Florida Keys Birding

DAY 2: EVERGLADES, KEY LARGO

EARLY BREAKFAST:

At the hotel, we’ll enjoy a breakfast buffet with options including an egg dish, breakfast meats, a variety of breakfast breads with assorted jams, cereals, coffee, tea, juice, and water.

MORNING:

We’ll drive to the kayaking location where you will receive instructions about kayaking basics and familiarize us with the kayaks and necessary paddling equipment. We will be assigned to tandem or single seat sea-kayaks according to ability. In the interests of safety, couples and companions may be placed in different kayaks as determined by the instructor. We will be out on the water for approximately 60-90 minutes.

LUNCH:

At Local restaurant

AFTERNOON:

Depart to Key Largo (1.5 hours drive approx.)

DINNER:

At local restaurant, we’ll have a plated meal with soft drinks, coffee, tea and water; other beverages available for purchase.

DAY 3: LONG KEY, CURRY HAMMOCK, CRANE VISITOR CENTER

BREAKFAST:

At a local restaurant, we’ll have a plated meal including juice, coffee, tea, and water.

EARLY MORNING:

Our first field birding trip of the day will be at Long Key State Park. This trail site is a must-visit for birders traveling to the Florida Keys. Two nature trails and a mile of natural shoreline provide easy access to mangrove swamp, Rockland hammock, mudflat, beach, and coastal berm habitats. The Golden Orb Trail can be fantastic during fall migration. Over 30 species of wood-warbler have been recorded plus all the other typical songbird migrants that head south through the Florida Keys.
Our next stop will be Curry Hammock State Park, this coastal park offers Rockland hammock and beach viewing of waders and shorebirds.

LUNCH:

Lunch Box

AFTERNOON:

After lunch, we will drive to Crane Visitor Center. The center provides visitors with interesting and educational interpretative displays of local wildlife, marine life, dioramas, and dramatic exhibits featuring artifacts and objects of cultural interest.

DINNER:

At a local restaurant, we’ll have a plated meal with soft drinks, coffee, tea, and water; other beverages available for purchase.

DAY 4: BAHIA HONDA, OHIO KEY, AND KEY WEST

BREAKFAST:

At the hotel, we’ll enjoy a plated breakfast with options including an egg dish, breakfast meats, a variety of breakfast breads with assorted jams, cereals, coffee, tea, juice, and water.

MORNING:

Hotel Check Out. Depart to Key West. Our first stop on our way will be Bahia Honda State Park, the park offers spectacular views and tropical hardwood hammocks, coastal berm, and dune communities for some of the richest birding habitats.
We will continue our journey and drive to Ohio Key before our lunch.

LUNCH:

At a local restaurant

AFTERNOON:

After transferring by van, we will stop at Key Deer Sanctuary. We will head to the Blue Hole Trail, which partially circles one of the few bodies of freshwater on Big Pine Key, a feature that not only attracts Green Herons and Belted Kingfishers but also brings in migrating warblers, vireos, and thrushes. Jack Watson Manillo Trail passes through Pine Rockland, an uncommon habitat this far south, and brings you close to the island’s resident songbirds as well as species like Black-whiskered Vireo, Gray Kingbird, and White-crowned Pigeon. After the hotel check-in in Key West, free rest of the day to explorer Key West.

DINNER:

At your leisure, not included.

DAY 5: DRY TORTUGAS

BREAKFAST:

Aboard the ship, we’ll have a breakfast buffet including bagels, cereal, yogurt, fruits, juices, coffee, tea, and water.

MORNING:

En route to Dry Tortugas National Park, our onboard naturalist will give provide an orientation lecture on the area and the national park’s surroundings.

LUNCH:

Aboard the catamaran, we’ll enjoy a buffet lunch.

AFTERNOON:

Continue birding in the park. The Dry Tortugas play an important part in the lives of birds migrating between South America and the eastern United States because they are the first bits of dry land that these birds see during that trip. Many birds even die of starvation en route. Birders may be so lucky as to see an Antillean short-eared owl, sighted fairly frequently, as well as peregrine falcons, warblers, ruddy turnstones, and frigatebirds. The only nesting colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds in North America resides on these islands along with the largest Sooty Tern colony in the Northern Hemisphere on nearby Bush Key with some Brown Noddies. 

DINNER:

At a local restaurant.

DAY 6: FORT ZACHARY TAYLOR, KEY LARGO

BREAKFAST:

At the hotel, we’ll enjoy a plated breakfast with options including an egg dish, breakfast meats, a variety of breakfast breads with assorted jams, cereals, coffee, tea, juice, and water.

MORNING:

Hotel Check Out. Depart to Key Largo. Our first stop on our way will be Fort Zachary Taylor We’ll learn about Florida’s southernmost state park, U.S. Military history of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War, and the role that Fort Zachary Taylor played in it. The fort was built in the mid-1800s and completed in 1866 as one of a series designed to defend the nation’s southeastern coastline. Afterward, we’ll hit the sand at the Key West Beach Area for a birding walk with our Group Leader and a local expert.

LUNCH:

Lunch Box or Local Restaurant

AFTERNOON:

After transferring by van, we will stop at Key West Botanical Garden. Hundreds of birders visit the garden each year to identify and track our native and migrating birds. You never know which exotic birds you’ll meet.

Hotel Check-In in Key Largo.

DINNER:

At a local Restaurant.

DAY 7: DAGNEY JOHNSON STATE PARK, MIAMI

BREAKFAST:

At a local restaurant, we’ll have a plated meal including juice, coffee, tea, and water.

MORNING:

After breakfast, we’ll begin our transfer to Miami Airport with a stop on the way to the Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park where we will enjoy our final field trip of the program. Led by our Group Leader on some trails, we may find breeding populations of white-crowned pigeons, black-whiskered vireos, mangrove cuckoos, and, if we are lucky, migrating warblers. Sightings of the Zenaida dove, thick-billed vireo, and the rare LaSagra’s flycatcher are also documented. We’ll then continue our transfer to the airport. Approximate arrival to MIA is 11:45 am.