Birding on Vacation

Red-Shouldered Hawk

My entire family loves vacationing at Disney World in Florida. This presents a unique challenge to myself as a birder - do I spend as much time as possible enjoying the vacation with my family, or do I try to take a bit of time to do some birding and possibly add some species to my list?

Obviously I try to spend as much time with my loved ones enjoying the sites, sounds, attractions, and weather. In my last three trips I have found that vacation and birding do not need to be mutually exclusive. The picture of the Red-Shouldered Hawk was taken in the Animal Kingdom park as we walked from one attraction to another. It remains the only Red-Shouldered I have seen.

It can be a bit tricky, especially with a park like Animal Kingdom, to make sure the bird you are seeing is not part of the attraction. In the case of the Red-Shouldered, it was actively hunting (you can see a mouse or vole in the talons) and completely free of any enclosure. I have never been able to bring myself to count the Roseate Spoonbills in this park on my life list. Although they are native to the area, I always see them in an enclosure.

Common Moorhen

Common Moorhen are a common site around the lagoon at Epcot. I always keep my eyes peeled for a Purple Gallinule, but it has so far eluded me. The Magic Kingdom has recently become an excellent place to view White Ibis, and in fact it is nearly impossible to miss them. The parking lot for Disney Studios is a sure place to see both Common and Boat-Tailed Grackles.

During my first Disney World vacation with my wife in 2005 (I had been numerous times as a child as well) I first became interested in bird photography. I had borrowed a 70-300mm Sigma lens from a friend because I had never been to Animal Kingdom before and wanted some good pictures. I found lots of birds around the camp site and parks to practise using the lens on, and was soon attempting to take better bird photographs.

Tri-Colored Heron (front)
White Ibis (back)

In 2007, during our first trip to Disney World with our son, I would go for a walk with Finn each morning to let Erin sleep in a little. On our last morning I took Finn out in his backpack and walked to the beach near the campground. I took some good pictures of gulls, herons, and egrets (my wife considers them her favourite bird photos of mine) and saw an unusual looking bird walking along the shore.

I was able to get some good photographs, and with the help of my in-laws identified the bird as a Limpkin. It was about this time that I started listing in earnest, and the Limpkin remains the only bird on my life list that Ron has not seen. This is a bit of an accidental birding triumph of mine.

I began a practise during our last vacation to walk around the area near our hotel while Finn and Erin napped during the day. I was willing to give up some much needed rest to take the opportunity to do a bit of birding without missing quality family time. There are ponds, both drainage and natural, all over the place near the value hotels so I was able to get some good looks at ducks and wading birds. I got my best picture to date of a Ringed-Necked Duck - you can even see the cinnamon coloured ring on the neck that is usually difficult to observe.

Travel between parks and hotel - whether by bus, monorail, boat, or car - are also a good time to look for birds (assuming you are not driving). Herons and Egrets are easy to spot standing beside ponds, pelicans and anhingas are common sites when taking a boat, and hawk, vultures, eagles, and osprey can be seen soaring above. Even travelling to the airport after our last vacation afforded me a sighting of a life bird - a Wood Stork - from the bus. I had been watching for a stork for the whole vacation, and got it about half an hour before it ended.

Ring-Necked Duck

Another challenge of birding on vacation is maintaining lists. Last time I was keeping my life list and year list up to date, and also created a trip list. The life list is the easiest - you generally have a pretty good idea which bird is a life bird when you see it. It is fun going to Florida in January or February and coming back with a year list that has been doubled with species you won't see at home until much later in the year or not at all. The trip list is fun but the most challenging. You need to record every bird you see, even the common ones you have already seen that year at home.

It is probably unsurprising after reading this to find that we are again going to be vacationing in Disney World this winter. We all love it, and Finn is in even more of a position to enjoy it than his last two trips. He talks about it all the time, and he wasn't even two last time he was down. With Finn getting older it will likely be harder to find time to bird without disrupting the vacation.

Erin has very generously offered to take a day away from the parks when we can rent a car and drive somewhere reasonably close by to bird. While this is an extremely tempting offer, and I appreciate her willingness to sacrifice some enjoyment to allow me to bird, there is no way I would deny her and Finn a day of fun in the parks. Let's face it - I would have a great time with them in the park, while it would be a total drag for them to come birding with me. I will have to find another way to bird without disrupting the vacation, and - as I have found time after time - that is definitely possible.