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Everglades Birding Festival
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FRIDAY DAILY SCHEDULE
Registration: 6:15-6:30 a.m. required ($50)
Field Trips: 7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Dinner: 6:00-7:00 p.m. ($15 must prepay)
Mini workshop: 7:00 p.m.-7:20 p.m—BEHAVIOR & SILHOUETEE
Evening program: 7:30 p.m.—David Simspson: What can ebird do for you?
REGISTRATION - 6:15-6:30 a.m. – ($50-required)
Pick up your name tag, field trip workshop materials and goody bag. Registration covers opening reception, reception dinner, daily morning mini-workshops, birding education handout materials, ALL evening programs (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), water and field trip snacks. Without preregistration, field trip availability is based on a first come, first serve basis. We will try to accommodate your choice, but it is not guaranteed.
FIELD TRIPS
CORKSCREW SWAMP & CENTRAL PRAIRIES
7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. - ($125)
Corkscrew Swamp is a “must” see in south Florida. It’s legendary board walk and natural beauty travels through a variety of habitats and the birds that live there. There is a chance of Painted Bunting, Barred Owl, Limpkin, Night Herons and more. We’ll visit the nature centers’ exhibits and nature store. On the way back through Seminole Indian lands on Snake Road there is a chance for Crested Caracara, Wild Turkey, Sandhill Crane, Northern Harrier, Wilson Snipe and shorebirds. A quick stop on Deer Fence Road for Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Western Kingbird. Cost-($120) Field trip includes van transportation, yummy lunch, bottle water, snacks and park admission.
Target Birds - Painted Bunting, Barred Owl, Limpkin, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Pileated Woodpecker, Crested Caracara, Wild Turkey, Sandhill Crane, Northern Harrier, Wilson Snipe, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Western Kingbird, wintering warbler
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - 375 Sanctuary Rd. West, Naples, FL 34120
This Audubon Society keystone site encompasses the largest remaining stand of old-growth bald cypress on the continent, and the birds love it! Boasting a 200+ species list, the 2.25-mile boardwalk through this rare habitat is an easy walk where wildlife viewing and the appreciation of nature is paramount. http://corkscrew.audubon.org/
SOUTH DADE HOTSPOTS
7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. - ($125)
South Dade Hotspots is a tour of the some of the best birding destinations in South Miami. The focus is finding the much-desired exotic species and Short-tailed Hawk. The tour will include touring around the Baptist Hospital area and neighborhoods for Red-whiskered Bulbul and Spot-breasted Oriole. Flocks of Mitred Parakeets fly overhead and hopefully will land on the hospital for closer viewing. Egyptian Goose should be in the pond along with a variety of wading birds. Heading over to Miller Drive Roost (Brewer Park) could produce a variety of parakeets, parrots and possible Painted Bunting. Pinewoods Park is another great place to look for exotics including Scaly-breasted Munia. A quick stop at Cutler Wetlands and lunch at Blackpoint Marina is our best chance for Mangrove Cuckoo, an extremely difficult bird to find which has been seen only twice during the festival. Manatees and Crocodiles can also be found here. At Castellow Hammock, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds can be seen up close, along with a variety of warblers. Based on what rarities are being seen in the area, the schedule could change.
Target Birds - Short-tailed Hawk, Prairie Warbler, Mangrove Cuckoo, Ruby-throated & Rufous Hummingbird, Mangrove Cuckoo, wintering ducks and shorebirdsBlackpoint Marina - 24775 SW 87TH Ave., Miami, Fl.
Black Point Park & Marina, oftentimes referred to as "Black Point," is the largest public marina located in Miami and it is part of the Miami-Dade Parks & Recreation department. The marina is also very close to Biscayne National Park. http://www.miamidade.gov/parks/black-point-marina.asp
Castellow Hammock Preserve - 22301 SW 162nd Ave. Miami, FL 33031
This 112-acre park has a bird and butterfly garden that sports multicolored Painted Buntings in winter and migrants such as Worm-eating Warblers and American Redstarts in spring and fall. Its hardwood hammock is a remnant of a once more widespread South Florida habitat and includes an invitingly shady trail great for songbirds. Approach the nature center slowly from the parking lot to avoid flushing birds in the garden; nature trail departs from the back side of the nature center .Birds: Painted Bunting, Short-tailed Hawk. http://www.miamidade.gov/parks/castello-hammock.asp
QUICK DINNER: 6:00-7:00 p.m. (must prepay: $15) – Entrée, Salad, Desert and Beverage/WineEVENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER: 7:30 p.m. – David Simspson: What can ebird do for you? — in breakfast room
The monumental changes that have been brought to the birding world from the development of ebird can not be over emphasized. Although designed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology to collect bird sightings to increase their data base by citizen scientists (birders), it has turned into so much more. David will go into the basics of ebird: creating a checklist, searching for hot spots, looking at bird data collected for bird species at particular sites and how to navigate the website. There will lots of time for a question-and-answer period.