vivek@mimsy.UUCP (Vivek Nirkhe) (01/02/88)
We are planning to visit Everglades National park around 15th of Jan. for 3 days. What birds do I expect to see? Which book will help? Do migratory birds reach till southern florida? What kind of weather will it be? Does it rain a lot? Does anyone have any recommendations regarding Bushnell 7-21 X 35 binocs? Thanks in advance. Vivek Nirkhe. ARPA: vivek@mimsy.umd.edu UUCP: uunet!mimsy!vivek
willner@cfa.harvard.EDU (Steve Willner) (01/04/88)
in article <10017@mimsy.UUCP>, vivek@mimsy.UUCP (Vivek Nirkhe) says: > Keywords: Everglades, bird-list, binoculors > We are planning to visit Everglades National park around 15th of Jan. for > 3 days. > Which book will help? An excellent book is "A Birder's Guide to Florida" by James A. Lane. The edition I have is 1984: L & P Press, Box 21604, Denver, CO 80221. The price marked is $7.00. We actually bought it in Florida; I think it was in the National Park bookstore at the Visitor's Center. The book gives very detailed information about sites and the birds expected. (The book is a list of sites, not a field guide, so take a good field guide as well.) Also, park rangers give excellent birding walks and will tell you where else to look. > What birds do I expect to see? An absolutely incredible variety: ducks, terns, egrets, osprey, red-shouldered hawks by the hundreds, nighthawks, and more that I can't remember. And how about roseate spoonbills and anhingas? We didn't see any bald eagles, I'm sorry to say, but they do nest there. > Do migratory birds reach till southern florida? Most do, but I think not all. > What kind of weather will it be? Does it rain a lot? Very comfortable. Rain is possible any time, but you should get ample dry weather unless you're unlucky. Do take insect repellent, though. > Does anyone have any recommendations regarding Bushnell 7-21 X 35 binocs? I'm not familiar with these in particular, but zoom binoculars generally have tiny fields of view and poor images. And powers above 10-12 or so will almost surely require a tripod or other support. Have a great trip. Let us know how it goes. -- Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123 Bitnet: willner@cfa2 60 Garden St. FTS: 830-7123 UUCP: willner@cfa Cambridge, MA 02138 USA ARPA: willner@cfa.harvard.edu
jla@inuxd.UUCP (Joyce Andrews) (01/10/88)
> > We are planning to visit Everglades National park around 15th of Jan. for > 3 days. > > What birds do I expect to see? Which book will help? > Do migratory birds reach till southern florida? > What kind of weather will it be? Does it rain a lot? > Welcome to paradise. I moved to the Florida Keys in April. My path is Indianapolis, through the miracle of modern telecommunications, but I am sitting at my computer right now looking out over sub-tropical waters. The Keys are the southern border (well, not really, but really) of the 'glades, and you have picked an interesting ecosystem to visit. Birds you should expect? Egrets by the tens of thousands..two weeks ago we were driving Rt 41 through the 'glades and estimated some trees had as many as 200 egrets roosting. Herons, all kinds, including the great white, which is thought to be a color mutation of the great blue and is found only in the 'glades and Keys. They are a little larger than a blue and more aggressive...just about every waterfront home in the Keys has a white heron begger. Ours is named Sir Winston. Osprey are VERY common, and coexist very well. An antenna on my home is the morning lookout for one noisy fellow. Several dozen bald eagles nest in the 'glades, and, while not as common as osprey, are often sighted. All kinds of hawks, several kites, and MILLIONS of turkey vultures (when I lived in Ohio I wondered where the turkey vultures went in the fall...now I know) are most of the large birds. You will see ibis, roseatte spoonbills, and, even though the book says you won't see them I have and I know where they live--wild flamingos. Comorants and Anhinga (in the fresh water) are two common water birds. They dive like loons. Brown pelicans, of course, and terns and gulls. BTW--you can tell a great white heron from an egret by the legs...egrets have black legs and herons have grey/yellow legs. I probably should have mailed this, but I find our bird life so exciting that I wanted to share it with everyone. Monroe County, Florida, which includes Everglades National Park and the Florida Keys is a wildlife preserve. It is against the law to discharge a firearm in the county. Wildlife are considered more important than people (for instance, you can't cut down a mangrove tree, even if it's in your own yard), and building a single family dwelling requires an environmental impact study. It's an interesting place to live. GOOD bird books are available at the gift places in FLamingo and Everglades City (you didn't say which part of the 'glades you would be visiting). Much of the flora and fauna in the 'glades is found only here, so it's the best place to get information. One word of warning...the airboat rides offered by every tourist trap on the roads into the park are rip-offs unless you like paying $10 a person to go ripping through sawgrass and making so much noise everything withinn two miles goes into hiding. Take a boat ride from the ranger stations, with a ranger or naturalist aboard, or just walk the nature trails or rent a canoe. The quieter you are, the more you will see, as you all know. We rode a boat through the 10,000 islands at Everglades City recently and were treated to a very close view of an Osprey with a mullet. He (or she) landed on a channel marker with this pretty big fish and we glided along within 10 feet or so of the marker. The bird just glared at us. Also at Everglades City, a crazy fellow by the name of Happy Harry offers airplane rides for $13 a person. He will show you eagle nests (not close enough to bother the birds) and alligators and manatees and dolphin. He's at the airport. Have a good time! Oh...the weather. It's 75 degrees and sunny. There is little rain in the winter. Nights generally go to the mid 60's. Once in a while a "brutal" winter cold front will take it down into the 50's at night, so bring your snuggies. So far this year it has been HOT. -- Joyce Andrews King ihnp4!inuxd!jla AT&T, Indianapolis