We were based on our 2 week holiday at the Comfort Inn, Palm parkway, Lake buena vista. It was surrounded by good habitat, including good patches of scrub, wooded areas and the southern end of Big Sand Lake. Early morning walks around these areas provided probably the best birding opportunites with good sightings of passage warblers/vireos as well as resident or wintering visitors like Loggerhead shrike, 4 species of woodpecker, Brown thrasher and Eastern Phoebe.
Passage raptors were also in evidence with high flying views of Swainson's hawk and Northern harrier.
Most of the time was spent in the theme parks which dispite the number of people offered good birding, herons, egrets and grackles were very much in evidence, White ibis in particular with birds scavaging round tables at outdoor cafes.
Over-all a good holiday birding wise, not as productive as an earlier visit in April 2006 when Swallow-tailed kite were seen gliding over Animal kingdom and Magnificent frigatebird & Black skimmers seen on a day trip to Clearwater, Tampa.
Pied-billed grebe, Double crested cormorant, Anhinga, Great blue heron, Great white egret, Snowy egret, Little blue heron, Tri-coloured heron, Cattle egret, Green heron, Black-crowned night heron, Glossy ibis, White ibis,Wood stork, Mute swan, (Egyptian goose), Wood duck, Mallard, Mottled duck, Black vulture, Turkey vulture, Osprey, Cooper's hawk, Northern harrier, Red-shouldred hawk, Red-tailed hawk, Swainson's hawk, Bald eagle, American kestrel, Peregrine, Moorhen, Purple gallinule, American coot, Sandhill crane, Killdeer, Greater yellowlegs, Laughing gull, Collared dove, Mourning dove, Monk parakeet, Common nighthawk, Chimney swift, Belted kingfisher, Yellow-bellied sapsucker, Red-bellied woodpecker, Downy woodpecker, Hairy woodpecker, Acadian flycatcher, Eastern phoebe, Western Kingbird, Loggerhead shrike, Red-eyed vireo, white-eyed vireo, Blue jay, American crow, Fish crow, Northern rough-winged swallow, Tree swallow, Tufted titmouse, Carolina wren, House wren, Ruby-crowned kinglet, Blue-grey gnatcatcher, Grey-cheecked thrush, Grey catbird, Northern mockingbird, Brown thrasher, Starling, Blackburnian warbler, Black throated blue warbler, Palm warbler, Pine warbler, Praire warbler, Yellow throated warbler, Parula warbler, Orange-crowned warbler, Common yellowthroat, Ovenbird, American redstart, Northern cardinal, Indigo bunting, Eastern towhee, Red-winged blackbird, Common grackle, Boat-tailed grackle, Brown-headed cowbird, House sparrow. (87 species)