Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park Bird & Butterfly Field Trip SATURDAY MAY 25, 2019 7:30AM-4:00PM Sunrise over prairie Kissimmee Prairie Preserve is a breathtaking expanse of infinite grassland. Kissimmee Prairie is a land dominated by the great blue sky. The preserve, part of the Everglades headwaters, protects the largest remaining tract of Florida Dry Prairie, an ecosystem shaped by cycles of flooding and fire. Many rare, threatened and endangered species call this place home, and the wide-open landscape means that birders and photographers have ample opportunity to catch sight of a Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, Crested Caracara or Burrowing Owl. Butterfliers also love the prairie for its many wildflowers and grasses that supports an impressive 85 species of butterflies, including 37 skippers! Internationally recognized for its lack of light pollution, the night sky above the prairie is inky black allowing campers to spot the Milky Way without using telescopes or binoculars.
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Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park
Bird & Butterfly Field TripSATURDAY MAY 25, 2019 7:30AM-4:00PM
Sunrise over prairie
Kissimmee Prairie Preserve is a breathtaking expanse of infinite grassland. Kissimmee Prairie is a land dominated by the great blue sky. The preserve, part of the Everglades headwaters, protects the largest remaining tract of Florida Dry Prairie, an ecosystem shaped by cycles of flooding and fire. Many rare, threatened and endangered species call this place home, and the wide-open landscape means that birders and photographers have ample opportunity to catch sight of a Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, Crested Caracara or Burrowing Owl. Butterfliers also love the prairie for its many wildflowers and grasses that supports an impressive 85 species of butterflies, including 37 skippers! Internationally recognized for its lack of light pollution, the night sky above the prairie is inky black allowing campers to spot the Milky Way without using telescopes or binoculars.
Our trip will start at the entry gate at 7:30AM and we will start off hoping to locate one of the few remaining Florida Grasshopper Sparrows while also taking in Loggerhead Shrike, Eastern Meadowlark, Bachman’s Sparrow, Crested Caracara, and Burrowing Owl. As we enjoy the beauty of the prairie watch the sky in hopes of glimpsing White-tailed and Swallow-tailed Kite which both nest in the preserve and maybe even a Short-tailed Hawk. As the day warms we will also start looking for butterflies such at Little Metalmark, Palmetto Skipper, and Georgia Satyr. We will bird and butterfly until around noon and have a picnic lunch (not provided) at the Visitors Center before working our way back to the entrance by 2:00pm. We’ll then drive to the trailhead in Okeechobee and scan Lake Okeechobee for Purple Gallinule, Limpkin, and Snail
Kite before ending the day around 4:00pm. For those not up to the 2.5 hour drive down in the morning there are many hotels in Okeechobee.Cost is $35.00pp which includes the $4.00 entry fee, water, and light snacks.
Military Trail looking west
Carolina Parakeet Statue
Florida Grasshopper Sparrow after banding
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