Tropical Audubon Society

South Florida’s Voice of Conservation

Six birders joined Paul Bithorn and me this week for the annual TAS winter birding tour to North Florida. The weather was decidedly wintery, though the snow that fell in the Tallahassee area on the tour's first day had already melted by the time we arrived. The next three days were sunny but cold, with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s. Our itinerary took us to birding hotspots that included Sweetwater Wetlands in Gainesville, Apalachicola National Forest, Florida Caverns State Park, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and Tall Timbers Research Station. We tallied 141 species during the tour, including 23 waterfowl, 3 grebes, 7 woodpeckers, 5 wrens and both kinglets. Highlights included Greater White-fronted and Snow Goose, Greater Scaup, Eared Grebe, Ruff, Vaux’s Swift, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Hairy and Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Winter Wren, Sprague’s Pipit and Yellow Warbler. A link to a trip summary is below.