Habitat of Course

Habitat of Course Birding tours private and groups
Wildlife habitat designs
Nest box monitoring
Preserve inventories Higgins
Certified Grounds Manager

Habitat of Course is the brainchild of award-winning horticulturist and landscape designer Monica Higgins, CGM. Monica has designed and maintained sustainable landscapes in the residential, golf course and resort industry for 37 years. She specializes in enhancing wildlife habitat and low-input native designs. Monica is also an avid birder and has led birding tours for individuals, golf courses an

d for groups at the Naples Botanical Gardens and Audubon of the Western Everglades. She has been a top birder in Collier County on eBird since 2012. In addition, she has been an area leader for Christmas Bird Counts in Naples, the Fakahatchee and Ten Thousand Islands. She was the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Manager at Naples Lakes County Club for nine years and won the Audubon International Bioblitz competition in 2018 recording 496 different species. Services Available

Individuals
Birding tours private or for groups
Nature tours
Bird and wildlife garden designs
Native garden designs

Golf Course, HOA, Business
Group birding and nature tours
Bioblitz management
Nest box placement and monitoring
Wildlife inventory
Preserve areas inventory and monitoring
Lakes and wetlands monitoring
Audubon International certification
Habitat restoration

Monica D.

Had a great time birding with a group from Pelican Marsh this morning. List of birds is below.Corkscrew Regional Ecosyst...
11/13/2024

Had a great time birding with a group from Pelican Marsh this morning. List of birds is below.
Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed--Bird Rookery Swamp Trails, Collier, Florida, US
Nov 13, 2024 7:17 AM - 9:24 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Pelican Marsh Bird Tour
32 species

Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 Yellow lower bill, spotted undertail,
Wood Stork 5
Anhinga 1
White Ibis 25
Black-crowned Night Heron 2
Little Blue Heron 3
Tricolored Heron 1
Green Heron 3
Great Egret 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 4
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Carolina Wren 2
Gray Catbird 7
Northern Mockingbird 1
Common Grackle 5
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Northern Parula 1
Palm Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 2

Had a crayfish wave goodbye when we left.

I went birding up on Jane's Scenic Drive this morning. The birds weren't great but I liked these guys.
04/22/2024

I went birding up on Jane's Scenic Drive this morning. The birds weren't great but I liked these guys.

04/12/2023

Wrapped up another successful season of bird tours this past week. At Hole-in-the Wall we had 30 species including wood ducks, 4 Great Blue Heron nests, an Anhinga Nest and a Killdeer nest with one egg.
At Naples Lakes CC we saw 31 species including baby bluebirds and Purple Martin eggs.
Another great year. Thanks to all.

Last, but not least, my third tour of the week was at Hole in the Wall Golf Club. We didn't see a lot of birds but got t...
02/24/2023

Last, but not least, my third tour of the week was at Hole in the Wall Golf Club. We didn't see a lot of birds but got to enjoy the butterfly garden, osprey perching on it's tower, purple martins at their house and a cool Great Blue Heron Nest. Bird list is below.

Hole in the Wall Golf Club, Naples US-FL (26.1886,-81.7910), Collier, Florida, US
Feb 23, 2023 7:01 AM - 8:31 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Hole in the Wall bird tour
20 species

Mourning Dove 1
Killdeer 2
Anhinga 7
Double-crested Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 8
Great Egret 5
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 1
Tricolored Heron 2
Green Heron 1
Osprey 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Blue Jay 2
Purple Martin 5
European Starling 2
Northern Mockingbird 3
Common Grackle 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S129430078

On Tuesday I led a group at Pelican Marsh. A couple of otters were really special. Here's the birds we observed.Pelican ...
02/24/2023

On Tuesday I led a group at Pelican Marsh. A couple of otters were really special. Here's the birds we observed.

Pelican Marsh Golf Club, Naples US-FL 26.25259, -81.78152, Collier, Florida, US
Feb 21, 2023 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
28 species

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type) 1
Mottled Duck 6
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Mourning Dove 2
Common Gallinule 10
Killdeer 2
Anhinga 2
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Brown Pelican 1
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 2
Little Blue Heron 1
Tricolored Heron 2
Cattle Egret 1
Green Heron 2
White Ibis 3
Glossy Ibis 1
Osprey 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 2
Fish Crow 10
European Starling 2
Brown Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 5
Palm Warbler 2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S129291600

A busy week doing bird tours. First on Monday was the monthly tour at Naples Lakes CC. A real bonus that day was a coupl...
02/24/2023

A busy week doing bird tours. First on Monday was the monthly tour at Naples Lakes CC. A real bonus that day was a couple of coyotes seen out in the preserve on the west side.
A list of birds seen is below:

Naples Lakes Country Club, Naples US-FL 26.11993, -81.70004, Collier, Florida, US
Feb 20, 2023 7:08 AM - 9:08 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Nlcc monthly bird tour
33 species

Mottled Duck 2
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
Mourning Dove 2
Common Gallinule 10
Limpkin 1
Killdeer 2
Wood Stork 10
Anhinga 2
Double-crested Cormorant 20
Great Blue Heron 8
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 1
Tricolored Heron 2
Green Heron 1
White Ibis 10
Osprey 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Loggerhead Shrike 2
Blue Jay 2
Fish Crow 5
Purple Martin 10
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
European Starling 2
Brown Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 5
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 9
Palm Warbler 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Northern Cardinal 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S129132400

Yay! Found another Collier County Life bird today - a Lincoln's Sparrow at Bird Rookery Swamp. This brings my life total...
02/19/2023

Yay! Found another Collier County Life bird today - a Lincoln's Sparrow at Bird Rookery Swamp. This brings my life total to 308 which ties me at least temporarily with Keith Laakkonen for all time top birder in Collier. I know Keith is out there looking for it. Good luck Keith.

02/19/2023

Had a wonderful time leading members of Audubon of the Western Everglades to the Marsh Tower at 10,000 islands on Friday. Here's a list of what we saw.

Ten Thousand Islands NWR--Marsh Trail & Observation Tower, Collier, Florida, US
Feb 17, 2023 6:50 AM - 9:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.25 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Audubon of Western Everglades Tour
46 species

Blue-winged Teal 52
Northern Shoveler 7
Mottled Duck 2
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Common Gallinule 2
American Coot 100
Killdeer 1
Long-billed Dowitcher 3
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Lesser Yellowlegs 7
Caspian Tern 1
Wood Stork 2
Anhinga 7
Double-crested Cormorant 8
Brown Pelican 4
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 14
Snowy Egret 4
Little Blue Heron 5
Tricolored Heron 3
Green Heron 9
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
White Ibis 6
Glossy Ibis 6
Roseate Spoonbill 26
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
Belted Kingfisher 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
White-eyed Vireo 2
American Crow 1
Tree Swallow 30
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
House Wren 1
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Boat-tailed Grackle 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Palm Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Prairie Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 2

01/31/2023

What a great tour today at Naples Botanical Garden. At least 40 birders and 59 different species of birds. A special treat was the Nashville Warbler that many saw although my part of the group was in another area. We'll get it another time. Our group did get the Orange-crowned warbler so we did well. Hard to believe we saw so many species in January. Hope to see you all again for the Feb. 28th tour.

12/28/2022

Led a great group of birders at the Naples Botanical Garden yesterday morning. Great birds including Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Merlin and Short-tailed Hawk. Read more in this post from Ed Kemnitzer, bird tour volunteer:

It’s a real head shaker; twenty volunteers scoured the grounds on Saturday for our annual Christmas Bird Count, cobbling together a list of 51 species. We were quite happy with the result given the arctic conditions. Today, suffering from bird hangovers, seven birders quilted a 44 species list. And, no less than seven species were not seen on the BIG day including today’s wonderful sightings of Merlin and Short-tailed Hawk. Time for Forest Gump and the box of chocolates analogy. Of course, it didn’t hurt that we had the assistance of Monica Higgins. She has been kind enough to join our group and share her sea of knowledge about Collier birds once a month for quite some time now. I just love trawling along in her wake. And just think, the next time we cabal on Tuesday it will be 2023! Time surely flies at the Garden with friends. Happy New Year to all who have joined and supported our weekly strolls. And especially to all who just need a happy.

Address

6215 Parkers Hammock Road
Naples, FL
34112

Telephone

(239) 404-5211

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