Well... the time off and therefore the mid May Florida trip didn't happen but I have this thread saved for a trip next February or March and am grateful for all the info.
 
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DGettisNC said:
Thank you. I kind of like "winging" it myself on trips a lot but just wasnt sure if that was possible there or not. Plus it always helps if I can avoid a $4000 or more additional expense which is what it seems most of those wildlife photo tours charge for 4-5 days.
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I know a guide who does half-day and full-day photography boat trips near Gainesville most of the year, and also near Vero Beach in, typically, late April and early May. If you'd like me to, I'll PM you with his website URL.
 
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Just to throw in a wildcard, if it's spoonbills and woodstorks you want lots of them hang out in St. Augustine at the Alligator Farm. It sounds kinda dumb, but it's actually a serious alligator conservation place and the trees attract the big birds who don't have to worry about the gators. You can get pretty close, too. (Bonus: last time I was there a squad of Army Rangers were working with the park staff to help get weights and blood samples on the gators, and then get some instruction in alligator survival practices. Like, for when they spend a week in the Everglades, I guess)
 
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DGettisNC said:
:) We're contacts on Facebook. I met him about 2 years ago in eastern NC while I was photographing black bears. Small world
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I first went on a trip with Dick as a guide about four years ago, and I try to get out with him every year, preferably in the late Winter or early Spring. Due to my circumstances, it didn't happen this year. One of my goals for next year is to get down to Vero Beach with him next year. I highly recommend him as a guide.
 
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