For the birds

When I started planning this trip I reached out to my birder friends and asked where I should be going in Florida. I got some great info, but I think maybe the best advice I got was from my friend Sue, who said look at what birds are seen in Florida and figure out which ones you want to see.

That snapped my research gene into action and I proceeded to put together a very detailed spreadsheet to determine what my target birding places would be. I’m still not certain I will hit all of them, but here is the low down on the 73 birds I am targeting to spend a little time with – all of them Life birds.

If I’m really lucky I’ll see these 9 birds:

· Long-billed Curlew

· Pomarine Jaeger

· Parasitic Jaeger

· Elegant Tern

· Brown-crested Flycatcher

· La Sagra’s Flycatcher

· Tropical Kingbird

· Indian Peafowl

· Red Junglefowl

I’ve got a better shot at these 14 birds, but still a fairly long shot:

· White-cheeked Pintail

· Masked Duck

· American Flamingo

· Smooth-billed Ani

· Groove-billed Ani

· Swainson's Hawk

· Golden-winged Warbler

· Red-masked Parakeet

· Gull-billed Tern

· Henslow's Sparrow

· Neotropic Cormorant

· Swan Goose

· Graylag Goose

· Snowy Plover

I’ve got an even better shot at these 29 birds:

· Florida Scrub-Jay

· White-faced Whistling Duck

· Burrowing Owl

· Red-cockaded Woodpecker

· White-winged parakeet

· Spot-breasted Oriole

· Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

· White-eyed Parakeet

· Chestnut-fronted Macaw

· Orange-winged Parrot

· Brown-headed Nuthatch

· Mitred parakeet

· Fulvous Whistling-Duck

· American Avocet

· Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

· Vermillion Flycatcher

· Egyptian Goose

· Western Kingbird

· Bachman's Sparrow

· Blue-crowned Parakeet

· Cinnamon Teal

· Ash-throated Flycatcher

· Wilson's Plover

· Magnificent Frigatebird

· Nanday Parakeet

· Short-tailed Hawk

· Northern Bobwhite

· Carolina Chickadee

· Sedge Wren

It is likely I will see these 10 birds:

· Black-necked Stilt

· Sandwich Tern

· White-winged Dove

· Swallow-tailed Kite

· Muscovy Duck

· Gray-headed Swamphen

· Reddish Egret

· Crested Caracara

· Monk Parakeet

· Snail Kite

I’d be surprised if I don’t see these 11 birds:

· Purple Gallinule

· Black-bellied Whistling Duck

· Eurasian Collared-Dove

· Loggerhead Shrike

· Roseate Spoonbill

· Mottled Duck

· Common Ground-Dove

· Limpkin

· Wood Stork

· Anhinga

· Boat-tailed Grackle

There are a few birds that are not on my list, but have been “hanging” in places I expect to be and my guess is there may be more or these birds could leave – they include

· White Wagtail

· Bahama Mockingbird

· Shiny Cowbird

· Tricolored Munia

It’s an ever changing target – but that is part of the fun!