Overview 

On this tour, we'll stay near Merritt Island, in Titusville, on the Atlantic side midway down the Florida peninsula, which is famous for its wildlife, and enjoy a pleasant exploration of the area. While the focus will be on birds, we will also take in the scenery, and look at any insects, wildflowers, and other fauna and flora that capture our interest. Each day will have a major destination and also have other stops, as we check other birding sites in the area. There will be time allowed for stopping at any points of interest that catch your eye, and we'll be sure to stop as needed for food, and rest-stops. As usual, I will have a spotting scope. 

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge consists of nearly 84,000 acres and is one of the top birding sites on the Florida Atlantic coast, especially for wintering waterfowl, shorebirds, and gulls and terns. The refuge contains 21 Threatened and Endangered animals, more than any other U.S. refuge outside Hawaii. There are several wildlife drives and trails. Florida Scrub Jays are quite common here, and the beach area is a good place to look for possible pelagic birds, such as Northern Gannet. The Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area and Lake Kissimmee offer an inland birding area with some different species than the coast. There are opportunities to look for the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker in several protected forest areas, and to look for the re-introduced Whooping Crane near Lake Kissimmee. There are good driving and walking areas.

Logistics 

This is a 6-day, 5-night tour in the mid-Florida region on February 4-9, with arrival and departure from Orlando. Cost is $1,195.00 per person for 2-3 participants, which drops to $1095.00 per person if there are at least 4 participants, all based on double occupancy. Cost includes: Van or full-sized car rental and all fuel and tolls (and I will do all the driving, including pick-up and drop-off at the airport), lodging in a local motel of good quality located near Merritt Island in Titusville, meals, and guiding for birds and natural history. The cost does not include your airfare. We'll eat breakfast and dinner at restaurants, but we may have a picnic lunches, if the weather is nice.

Itinerary - Subject to Modification

Day 1. Arrive in Orlando and drive to Titusville. En route, we will stop at East Lake Tohopekaliga to look for Mottled Duck, Glossy Ibis, Limpkin, Least Bittern, and Sandhill Crane. In 2006 we found a flock of 40 American Pipits here. From there we will head to Titusville and check into lodgings before going out for dinner.

Day 2. Today we will start our exploration of Merritt Island by driving the Black Point Wildlife Drive, a wonderful route that circles though wetlands and forest areas that host good numbers of many species of birds, including Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, Reddish Egret, Mottled Duck, Northern Pintail, and Northern Shoveler. We'll be sure to get out and walk a few of the trails located along the drive to look for Northern Parula and Palm Warbler.  In the afternoon, we'll search for the Florida Scrub-Jay, which occurs here in greater numbers than anywhere else in Florida.  Alligators are common, and we might also see an armadillo.

Day 3. Drive to Lake Kissimmee and Three Lakes Wildlife Management area. We'll look for  Whooping Crane, Sandhill Crane, Crested Caracara, Bald Eagle, Wild Turkey, and Loggerhead Shrike. Three species that are not always a sure thing but that we will try to see are the endangered  Red-cockaded Woodpecker, the tiny Brown-headed Nuthatch, and the secretive Bachman's Sparrow. With luck we may find Burrowing Owl. We'll visit pine flatwood and prairie habitats, and several lakes.

Day 4. We'll drive south to Viera Wetlands where we'll look for waterfowl and secretive wetland birds such as Least Bittern and Sora. Rare birds for Florida, such as Greater White-fronted Goose, Masked Duck and Eared Grebe have all occurred here so we might get lucky and see something really unusual. In the afternoon, we'll head back to Merritt Island and visit the beach to search for Wilson's Plover, Marbled Godwit, Northern Gannet, Brown Pelican, Caspian Tern, and Black Skimmer.

Day 5. We'll explore Peacock's Pocket Road which traverses a series of dikes bordering a mosaic of wetlands harboring shorebirds, herons and waterfowl. American Avocets are sometimes here in good numbers, and we'll likely see numerous Great Blue, Little Blue, and Tricolored Herons. Great and Snowy Egret are common and Reddish Egret also occurs. In the afternoon, we'll head north towards Scottsmoor Landing to look for more shorebirds, and possible overwintering Painted Bunting.

Day 6. In the morning, we'll visit the nearby Blue Heron Wetlands to look for more wintering waterfowl, and herons before returning to Orlando for an afternoon departure.