Miami International Airport, ideas for mad dash? (1 Viewer)

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• Mar 22, 2009

• #1

Going to have the pleasure of five hours at Miami International later this year. Admittedly, five hours is not much - minus an hour to clear the airport and 90 minutes to check in again, that leaves me 2.5 hours, must be enough to go zooming off somewhere.

Any ideas? So far, the best option seems to be the residential suburbs just north of the airport full of exotic parrots and the like, but open to any other suggestions.

 

Last edited: Mar 22, 2009

lewis20126

Well-known member

• Mar 22, 2009

• #2

Jos

Be very careful - I reckon on a 3 hour international check in at MIA. I missed a flight to Grand Cayman last year with 2.5 hours to check in. Not sure what there is that close to MIA - Everglades, Three Lakes etc are all too far

cheers, alan

 

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• Mar 22, 2009

• #3

lewis20126 said:

Jos

Be very careful - I reckon on a 3 hour international check in at MIA. I missed a flight to Grand Cayman last year with 2.5 hours to check in. Not sure what there is that close to MIA - Everglades, Three Lakes etc are all too far

cheers, alan

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Oo er! Considered the risk of missing the flight, but it's the homeward bound leg, so not too worried if I do (obviously it would be nice not to though). Maybe I'll allow two hours to check in, but that's still two hours - I think the parrot tour is my best bet - checked the locality, it's literally just beyond the airport boundaries.

Jeepers, these Miami folk have lost lots of parrots! All resident in Miami Spring - Monk, Yellow-chevroned, Blue-crowned, Green, Mitred, Scarlet-fronted, Red-masked, Crimson-fronted, White-eyed and Dusky-headed Parakeets; Blue-fronted, Orange-winged, Red-crowned and Yellow-crowned Parrots

 

Last edited: Mar 22, 2009

StuartReeves

Local rarity

• Mar 22, 2009

• #4

I was in a similar situation a few years back and just wandered out of the terminal and around the airport car park. This being March or April, there were migrants about, and that is still the only place I've seen Worm-eating and Prarie Warblers as well as Chuck Will's Widow. Not sure what the security situation would be like now though.

 

Richard Klim

-------------------------

• Mar 23, 2009

• #5

I'd second Alan's caution about check-in times - MIA has cramped, chaotic and congested facilities. With a layover of that duration, I wouldn't venture further than Miami Springs.

Richard

 

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• Mar 23, 2009

• #6

Richard Klim said:

I'd second Alan's caution about check-in times - MIA has cramped, chaotic and congested facilities. With a layover of that duration, I wouldn't venture further than Miami Springs.

Richard

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Cheers, Miami Springs it will be.

 

Jon Turner

Well-known member

• Mar 23, 2009

• #7

Keep your eyes on the sky, all sorts of stuff flies over Miami. During our admittedly longer stopover last March we went out for a leisurely lunch at a shopping mall a few miles north (some small lakes by the car parks were productive) then we headed south on the Keys highway, for a while then east, north, and then west back into Miami. Saw Wood Stork, and Swallow-tailed Kite over the town, and some unidentified hirundines.
Still failed to find Burrowing Owl though!

Jon

 

T

trey

Young birder

• Apr 12, 2009

• #8

Definantly an interesting array of exotics for you to see in Miami.
I was there today fishing along nasty canals filled with invasive fish like Snakeheads, Mayan Cichlids, and Peacock Bass and I identified: Eurasian Collared dove, European Starling, Monk Parakeet, Muscovy duck, and what I believe was a Black-hooded parakeet as the exotics. Of course I also saw Rock Pigeons. For the native stuff I saw Wood Storks, White Ibis, Mourning Doves, Northern Mockingbirds, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Grackles, Green Herons, Great Blue Herons, Cattle Egrets, Mottled Ducks, Loggerhead Shrike and a few others im probably forgeting just along the banks of canals and retention ponds.

Hope you have a good birding experience in Miami.

 

C

csanchez7

Well-known member

• Apr 12, 2009

• #9

Nothing close enough to Miami International is worth missing a flight over. As others have stated, Miami International is congested. The parrots and parakeets are highly unpredictable and sporadic, with most of the species diversity being observed at their roosting sites at dawn or dusk.

Depending on what time of the year you will be visiting, it might be more productive to bird a park like A.D. Barnes, which is an excellent migrant trap but horrible during the summer months.

Carlos

 

R

Richard Peters

New member

• Apr 19, 2009

• #10

I've been over to Miami several times in the last 6 months. There isn't really anything close enough to get to and back in 2.5 hours (I wouldn't risk it either, lots of roadworks at the moment and the traffic at times can be crazy) but Miami in general has lots of water ways etc so your bound to spot a few species flying around.

The Everglades is too far unfortunately and so vast that you'll need a much longer period to take it all in!

Worth going back though one day as Florida has a vast amount of locations that are worth a visit - I'm in the process of re-writing and adding some more images but I did an article on my blog about some of Florida's wildlife, you can read the article here.

 

Last edited: Apr 19, 2009

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• Apr 25, 2009

• #11

csanchez7 said:

Nothing close enough to Miami International is worth missing a flight over.

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It's only the flight home, so not quite so important

I'll play it by ear, but many thanks to all who contributed to this thread, I nip over to Miami Springs if I think I have time.