Trip With my Mum and Dad, although they had visited the area before so we were able to spend a lot of time birding!! My first trip outside Europe so lots of new birds to be seen!!!

18th
Early morning flight from Birmingham to Miami (via Amsterdam!!!)

Arriving mid afternoon the first bird on my trip list soon became Osprey. Between the airport + car rental pick-up point I’d seen Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, Turkey Vulture and White Ibis!
Once we had collected our car (shame our luggage took a couple of days!!) we headed south in to the Everglades to Flamingo where we spent the night. Along the way I saw Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Mockingbird, Anhinga, White-winged Doves – Miami, Northern Flicker, 3 Common Nighthawks hawking fields opposite the ‘Robert is Here’ fruit shop, also several Purple Martins in the Car Park. Light was fading rapidly as we entered the National Park, a Grey Catbird was in the Car Park by the visitor Centre and a Whip-poor Will was caught in headlights as it sat on the road infront of us! A Racoon was also seen.

19th  
I was up early and around the grounds of Flamingo. There were lots of birds around both out in the bay and in the surrounding the bushes and trees. In just a few hours I saw over 55 species including, a variety of waders from Least Sand to Willet, Black Skimmers and Brown and White Pelicans in the Bay, Red-billed Woodpecker, Bald Eagle, Baltimore Oriole, a selection of Herons and Egrets, several terns, a Common Nighthawk came in from the sea + flew North, Prairie Warbler, and a Shiny Cowbird with its commoner Brown-headed relatives to name a few!
A short walk away was Eco Pond, here I saw my first Alligators, 2 Common Yellowthroats and a fantastic Swallow-tailed Kite over. Back at Flamingo for some lunch we picked up Grey Kingbird and a Belted Kingfisher fishing in the bay, a short-tailed Hawk flew low north over the Marina as we watched an American Crocodile.
In the afternoon we headed back to the Everglades Visitor Centre, a Blue Jay was in the Car park and an Eastern Meadowlark was nearby.
While driving back towards Flamingo a Pileated Woodpecker was seen briefly and while we tried to relocate it we found some yellow warblers feeding high in the pines.
A stop at Mahogany Hammock added some more Warblers to the ever growing list including a pair of Black and White Warblers, American Redstart, a smart male Black-throated Blue Warbler, and a Northern Waterthrush. An evening trip to the nearby Paurotis Pond produced a wide selection of Herons, Egrets and Ibis in amazing numbers as they Roosted in Mangroves. New species included Palm Warbler, Woodstork and Grey Kingbird.

20th  
Another early morning wander around Flamingo produced much the same as the day before with the additions being a white-crowned pigeon flying over and a Marbled Godwit near the Marina. Another stop at Paurotis Pond added a pair of Least Bitterns and I saw 1 and heard 2 ‘cape sable’ race Seaside Sparrow near Mahogany Hammock. We left the National Park and began to head towards the famous Florida Keys. On the edge of the park I found 4 Killdeer with a couple of young chicks. We didn’t have time to travel too far down the Keys but we visited the botanical Gardens at Key Largo and found both Black-whiskered and White-eyed Verios, and Ovenbird and Cape May warbler were also added to the trip list. A brief stop by junction 11 of the Florida Turnpike produced 5-6 Cave Swallows (west Indian race) flying around the canal bridges.
From here we headed west towards Fort Myers Beach where we would spend the night. Along the way a stop in Shark Valley near the Miccosukee Restaurant produced an American Purple Gallinule and a Snail Kite quartering the marshes. Nearby a Limpkin was seen preening on a roadside pool and furthr on 4 mottled ducks were seen by Naples Golf course.
Arriving at Fort Myers Beach I flushed a Chuck-wills Widow from near the car park at the Holiday Inn and it flew off calling.

21st
On an early morning wander along the beach I saw a wide selection of birds, herons, egrets and waders. New birds included American Oystercatcher, Wilsons, Piping and Snowy Plover and Western Sand.
Mid-morning we headed off to the Ding Darling Reserve where we spent most of the day.  Here we saw less birds than many other places but the quality was good. Blackpoll Warbler, common Ground Dove and Greater Yellowlegs were all ticks but best of all were 2 Mangrove Cuckoos! Originally heard some way away, 2 birds flew across the road, one of which showed incredibly well allowing me to take some photos!          
 
22nd
Another morning wander this time produced a smart Yellow-crowned Night Heron hunting in the wet grass near the path.
We then headed off to Corkscrew Swamp, new birds here included Bluegrey Gnatcatcher, Hairy Woodpecker, 1 female Ruby-throated Hummingbird – on nest!, 1 Eastern Screech Owl – in tree hole, Parula, Tufted Titmouse and 1 Barred Owl – caught crayfish in stream + flew off into forest.
On leaving, we headed inland towards the dryer prairie regions, 4 Sandhill Cranes were in a field by Highway 29 just north of la Belle. I bit further north we found a family party of Florida Scrub Jay in roadside scrub.
In the evening we spent some time at the Venus Flatwoods Preserve, here we saw a pair of Northern Bobwhite, Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Blue Bird and Eastern Towhee.

23rd
After spending the night in a Motel near Lorida we were up early exploring the area. Along Arbuckle Creek Road we found everything we were looking for and more!! This included Burrowing Owl, Northern Caracara, 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow with 4 Tree Swallows, a pair of Savannah Sparrow feeding by the road and a Solitary Sand on a small pool!
From here we continued to Lake Wales Ridge Forest where we saw Downy Woodpecker and a Pine Warbler. While watching a Blackpoll Warbler a car pulled up next to us + Bill Pranty (author of ‘A Birders Guide to Florida’) got out, they were doing some research on Florida Scrub Jay and invited me along! I saw a male Florida Scrub Jay in the hand and watched as they took measurements, blood and feather samples, they also showed me 4 5-day old chicks in a nest!
From here we went to Lake Kissimmee State Park + added Summer Tanager and a female Turkey(!) to my list.

24th  
We were now staying on the outskirts of Orlando but headed to the east coast to visit the Merit Island Preserve. Here we saw a wide selection of birds including Slavonian/horned Grebe, Waders, Sora, ducks, herons + egrets, one of the highlights (+ my only ‘tick’ at this site) were 6 smart American Avocets.
In the evening we explored the three lake area, here after several unsuccessful attemptes at other sites I eventually acme across 3+ Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, 1 of which was seen + photographed feeding in pines near the track. Also in the area were Pine Warbler, Common Nighthawk, Sandhill Crane among other species.

25th
Our last full day in Florida was spent visiting a variety of habitats at different sites. At lake Tohopekaliga we saw Carolina Wren to add to the list + a variety of other species. A selection of common species were seen in the Disney Wildlife Preserve.
At the Mead Botanical Gardens we saw a selection of warblers aswell as a male Blue Grosbeak and our first Wood Duck. Also, another highlight of the holiday when I found 3 juvenile Barred Owl, these big fluffy balls showed very well sat low in trees by the lake.
On an afternoon trip to the Audubon Bird of Prey Centre we not only saw lots of owls, hawks, eagles, falcons etc in cages but also over 5o Cedar Waxwings feeding on Berries in the Car park!

26th 
Most of the day was spent travelling from Kissimmee east towards Tampa, a few stops on the way produced a last chance to see some commoner species for the last time. These included Blue-grey Gnatcatcher and Cardinal at Flatwoods Park and a Parula with 2 recently fledged young at Lettuce Lakes.

Arriving at the airport we caught a mid-afternoon back to Birmingham (via Minneapolis & Amsterdam!!)

Total of 156 Species!! For more pics + a complete list click here!

Summary

First time I had ever left Europe added to a great birding experience. Loads of ticks of birds you can only dream of seeing in the UK!!! Highlights included Mangrove Cuckoo, juv Barred Owls and Red-cockaded Woodpecker, bright, multicoloured warblers as well as everything else!