North Shore Birding Festival

About the Event

Schedule of Events:

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Sun 1. Sunrise Photography and Birding – Mostly driving, some walking.

McDonald Canal Pavilion, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. $50, includes box lunch. Leaders: Mark Hainen and Philip Lintereur. 6:00 a.m.‒11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 12. Lake Apopka has remarkable opportunities for sunrises from northern locations like Clay Island, and sunsets from Magnolia Park in Apopka and Newton Park in Winter Garden. Sunrise will occur at 7:02 a.m. on this date. It takes a while to drive on the dirt roads of the North Shore, so we will meet at the McDonald Canal Pavilion at 6:00 a.m. and drive through normally locked gates to the Clay Island observation tower overlooking beautiful Lake Apopka. After sunrise, we will bird and explore other areas of the North Shore before returning to the McDonald Canal to eat a box lunch. Your trip leaders will provide both photo and bird identification tips throughout the morning. Possible sightings: See 3.

Sunday 2. Ocala National Forest Woodpecker Extravaganza – Walking

Clearwater Lake Recreation Area, 24511 Co Rd 42, Paisley, FL 32767. $50, bring your own lunch.

Leaders: Gallus Quigley (Lake County Parks and Trails) and Beck Smith (Archaeopteryx Tours). 6:30 a.m.‒11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 12.

The well-burned pine forests of the Ocala National Forest host all of the species of woodpecker that breed or winter in Florida. Possible sightings: The endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker is our target species, but we will also search for Red-headed, Red-bellied, Pileated, Downy, and Hairy Woodpeckers, as well as Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Northern Flickers. We should find Brown-headed Nuthatches and Bachman’s Sparrows, specialties of well-burned Southern pine habitats, and possibly other sparrows and winter songbirds.

Sunday 3. Birding the Lake Apopka North Shore – Mostly driving, some walking.

McDonald Canal Pavilion, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. $60, includes box lunch. Leaders: Gian Basili (USFWS), Craig Watson (USFWS), Pamela Ford (Carolina Bird Club) and Ben Guigliotti (SJRWMD). 6:30 a.m.‒11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 14. Dr. Gian Basili was the person most instrumental in the purchase of the farms for the restoration of Lake Apopka and is an ornithologist, one of our celebrity leaders. The group will look for overwintering Grasshopper Sparrows and various rarities on the North Shore. Possible sightings: See 3.

Sunday 4. Sparrows of the Lake Apopka North Shore – Walking. Locations, leaders and price. 7:00 a.m.‒10:30 a.m. Maximum participants: 12. The Apopka Birding Park is Orange Audubon's long-term project to restore bird habitat and build a nature center at the edge of the Lake Apopka North Shore. The old nursery site is upland in contrast to most of the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive and with restoration will host many overwintering sparrows. 

Sunday 5. Clay Island – Mostly driving, some walking.  McDonald Canal Pavilion, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. $60, includes box lunch at McDonald Canal. Leaders: Luis Gles, Mariah Hryniewich and Lorri Lilja. 7:00 a.m.‒11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 15. 

Sunday 6. Clay Island, Gen Z Birding  – Mostly driving, some walking.  McDonald Canal Pavilion, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. This special trip is our festival's annual attempt to pull in college students and others just out of college with a half-price trip. $25 for GenZ. Includes box lunch at McDonald Canal. This discounted registration will close on November 5th and an identical trip with the remaining slots will open for general admission price of $50, open to all. Leaders: John Groskopf and Gigi Del Pizzo. 7:00 a.m.‒11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 16. 

Sunday Trip 7. Orlando Wetlands, Walking tour with Photography – Walking, with tram ride back for a bathroom break, if possible. Orlando Wetlands, 25155 Wheeler Road, Christmas, FL 32709. $50, bring your own lunch. Leaders: Ethan Landreville, Brennan Landreville with Philip Lintereur. 7:30 a.m.‒11:30 a.m. Maximum participants: 12. The Orlando Wetlands is a man-made wetland designed to provide advanced treatment for treated wastewater from the City of Orlando. Located in the far eastern part of Orange County, the park is 1,650 acres in size and has 21 miles of crisscrossing berm trails. With cattail and bulrush marshes, mixed and open marshes, hardwood swamps and a lake, Orlando Wetlands is a wildlife haven and birding hot-spot. This is a walking tour, but volunteers on a tram will take the participants back to the entrance for a mid-morning bathroom break. Possible sightings include Northern Harrier, Peregrine Falcon, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Roseate Spoonbill, Limpkin, and Purple Gallinule and numerous wading birds and wintering ducks.

Sunday 8. Green Mountain Trail Hiking and Birding – Walking, approximately 4 miles.

Green Mountain Scenic Overlook and Trailhead, 20700 County Road 455, Montverde. $50, includes box lunch at McDonald Canal. Leaders: Greg Gensheimer (Green Mountain Scenic Byway) and Pete Johnson (Duval Audubon Society). 7:30 a.m.‒11:30 a.m. Maximum participants: 12. This trip will start from the Green Mountain Overlook, sitting 132’ above sea level on the west side of Lake Apopka, with a view of Lake Apopka and the Lake Apopka North Shore Restoration Area, just a short distance from Sugarloaf Mountain (the highest point in peninsular Florida at 312’). The trail, part of the Lake Apopka Loop Trail follows an abandoned railroad bed and connects to Clay Island Trails two miles distant. Plan for a four-mile round-trip hike, pending on closer-in activity. We will look for passerines in the oak hammock and other birds common to wet areas. Possible sightings include Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-throated, Yellow-rumped and Black- and-white warblers, American Redstart, Orange-crowned and Prairie warblers, Ovenbird, various sparrows and other songbirds. In the wetter areas, green heron, anhinga, belted kingfisher, and more passerines.

NEW! Sunday 9: St. Augustine, Rare Coastal Sparrows–Walking. Masters Tract Stormwater Treatment, 7756 Hub Bailey Rd, Hastings, FL 32145. $50, bring your own lunch. Leaders:  Blair Clark and Susan Thome-Barrett. 8:00 a.m.‒3:00 p.m. After Masters (for shorebirds), Anastasia State Park (for beach birds), we will visit Dr. Robert Hayling Freedom Park at high tide (for seaside sparrows). Trip leader Blair Clark, who has put this new festival trip together, is a 17-year old but very skilled Young Birder from the St. Augustine area. Note that this location is an hour and a half from Apopka.

Sunday 10. Rock Springs Run State Reserve, Scrub-Jay Quest – Walking, strenuous walking in salt marsh. Rock Springs Run State Reserve, 30601 County Rd 433, Sorrento, FL 32776. $45, bring your own lunch. Leaders: David Simpson (Birding with David Simpson) and Chuck Honaker (Seminole Audubon Society). 8:00 a.m.‒11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 12. Part of the 70,000-acre Wekiva River Basin and adjacent to Wekiwa Springs State Park, Rock Springs Run State Reserve now hosts Florida Scrub-Jays as well as other scrub and pineland species. 

Sunday 11. Sawgrass Island Preserve Photo Trip (Focus on Fill Flash)  – Walking. Sawgrass Island Preserve, 11931 Sawgrass Island Rd, Umatilla, FL 32784, North parking area. $50, bring your own lunch. Leaders: Steve Shaluta and Max Weakley. 8:00 a.m.‒11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 12. This 1,137-acre Preserve is close to the Ocala National Forest on the edge of Lake Yale and was purchased by the Lake County Water Authority to protect water quality and wildlife habitat for that lake. It encompasses a large sawgrass marsh as well as upland habitats and supports gopher tortoises, Florida pine snakes, Florida Sandhill Cranes, Bald Eagles, and migratory waterfowl. Sawgrass Island Preserve is a favorite of trip leader/ professional photographer Steve Shaluta, who uses fill flash to produce gorgeous bird photos. Learn from Steve and up-and-coming photographer and birder Max Weakley, who also lives nearby.

Sunday 12. Waterfowl of the Lake Apopka North Shore – Mostly driving, some walking

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, 2850 Lust Rd, Apopka, FL 32703. $60, includes box lunch. Leaders: Leaders: Chris Newton, Kathy Rigling and Tim Hardin. 7:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Maximum participants: 15. We will traverse the canals, wetlands and shore of Lake Apopka, taking care not to get in the way of other visitors. For possible sightings, see information for Trip 3.

Sunday 13. Birding by Kayak on the A-B Canal –  Paddling

McDonald Canal Boat Ramp, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. $50, box lunch included. Kayaks kindly provided by Lake County Water Authority. Includes box lunch. Leaders: Alan Shapiro (Orange Audubon Society) and Matt Richardson (Orange Audubon Society). 8:00 a.m.‒11:30 a.m. Maximum participants: 10. Starting at the kayak launch by the McDonald Canal Boat Ramp, we will paddle down the McDonald Canal to where it meets the Apopka-Beauclair (A-B) Canal and then down the A-B Canal as far as conditions permit. It is about 5 miles round-trip to Lake Apopka. This paddling trip will provide a different view of the Lake Apopka North Shore, its birds and the lake restoration efforts. Possible sightings include Snail Kites eating the introduced apple snails, Limpkins, Purple Gallinules in the spatterdock, Common Yellowthroats, and other wetland and water birds. There is a chance to see a Barn Owl, and if conditions are good and we reach the lake, we may see nesting Bald Eagles.

​​​​​​​Sunday 14. Afternoon Leader's Choice, Rarity Chase – Mostly driving, some walking. McDonald Canal Pavilion, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. $45. Leaders: Chris Newton, Tim Hardin and Haden Klinger​​​​​​​. 12:30 p.m.‒4:00 p.m. Maximum participants: 12. Note: This trip may involve driving up to 45 minutes from the meeting site to see a particular rare bird. It is not a continuation of a morning Leader’s Choice trip —may involve visiting the same sites if there is a particularly rare bird there. Possible sightings: See Fri 3.

​​​​​​​Sunday 15. Afternoon Leader's Choice, Rarity Chase – Mostly driving, some walking. McDonald Canal Pavilion, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. $45. Leaders: Luis Gles, Mariah Hryniewich and Kathy Rigling​​​​​​​ (Orange Audubon Society). 12:30 p.m.‒4:00 p.m. Maximum participants: 12. Note: This trip may involve driving up to 45 minutes from the meeting site to see a particular rare bird. It is not a continuation of a morning Leader’s Choice trip —may involve visiting the same sites if there is a particularly rare bird there. Possible sightings: See Fri 3.

​​​​​​​Sunday 16. Afternoon Leader's Choice, Rarity Chase – Mostly driving, some walking. McDonald Canal Pavilion, 24600 CR 448A, Mount Dora, FL 32757. $45. Leaders: John Groskopf (Florida Ornithological Society) and Lorri Lilja (Orange Audubon Society). 12:30 p.m.‒4:00 p.m. Maximum participants: 12. Note: This trip may involve driving up to 45 minutes from the meeting site to see a particular rare bird. It is not a continuation of a morning Leader’s Choice trip —may involve visiting the same sites if there is a particularly rare bird there. Possible sightings: See Fri 3.

Sunday 17. Sunset Photography and Birding – Some walking. Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, 2850 Lust Rd., Apopka, FL 32703. $35. Leaders: Steve Coleman (Sunsets by Steven), Lynn Marie Folts (Orange Audubon Society) and Jack Horton (Orange Audubon Society). 4:00 p.m.‒6:00 p.m. Maximum participants: 12. Lake Apopka has remarkable opportunities for sunsets. On this date sunset will occur at 5:30 p.m. and the earlier start time will allow driving to the pump house and set up. Bring deet-containing bug spray. Your trip leaders will provide both photo and bird identification tips. Possible sightings: See Fri 3.

Date: December 5 - 9, 2024

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