Birding Florida {Tampa & Sarasota area}

I met Nicole in October 2015 while we were volunteering at Desert National Wildlife Refuge. She was an avid birder and traveler who was wrapping up her Big Year, I was a curious person who knew little more than the difference between a robin and a cardinal. She took me birding with her one day and I've been hooked ever since. She is currently living in Miami, so when we arrived in Florida, we arranged to meet up on her way to Georgia to visit family. We first birded Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Lake George State Forest.

Male Painted Bunting

American Avocet

Clapper Rail at Merritt Island NWR

We obtained a permit to bird at Lake George State Forest. Such a beautiful 

area where we found the brown-capped nuthatch, which sounds oddly like a squeaky toy!

Before Nicole left, we decided she should spend a night with us again on her way back south. What had been planned as one night, quickly turned into another and another and before we knew it, a week had passed. This is a recurring theme for us.

With only a couple hours of light left on our first day, we headed to Lettuce Lake where I saw my first limpkin, barred owl and roseate spoonbill!

This looks like you could walk on it, but it's water underneath! 

 And a venomous cottonmouth aka water moccasin!

 The next morning we spent the entire day at Fort Desoto County Park. This place is now one of my favorite places in Florida. The water and the beach are absolutely gorgeous and they have camping along the bay side.

Before we had even technically entered the park, we met a group of birders who quickly became friends. Lavern, Janie and Fern have spent many years birding the Sarasota area, so they knew right where to point us.

The following day we met them at the Celery Fields where they knew TO THE MINUTE when the bitterns would be flying in to roost and when the barn owl would fly out to begin hunting! It was amazing, and because of the timing, I was able to bring along my mom and my kids to see all this happen!

After the first couple days we started meeting up in the morning and all piling into one vehicle to travel together. This was a fun way to really learn about each other during the drives. They took us to many hotspots including Myakka State Park, Deer Prairie Preserve, Red Bug Slough, Siesta Key Beach and my favorite, Circle B Bar, recently made famous with an extremely large gator crossing caught on video. The birds were plentiful and very close thanks to the narrow ponds. I returned a few weeks later to find that sadly most of the water had completely dried up and very few birds remained. Still tons of alligators and turtles though!

 Photos from Circle B below-

Snowy Egret

Roseate Spoonbills

Green Heron

Baby Alligator

After everyone left, I attended walks with local Audubon groups to Emerson Point Preserve, Felts Preserve, and Crowley Nature Center where I saw my first Sherman's Fox Squirrel.