By Victoria Parsons

Ask almost any experienced birder about their best trip and you’ll probably hear a tale about stalking a rare avian species on a long pre-dawn hike through nearfreezing swamps, often highlighted with hungry gators or blood-sucking insects large enough to be mistaken for birds.

Tampa Bay residents, however, are lucky enough to live in a region where birds – even rare species – are easy to watch from comfortable places like boardwalks, beaches, luxury hotels and roadside parking lots.

As regional coordinator for Audubon’s Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries Program, Ann Paul has more than her fair share of harrowing tales, but her all-time favorite birding location is still Lettuce Lake Park in north Hillsborough County. Miles of boardwalks and paved walking trails surround the lake, formed from an old oxbow in the Hillsborough River, that’s part of a 1000-acre preserve with a mix of wetlands and heavily forested uplands. Along with easy access, Paul says, the birds are large enough that they’re easy to see.

“You can see limpkins, egrets, herons, storks, warblers and there are osprey nesting in the towers so you can watch them bringing fish back to their chicks and mates.”

Birds are smaller in the upland habitats at Lettuce Lake, but you can get close enough to see them easily. Newbie birders can see species ranging from hawks and warblers to yellow-bellied sapsuckers – which really do exist. Related to woodpeckers, the sapsuckers make rows of holes in trees that ooze sap, and eat the bugs that come to feast on the sap. “If you can find the holes, you’ll almost always see a sapsucker because they mind the sap and return often.”

Another favorite spot is the Courtney Campbell Causeway, where motorists can pull off the highway to watch an incredible array of shorebirds, particularly during winter months. Ducks, oystercatchers, plovers, loons, roseate spoonbills and herons flock to the shoreline where crabs and small fish abound. Herons are particularly fun to watch because of the way they hunt, she adds. “They hold still, waiting for a crab to come along and then lunge for it.”

As a special treat, Paul enjoys lunch or a drink at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, which received the first annual Florida Audubon Society Corporate Award for Environmentally Sensitive Development. “Sunset or low tide are good – sunset at low tide is the very best time.”

Birds Love Beaches Too

Bay area beaches may be best known for white sand and warm surf, but they’re paradise for birders too, particularly places like Honeymoon, Caladesi and Shell Key islands. Fort DeSoto County Park, with its comfortable amenities and a wide variety of birds, is the first place Ron Smith typically sends newbies.

“You can park your car and walk 60 seconds to see a good set of shorebirds – everything from terns and gulls to egrets, plovers and sandpipers,” said Smith, a long-time birder who recently created www.pinellasbirds.com to share news about local sightings.

Checklists that detail birds you can expect to see during different seasons are available at the park’s main ranger station. For instance, sandwich terns are common in the spring, fall and winter but less likely to be seen in the summer. Least terns, however, are more common in the summer because they nest on bay area beaches and roofs.

“It makes it easier to know what you’re looking at if you know what you can expect to see at what time of year,” Smith said.

Expert Help Always at Hand

Beginning birders who are ready to take the next step can get started with local Audubon Society tours or nature parks where experts are always more than willing to share their expertise and enthusiasm. Preserves like Brooker Creek, Weedon Island and Boyd Hill in Pinellas County, Jay B. Starkey in Pasco, Emerson Point in Manatee and Camp Bayou in Hillsborough all schedule regular nature walks with knowledgeable guides.

“Everyone started at square one and birders are very aware of that,” Smith said, who also leads birding tours at Boyd Hill Nature Park. Smith recommends combining regional books like the Peterson or Sibley guides to US eastern birds with local checklists available through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as well as local Audubon groups. “You want something that’s easy to carry in your pocket.”

The FWC also publishes a series of pocket-sized booklets on the Great Florida Birding Trail that detail birding sites across the state, with specific information on types of birds and best season for seeing them, accessibility, and availability of tours, guides or educational signage on the site.

Binoculars are a must and most birders have digital cameras to document their sightings – or to forward electronically for identification. Online Birding Takes Off Novices and experts alike can learn an enormous amount about birds, including upto-date sightings in nearby locations, through online services. Smith’s site features photography from birders across the county and is updated nearly every day.

He’s also a moderator on the University of South Florida’s Bird Brain listserv (http://listserv.admin.usf.edu/archives/brdbrain.html) where serious birders share information about what they’ve seen where – and newbies can post photos asking for identification help. A national service at www.birdpost.com allows members to search for recent sightings of specific birds. For more serious birders, an iPhone application tracks the phone’s location by GPS then notifies members when a bird on their list is reported to have been seen nearby.

The thing about birding, Smith says, is you get from it what you put into it – but beware because it can be addictive. A friend’s son had a school assignment to identify and photograph 10 birds over the Thanksgiving break. “He got an A on the project and told his dad that he wanted better binoculars and a field guide like Mr. Smith’s for Christmas.”

For More Information
The Bay Soundings quarterly calendar is a good place to start looking for outings with expert birders, but space limits the number of events we can list so be sure to check these websites for complete and up-to-date information:

www.stpeteaudubon.org
www.clearwateraudubon.org
www.tampaaudubon.org
www.westpascoaudubon.org
www.manateeaudubon.org
www.weedonislandcenter.org
www.friendsofbrookercreekpreserve.org
www.campbayou.org