Bird Board
Visiting birder looking for guides/tips
Hey all, I'm Andrew Barndt, a recent high school graduate from Massachusetts whose family is coming to various parts of Florida for a vacation starting in a week. I also use vacations as prime opportunity to get new birds, and even though I've been to Florida before there's plenty I still need. The plan is to fly into Orlando late Thursday next week and spend a day there for theme parks, drive to Miami on Saturday, go to the Marlins game Sunday, leave Monday open, drive up to St. Petersburg Tuesday, go to the Rays game Wednesday night, and drive back to Orlando later on Thursday and fly out that evening. Naturally I've done a bunch of eBird research but there's still a lot that eBird doesn't help with.
I've got Orlando birding sorted out, but once I get to Miami and St. Pete I have no contacts. Miami in particular I could use some assistance with - I'm looking to get a bunch of urban exotics, some species best found around Browns Farm Rd, and Green Cay/Wakodahatchee. Only the last one looks like a straightforward trip to me - urban birding is all over the place and as far as Browns Farm Rd. goes I don't have great precedent birding rural roads I've only gotten bits and pieces of info on, plus I have no idea how far down the road I'm supposed to go or if it's busier than I think. Monday is the open day to do places like Browns Farm Rd and Green Cay so if anyone's available then for those spots it'd be ideal; urban exotics birding is a bit more flexible. My hotel for the time in Miami is I think in the Weston area so even with the Zenaida Dove and bulbul I’m not sure if Kendall’s possible given how far south it is.
St. Petersburg-wise, I'm mostly focused on Fort de Soto shorebirds and parakeets and if Short-tailed Hawk can have a truly reliable location. Brown Booby apparently has a preferred electric tower in the water in the area too. I know this board focuses more on southern FL but I'm hoping people on this board know that area too or at least others who do.
Ideally, someone who knew what they were doing would be there in-person with me in the Browns Farm Rd. area or for the urban exotics, but if that's not possible you have my full understanding. Some helpful specifics of how to bird an area or find a certain urban species like Spot-breasted Oriole are always appreciated, however. I've attached a screenshot of a spreadsheet I have that lists all my lifer targets and where eBird indicates they're reliable (or says if they're not reliable). The recent Smooth-billed Ani and Zenaida Dove aren’t on there but if they stick around I'd love to give those a try.
My email is [email protected], or you can reply via comments here. Thanks a ton!
Comments
Spot-breasted Oriole has moderately reliable hotspots in A.D. Barnes and Pine Woods Park are reliable hotspots in the recent summer, however if you want to test your luck for mostly a flyover, the intersection of Lindgren Road and Sunset Drive in the Kendall area is a good spot to see one or two of them flying over the intersection, I've seen them in the area just as I'm driving by.
Babcock Webb WMA is a better spot for Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Bachman's Sparrow in my opinion, but there is no guarantee for either species as they are a bit hard to track without a good amount of time on your hands or a good local guide.
Yellow-throated Warbler is still early in the year to be reliable, like Short-tailed Hawk, so e-Bird will be your friend for new reports.
The Zenaida Dove is almost a daily guarantee if you go in the morning or afternoon since it seems like it merged well with the Mourning Doves of the area, you might have to wait a bit for it by the road and not go into the grass because it will just push the birds further back. There's also the bonus that you can get Shiny Cowbird in the same site since there's been between 1 and 3 birds among the flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed and Bronzed Cowbirds.
Hopefully this helps you a bit, and happy birding!
Great information, Luis! Thanks very much for the assist to Andrew.
Andrew, If you end up going for Zenaida Dove, I saw 7 barn owls on the airport fence along 157ave last night around 9 pm or so.
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