Matheson Hammock in Miami, Florida (12/6): 62 species (1 Viewer)

On Saturday I decided to bird Matheson Hammock County Park for my Miami Birding Wave eBird Blitz effort. I tallied 62 species in about six hours of birding, covering the marina, lagoon, picnic area, and tropical hardwood hammock west of Old Cutler Road. I believe that a 70+ species day at this site is very possible, which is great for a suburban park by even world standards. Since it is mostly woodland and forest birding, the birds come slowly but consistently with effort!

The biggest local highlight was a Hermit Thrush found exactly midway along the narrow forest path (not service road) west of Old Cutler Road. I had it right at an intersection where a side trail spurs off to the north. This is a rare but annual winter visitor to southern Florida.

There were 12 warbler species scattered throughout the park, including Orange-crowned, Worm-eating, Black-throated Blue, Cape May, and Black-throated Green Warbler as well as several Yellow-throated Vireo. I missed three warblers that should definitely be here in the winter (Yellow-rumped, 'Golden' Yellow, and American Redstart).

List below:

Matheson Hammock County Park, Miami-Dade, US-FL
Dec 6, 2014 6:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
Comments: Warm and humid. Starting temperature in the upper 60s, warming up to the low 80s by noon. Very high tide prevented proper survey of mangrove areas. Areas birded included the lagoon, marina, picnic area, and west side.
62 species (+1 other taxa)

Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) 3
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 5 All found in Biscayne Bay.
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 16
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 17
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) (Ardea herodias [herodias Group]) 2
Great Blue Heron (White form) (Ardea herodias occidentalis) 1
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 4
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 2
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) 2
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) 3
White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) 41
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) 6
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 32
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus) 1
Short-tailed Hawk (Buteo brachyurus) 2 One light morph, one dark morph.
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) 1
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 17
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 5
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 4
Willet (Tringa semipalmata) 1
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) 21
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 1
Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) 25
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 2
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 1
Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) 15
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Feral Pigeon)) 2
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 2
Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio) 3 Several in the picnic area calling at dawn. Two individuals seen well.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 3
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 3
Merlin (Falco columbarius) 1
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (Brotogeris chiriri) 2
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 2
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) 3
Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons) 2
Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) 5
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 2
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) 24
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) 20
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) 1 Along the narrow forest path in the dense hammock.
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 2
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 45
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) 4
Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) 3 All on the west side in the dense hammock.
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) 7
Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata) 1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 1
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) 1
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) 3 One male, two female. All on the west side in the dense hammock.
Palm Warbler (Western) (Setophaga palmarum palmarum) 23
Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) 3
Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) 5
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) 2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 7
Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) 1
Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) 17

Impressive. Nice pictures love the sunrise one.

That's a good selection of winter warblers even if you did miss the ubiquitous Yellow-rumped.

Steve

The end result of the blitz resulted in 19 warbler species across Miami-Dade this past weekend, which is actually about average for this time of year. There is a huge difference in bird distribution between Miami-Dade and the rest of Florida due to our warmer climate and mostly (native) Caribbean vegetation. We get a lot of wintering warblers, vireos, and flycatchers and not so many finches, sparrows, and ducks.

Here is the warbler list:

Northern Parula
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Waterthrush
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat