Fort Myers Birdwatching

DAY 2: HARNS MARSH

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 will head out to Harns Marsh for our first field trip of the program. Established in the early 1980s, its primary function is that of an active stormwater facility. Although technically not a wildlife preserve or state park, Harns Marsh hosts a vast wildlife population and holds itself to high standards for water quality and conservation. As of 12/09/2014, 122 different species of birds have been sighted at this marsh.  On our birding walk, we will find a variety of water birds, most likely including Snail Kites and Limpkins, which feed on abundant Apple Snails. Egrets and Herons, as well as ducks, Coots, and Moorhens, are frequently sighted also.

LUNCH:

At a local restaurant

AFTERNOON:

Return to hotel, free afternoon

DINNER:

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

DAY 3: CORKSCREW SWAMP SANCTUARY

MORNING:

Our first field trip of the day will be to Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary where passerines, herons, and limpkins are often spotted. Our early birding session will take us on paths through terrain including an old-growth cypress swamp, some freshwater marsh, and Pine Flatwoods.

LUNCH:

Lunch Box.

AFTERNOON:

At the Corkscrew Visitor Center, the director will give us a lecture explaining the intricacies of wood stork habitat restoration and other wildlife management issues that the sanctuary faces. After the lecture, we’ll head to the agricultural area of the sanctuary where we will be on the lookout for crested caracara and limpkins. 

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: BUNCHE BEACH BIRDING, DING DARLING NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

BREAKFAST:

At the hotel.

MORNING:

We’ll depart from the hotel early for a transfer to Bunche Beach, a wonderful place to see hundreds of waders and particularly shorebirds (mostly in winter). Reddish Egrets are quite common and all five plovers can be seen here regularly as well as marbled godwit, whimbrel, roseate spoonbill, black skimmer, and peeps (various sandpipers). If we’re lucky, we may spot some long-billed curlew, common loons (in winter), and American white pelicans or perhaps even rarities like surf scoter or a pomarine jaeger.

LUNCH:

At Bowman’s Beach Park, we’ll have boxed lunches.

AFTERNOON:

After transferring by van, we’ll carry on birding at J.N “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, one of the first national wildlife refuges established in the USA. Located on Sanibel Island, it offers birders easy opportunities to view American White Pelicans, especially in winter, wading birds including Roseate Spoonbills, and shorebirds. There are birding platforms throughout and overlooks, such as Red Mangrove Overlook, where one may be fortunate enough to see a Mangrove Cuckoo although they are typically seen in the late spring through mid-summer in this area.

DINNER:

At a local restaurant.

DAY 5: LOVERS KEYS

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:

Drive to  Lovers Key State Park ranges from the Estero Bay mudflats to the Gulf of Mexico encompassing a wide array of habitats including tidal creeks, lagoons, mangrove swamps, and tropical hammocks. After our arrival via van, we’ll walk the trail loops on Black Island with our Group Leader through the hammocks searching for red-shouldered hawks, bald eagles, and ospreys overhead.

LUNCH:

At a local restaurant.

AFTERNOON:

We’ll then ride to Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve Boardwalk in Fort Myers, which is home to a variety of warblers, woodpeckers, herons, and waterfowl. The mixed topography of open ponds and cypress swamps invites varieties of birds that are inclined to each of these different habitats, thereby facilitating rich experiences for us bird watchers.

DINNER:

At a local restaurant.

DAY 6: END OF TOUR

BREAKFAST:

At the hotel.

MORNING:

End of tour.