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Florida again-December-January 2022.


IKLland

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I will be going to Florida in December-January for about a week. I’m not going to be able to go more than an hour from Boca Raton. I know the places I will/need to be visiting except for a few species. Anyone have tips for locations for these? 

Snail Kite

Crested Caracarra

Painted Bunting

 Burrowing Owl??

Places I will be visiting are green Kay and Wakodahatchee wetlands, delray  beach, Jonathan Dickinson SP, and possibly Loxahatxhee NWR.  

Thanks! 

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4 hours ago, IKLland said:

I will be going to Florida in December-January for about a week. I’m not going to be able to go more than an hour from Boca Raton. I know the places I will/need to be visiting except for a few species. Anyone have tips for locations for these? 

Snail Kite

Crested Caracarra

Painted Bunting

 Burrowing Owl??

Places I will be visiting are green Kay and Wakodahatchee wetlands, delray  beach, Jonathan Dickinson SP, and possibly Loxahatxhee NWR.  

Thanks! 

 

43 minutes ago, Connor Cochrane said:

I'm not going to be too helpful here.  I've never seen either a Crested Caracara or a Burrowing Owl. I've only seen a Snail Kite once, and it was here:

https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2726529

I've seen Painted Buntings at one of the Green Cay entrance feeders, but never past the end of October.  I just checked another resource, and it doesn't look like anybody else has seen Painted Buntings at Green Cay since the end of October either.

Edited by dragon49
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16 hours ago, dragon49 said:

 

I'm not going to be too helpful here.  I've never seen either a Crested Caracara or a Burrowing Owl. I've only seen a Snail Kite once, and it was here:

https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2726529

I've seen Painted Buntings at one of the Green Cay entrance feeders, but never past the end of October.  I just checked another resource, and it doesn't look like anybody else has seen Painted Buntings at Green Cay since the end of October either.

Thanks. what about Sandhill crane? 

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Just now, Birds are cool said:

Painted Buntings are fairly common in southeastern costal areas. You should be able to find them.

Well , maybe not in palm beach county…last time I was there I asked some local birder and he said they’re very uncommon in the county.

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3 hours ago, IKLland said:

Thanks. what about Sandhill crane? 

I've been to this hotspot 23 times and have reported Sandhill Cranes 9 times.  Four of the observations were from calls only:

https://ebird.org/hotspot/L635288

My other observations were also at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.  Sometimes, at dawn, a pair comes into far West boat ramp parking lot.  Other than that, I've never seen any others outside the first hotspot I mentioned.  The other calls I've heard while at the refuge have been coming from that hotspot.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I usually get Snail Kites and Caracaras at Joe’s Overstreet Landing up near Lake Kissimmee. Cranes are a guarantee there as well. In fact, I usually find cranes to be super common most anywhere in south Florida. You’ll probably stumble upon some without even trying, as they’re ultra-adapted to urbanized settings down there. I haven’t ever looked for Burrowing Owls in FL, but I understand they’re easier on the West Coast, although there appear (via eBird)  to be places south of Boca Raton that have them.  As for buntings, I’ve never specifically looked, but usually run into a few in various places. 
 

Closer to Boca Raton, I understand Snail Kites are fairly reliable at Loxahatchee. Wakodahatchee is incredible. You’ll love it if you haven’t been (or if you have). Amazing photo opportunities. 
 

Make sure to check eBird and have fun! 

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4 minutes ago, blackburnian said:

I usually get Snail Kites and Caracaras at Joe’s Overstreet Landing up near Lake Kissimmee

If memory serves I have seen Snail Kites here also near the water and Crested Carcaras also. I'm going to double check on ebird in few minutes. I have so much trouble getting on here any more I want to do a couple other posts first. I will also look for Burrowing Owl. They are not easy here in Florida but I have seen two. One near Gainesville (which is further than you want to go. One in another place but I'm not sure how far away it was from Boca Raton. I'll be right back I hope. 

081 (8).JPG

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31 minutes ago, Clip said:

If memory serves I have seen Snail Kites here also near the water and Crested Carcaras also. I'm going to double check on ebird in few minutes. I have so much trouble getting on here any more I want to do a couple other posts first. I will also look for Burrowing Owl. They are not easy here in Florida but I have seen two. One near Gainesville (which is further than you want to go. One in another place but I'm not sure how far away it was from Boca Raton. I'll be right back I hope. 

081 (8).JPG

I just did some double checking and yes I saw both birds at Joe Overstreet but according to the map it is over 2 hours away from Boca. The good news is if you can make Joe Overstreet the place where I saw a Burrowing Owl is not much further. I believe the grounds around the Miami airport is a good place for Burrowing Owls but I have not birded the location so I can't help with specifics.

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One of the two Green Cay or Wakodahatchee, I don't remember which had feeders out and they had Painted Bunting coming to them. Winter is perfect timing to see them. We get them in our backyard coming to our feeders. Sadly, we have seen very few this winter. An accumulation of problems have dropped our backyard birds to a fraction of what it was. People cutting down their old trees in the neighborhood for solar panels and thinning them of dead branches plus hawks and feral cats. We haven't seen a single male this winter. Gorgeous birds I hope you get to see some.

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Thanks to both of you! I probably won’t be able to get the two hour away places. I’m really hoping to get to Jonathan Dickinson SP or the FLSJs. And yes, last time I was down there I went to Wakodahatchee and Green Kay(the PABUs at green Kay showed up two days after I left!)

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22 hours ago, IKLland said:

showed up two days after I left!)

Been there done that numerous times. The most memorable was with Whooping Cranes in Kansas. We left early one morning to head home in Colorado and they showed up that same evening.

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On 12/5/2022 at 5:36 AM, blackburnian said:

I usually get Snail Kites and Caracaras at Joe’s Overstreet Landing up near Lake Kissimmee.

I saw my only Snail Kite and first Caracara at Joe's Overstreet Landing.

I go to FL for a few weeks every winter, but usually I'm up further north.  I haven't spent time in the Boca Raton area so I can't help there.  I had read that Snail Kites are relatively easy to find on Rt 41 west of Miami, but the one time I drove down that road looking for one I didn't see any.

One place to see Burrowing Owls with 100% certainty is Cape Coral on the west coast (unfortunately way more than an hour from Boca).  They nest all over and are the town's mascot.  When a nest is found, they put a cross-shaped perch near it so people know not to cut the grass or let pets near them.  If you are in a hurry, you can use eBird to get exact locations, but you can't drive through town without seeing an owl up on its perch somewhere.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’ve arrived back in Cali, it ended up being a great trip even though it wasn’t completely a birding trip. 6 lifers, and I nailed my two most wanted lifers, Painted Bunting and Roseate Spoonbill. It’s a shame I didn’t have time for the tougher species like Snail Kite, Florida Scrub Jay, Crested Caracara, etc. Maybe next time!

https://ebird.org/tripreport/95355

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On 1/6/2023 at 11:45 AM, IKLland said:

I’ve arrived back in Cali, it ended up being a great trip even though it wasn’t completely a birding trip. 6 lifers, and I nailed my two most wanted lifers, Painted Bunting and Roseate Spoonbill. It’s a shame I didn’t have time for the tougher species like Snail Kite, Florida Scrub Jay, Crested Caracara, etc. Maybe next time!

https://ebird.org/tripreport/95355

Congrats!

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  • 4 months later...

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