Wednesday 21st January

This morning was an unusually late start for us as we needed time to 'draw breath' as they say.
This was important as in the previous evening we went to Universal for 'some shopping' and another visit to Margaritaville for another 'cheeseburger in paradise'. It wasn't the best choice, but hey ho, it had to be done.

It is a time for some reflection and to pass some information to those who may be able to do what we have done. December and January are the months to visit. Although the weather cannot be guaranteed, as we found out, generally speaking it is dry and the temperatures reasonable if not hot. The other advantages are that the Mosquitos (only 82 species of them) seem to be absent. We were told that in the previous two years they had had very little rain and because of this the salinity had risen too high for many varieties of birds. However last October they had two days of heavy rain with over 10 inches in a day. Consequently the levels were high which was good. If you are planning a trip all this needs checking out. A good point is that we there is fresh water area there as well as brackish water ones.

Kissimmee is very good for accommodation and attractions but it is 57 miles to Merritt Island and my recommendation would be to book accommodation in the Titusville, Viera and Melbourne areas.
Consideration must be given to the Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival which is on from 21st - 26th January this year.

You can check this out on www.SpaceCoastBirdingAndWildlifeFestival.org

The importance of this there is a lot of people in the area both for hotels and vehicles out on the refuge roads. It would be preferable to be there in a less busy period.

VieraWetlandsBirding.com is a useful site for Ritch Grissom which is also on GrissomWetlands.org.

At this location they say you could find the Crested Cara Cara and the Bittern - next time maybe?
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is easy to find and provides excellent information.

This area was only going to be a barrier area for the launch site at Cape Canaveral. NASA were persuaded to let it become a refuge. It is run by volunteers and they are good. I could stay there for days!

We saw four species of butterflies, which Michelle recorded on camera and we will look at these and other photos when we get home.

Tomorrow we go south via Myakka to stay at Fort Myers Beach where we will be visiting Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Big Cypress National Preserve and Ding Darling on Sanibel Island. We will have good views of the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Myers Beach and hopefully some good sightings of seabirds, shorebirds and waders.