The pale South Florida Red-shouldered Hawks are widespread and conspicuous. Photo: Chris Wood
A naturalist’s perfect winter getaway, South Florida’s frost-free subtropical climate provides both mild weather and an outstandingly diverse flora and fauna. This unique area has long been a popular destination among U.S. birdwatchers but it is equally interesting for butterfly enthusiasts. On this tour we’ll sample the region’s varied plant communities including oak scrub, prairies, tropical hardwood hammocks, swamps, fresh and salt-water marshes, mangroves and coastal beaches, and focus on the characteristic bird and butterfly species of each. We’ll make a concerted effort to look for the specialties of southern Florida including birds such as Snail Kite, Short-tailed Hawk, Limpkin, White- crowned Pigeon, Smooth-billed Ani and Florida Scrub-Jay, and butterflies such as Atala, Malachite, Mangrove Buckeye, Ruddy Daggerwing, Florida Duskywing and Hammock Skipper. Vagrants from the West Indies such as Bananaquit or Western Spindalis occasionally appear along the South Florida coast in winter. If any are present, we’ll make time in our itinerary to look for them.
Day 1: The trip begins at 6 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale. Night in Fort Lauderdale.
Day 2: We’ll spend our first morning exploring the lush neighborhoods of suburban Kendall to look for a number of exotic birds such as Monk and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets and Red-whiskered Bulbul. Then we’ll move on to the world famous Fairchild Tropical Garden, whose extensive collection of rare exotic plants is ideal habitat for Hill Mynas and Spot-breasted Orioles among other birds. The garden also attracts a wide variety of butterflies including Giant Swallowtail, Florida White, Orange-barred and Large Orange Sulphurs and Atala. Night in Florida City.
Days 3-4: We’ll have two full days to explore the diversity of Everglades National Park, visiting Royal Palm Hammock, Long Pine Key, and the outpost of Flamingo. We’ll find an interesting variety of wintering landbirds here including Blue-headed and White-eyed Vireos, up to 15 species of warblers and Painted Bunting. Butterflies are abundant as well and we could see Eastern Pygmy-Blue, Florida Leafwing, Mangrove Buckeye, Florida Duskywing and Baracoa and Obscure Skippers. On one day some or all of us will hike down Snake Bight Trail to view the huge concentrations of wintering shorebirds, herons and American White Pelicans. We’ll look especially for the small flock of Greater Flamingoes that often winters on Florida Bay, though our chances of seeing them are slim. Nights in Florida City.
Day 5: This morning we’ll depart the mainland and head south onto the Florida Keys. Our first stop will be Windley Key Geological State Park, where we’ll explore the hardwood hammock and old fossil reef quarry in search of White-crowned Pigeon, Giant Swallowtail and Mangrove Skipper. We’ll continue to Bahia Honda State Park, noted for its silver palms and yellow satinwoods-where we’ll hope to see Magnificent Frigatebird, Northern Gannet, Great White Heron and Common Ground-Dove. Bahia Honda is an excellent butterfly spot and we should see Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak, Gulf Fritillary, Malachite, Hammock Skipper and, we hope, the rare and local Miami Blue. Before returning to Florida City we’ll make a stop at Key Colony Beach to look for Burrowing Owl. Night in Florida City.
Day 6: Today we’ll head west across the peninsula, stopping first at Shark River Slough where Snail Kites are often numerous. We’ll continue on to Big Cypress National Preserve and marvel at the staggering numbers of herons, egrets, ibises, Wood Storks and Anhingas. After lunch, we’ll explore the magnificent Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, home to the largest remaining strand forest and royal palm hammock in the United States, and the last remaining stronghold of the Florida Panther. Here we’ll watch the sky for Short-tailed Hawk and search for butterflies such as Viceroy, Queen, Soldier and Three-spotted and Monk Skippers. Night in Naples.
Day 7: We’ll start the day at Marco Island’s Tigertail Beach County Park, where a leisurely walk on the beach could produce stunning views of Reddish Egret, Snowy, Wilson’s and Piping Plovers and Royal and Sandwich Terns. As we head north, we’ll stop at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, where a two-mile long boardwalk winds through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, sawgrass marsh and a magnificent stand of virgin bald cypress. We should see a wide variety of birds and butterflies here including Wood Stork, Barred Owl, Pileated Woodpecker, Ruddy Daggerwing, Phaon Crescent and Brazilian Skipper. On the drive north, we’ll keep an eye out for Crested Caracara and Sandhill Crane. Night in Sebring.
Day 8: We’ll spend most of the morning in the pine flatwoods of Avon Park Airforce Range searching for local specialties including Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch and the endemic Florida Scrub-Jay. In the afternoon, we’ll visit Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, a vast preserve that contains the only natural habitat remaining in the northern Everglades. We’ll walk along the refuge’s nature trails in search of Mottled Duck, Limpkin, Purple Gallinule and Smooth-billed Ani. At the butterfly garden near the visitors’ center we may see Zebra, Long-tailed Skipper and Dorantes Longtail. We’ll also make at least a brief visit to Wakodahatchee Wetlands Preserve, a man-made wetland which offers amazingly close views of a wide variety of marsh birds including Least Bittern, Purple Gallinule, and Sora. Night in Fort Lauderdale.
Day 9: The tour concludes this morning in Fort Lauderdale.
Updated: 25 August 2006
Prices
- 2007 price about $2,440
- Single Occupancy Supplement $590
Notes
Notes: Maximum group size 14. Both leaders will accompany the tour regardless of group size.