Florida in February!

Would you like to get away this winter for a sub-tropical birding adventure and a little sun? Join us for HMANA’s South Florida Winter Raptor and Birding Tour! Tour dates are February 5-12, 2011 and the price is $1900 for HMANA members, $1950 for nonmembers. I will be the tour leader for this adventure along with help from my husband and bird guide, Phil Brown.

HMANA’s recent Costa Rica tour during fall migration was a grand success so we are happy to offer another exciting getaway. This time, we will focus on both raptors as well as all the Florida specialties such as roseate spoonbill, purple gallinule, Florida scrub-jay, and wood stork. Other target species for the trip include snail kite, crested caracara, short-tailed hawk, burrowing owl, white-tailed kite, red-cockaded woodpecker, limpkin, scissor-tailed flycatcher, painted bunting and anhinga, as well as reptiles like American Alligator and Crocodiles.

The tour will visit all the south Florida hotspots like Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Sanibel Island and the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the STA-5 vicinity. We will be making a loop through southern Florida, giving us six full days to explore the various natural communities like mangrove forests, cypress swamp, freshwater wetlands, sawgrass prairies, dry prairies, scrub oak forests, mahogany hammocks, pine forests, and open water.

This trip is geared toward all levels of birders so whether you’re just starting out or have been birding in Florida before, I think you will enjoy it. It’s also an excellent opportunity for photographers.

We hope you can join us! For more information, please contact me at tilden@hmana.org. More tour details coming soon at: www.hmana.org/florida

photo courtesy of David McNicholas