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USA - Florida: Spring Migration & Specialities

© Blue-winged Warbler by George L. Armistead
USA - Florida: Spring Migration & Specialities

USD4,900 - No Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Local Leader

Pricing notes : Please see BirdingDirect link for spaces and updated pricing.

Tour price (Per person): USD4,900 * GBP3,571 * EUR4,181 * AUD7,502

For enquiries & bookings, please following this link:  Birding Direct - United States

This tour is operated by High Lonesome BirdTours in partnership with BirdingDirect.
These are large group tours (up to 16 guests with multiple tour leaders), and will have guests from both Highlonesome as well as BirdingDirect.

Florida is unique among the 50 states with its geology, geography, flora, and fauna offering a fascinating mix of north and south, with a flavour of the Caribbean, and a major flyway for Neotropical migrants. This short and relaxed tour combs through Southern Florida’s highlights with visits to the world-famous Everglades, the beautiful Keys, the central pine barrens and the remote Dry Tortugas. The Everglades are a one-of-kind natural wonder among southern Florida’s many wild treasures and the Keys offer spectacular beaches, plus unique hardwood hammocks home to numerous bird specialties. We will also spend a day in the Dry Tortugas amidst spectacular seabirds and we will witness the heartbeat of Spring migration here.  Even within the greater Miami area nature still survives and thrives among burgeoning development and we will visit local migrant hotspots and seek some of the ABA countable exotic species (always a fun and interesting venture).

Southern Florida harbours a large number of bird specialties, species that are absent or difficult to find in other parts of the ABA area, including Magnificent Frigatebird, Masked Booby, Sooty Tern, Brown Noddy, ‘Great White’ Heron, Short-tailed Hawk, Snail and Swallow-tailed Kites, Purple Gallinule, Limpkin, Mangrove Cuckoo, Antillean Nighthawk, White-crowned Pigeon, Florida Scrub Jay, Grey Kingbird, Black-whiskered Vireo, ‘Golden’ Yellow Warbler, and ‘Cape Sable’ Seaside Sparrow.

During this tour we will stand excellent chances of seeing all south Florida specialties plus a wide variety of neotropical migrants with excellent photo opportunities of the myriad water birds and shorebirds. The warm, tropical climate of the region also supports populations of many exotic and feral species, some of which are countable on the ABA list, including Grey-headed Swamphen, Monk, White-winged and Nanday Parakeets, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Myna and Spot-breasted Oriole. We will spend some time adding these to our list and it is always fun to see what else is flying around the Miami area. With luck one or two strays from the Caribbean could be present and we will make a special effort to find these, rare possibilities could include La Sagra’s Flycatcher, Bahama Mockingbird, Thick-billed Vireo, Bananaquit and Western Spindalis, but these species are only sporadically present.

 

Top Birds

Florida Scrub Jay, Magnificent Frigatebird, Masked Booby, Sooty Tern, Brown Noddy, Short-tailed Hawk, Snail & Swallow-tailed Kites, Purple Gallinule, Limpkin, Mangrove Cuckoo, Antillean Nighthawk, White-crowned Pigeon, Grey Kingbird, Black-whiskered Vireo, ‘Golden’ Yellow Warbler, ‘Cape Sable’ Seaside Sparrow, Bachman’s Sparrow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sandhill Crane, Painted Bunting. Warblers: Northern Waterthrush, Blue-winged, Black-and-white, Tennessee, Blackpoll, Cape May, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Prairie, Yellow-throated, Prothonotary & Palm Warblers Introduced species: Grey-headed Swamphen, Monk, White-winged & Nanday Parakeets, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Myna, Spot-breasted Oriole Vagrants: La Sagra’s Flycatcher, Bahama Mockingbird, Thick-billed Vireo, Bananaquit, Western Spindalis.

Top Mammals

West Indian Manatee

Habitats Covered

urban parks, lakes, swamps, grassland, pine forest, sawgrass prairie, pelagic, sandy iselts

Expected Climate

warm and humid conditions with mosquitoes in the Everglades and sunny conditions in the Keys

Max Group Size

14 with 2 Tour Leaders

Tour Pace & Walking

relaxed pace with a few shorter walks (possibly an optional longer walk if flamingos are present)

Accommodation

comfortable hotels & lodges, 2 or 3-star

Ease of Birding

generally easy

Number of Species Expected

170

Other Attractions

American Crocodile, American Alligator, Everglades National Park

Photographic Opportunities

good

What our clients say about us

Stephan Lorenz
NM, Texas 2021

The group saw 24 warblers (me 21) & I was elated!! Not to mention all the other quality birds. Stephen was superb. There were 13 of us & tho a high count of clients by RBT standards, it worked very well-we were lucky too-a fallout. Thanks Stephan thanks RBT.

Adam Walleyn
JW & JW, California 2021

Luke & Adam did a great job. This tour was the perfect US specialty tour (will be interested to see more of these)... We covered tons of environments in a fairly small territory. Luke is a LA-area expert and aimed us exactly where we needed to be.

Stephan Lorenz
JA, Texas 2021

Stephan was a great birding guide and tour manager. He knew his patch and worked tirelessly to find and ensure all participants had good birds views. He located all the key 'target' birds. He and his partner produced great al fresco dining and ensured all arrangement worked well, not easy in these COVID impacted times. As always with RJ, I had a most enjoyable trip and satisfied my birding wishes. Well done RJ and Stephan/Claudia. Than you all.

Stephan Lorenz
JB - Colorado 2022

Thanks for an outstanding tour! Stephan is an excellent leader: great at finding and getting everyone on the birds, sharing information about the birds and the areas where we travelled, and handling the tour logistics. We had a few logistical difficulties, which Stephan handled beautifully. Both he and Claudia were excellent travel companions, and I would be happy to bird with them anywhere.

Stephan Lorenz
EL, Texas 2021

It is great to be traveling again, even if it is a short domestic trip. But I don’t want to sell the tour short. It really was an excellent short tour. We saw a great number of migrating warblers and shorebirds. Stephan Lorenz has an uncanny ability to find the one special shorebird or a rare migrating warbler buried in the bushes. He is also kind, informative and always helpful. And a special thanks to Claudia for her help with the driving and coordination.

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