Roseate spoonbills are one of the many waterbirds that frequent the wetlands of Brevard County. Photo courtesy of Reinier Munguia and SCBWF.
Posted by David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
Brevard County, Florida is chock full of nature preserves so it is a natural choice for eco-tourism. Brevard has a wide variety of natural habitats, from submerged wetlands where waterbirds of all types are found, to dry oak scrub inhabited by Florida scrub jays.
Chief among Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival field trip locations is Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR). In this 140,000 acre preserve next to Kennedy Space Center more than 1500 species of plants and animals thrive. Want to take a birding field trip in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge? Here are your choices:
Afternoon Hayride – A slow ride through parts of the refuge on Black Point Wildlife Drive.
Beginning Birding Field Trip – Starts with a classroom introduction followed by a field trip. Learn how to get started in birding and nature discovery. Get tips on field guides, optics, where to find birds and how to go about identifying them.
Beginning birders on a field trip at the 2009 Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. Photo courtesy of SCBWF.
Birding By Ear and Habitat – You’ll have to get up early in the morning for this one. Start before sunrise and learn, through in-the-field experience how to identify birds by their various calls and alarm notes. Also includes a short classroom session. Travel through many different habitats and expect to see or hear possibly 80 different species of birds or more.
Eagles in Florida – Learn about eagles, meet and photograph Paige the eagle. Drive around Black Point Wildlife Drive and look for nesting bald eagles. Includes a presentation by Lynda White, Project Eagle Watch coordinator for Audubon of Florida.
Florida Bird Detective – A birding field trip in the refuge for absolute beginners. Binoculars will be available along with direction on how to use them. This is a perfect way to introduce your kids to birding!
Wildflowers, Plants, & Other Things – Enjoy a program with slides of wildflowers, trees, shrubs, ferns and other plants along with information about their natural history, the way they are used by people and animals, where they are found, and their use as landscape plants. The field trip covers diverse habitats and covers many species of plants, birds, reptiles, butterflies and other insects.
I’ve registered for the Birding By Ear and Habitat field trip and am looking forward to it, although I’m not sure how I’m going to get out of bed that early in the morning.
Read more about the field trips and register at the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival web site.
FTC Disclosure of Material Connections: I receive compensation from the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival for writing about the 2010 Festival.
