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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Southern Miami Dade Trip this weekend (1 Viewer)

T

tree777

Active member
I visited the Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area Lucky Hammock/Frog Pond located in Southern Miami-Dade this weekend and saw:

White-Tailed Kites
Barn Swallows
Eastern Kingbirds
Northern Cardinals
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

I think I spotted an Indigo Bunting as well but I could not verify since it moved so fast it could have been a blue grosbeak but looked too small though….the real treats were the group of Sandhill Cranes that I saw in the surrounding fields. I also saw a Belted Kingfisher perched on a telephone wire by the road next to the correctional institute out there. Then I moved further down to Everglades National Park. I first visited the Research Road before getting to Royal Palm which had some:

Eastern Meadowlarks
Blue Herons
Egrets galore (Cattle, Snowy, & Great)
Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers.

I left Research Road and went a bit further to Long Pine Key where I spotted numerous Eastern Kingbirds as well as an American Robin also think I saw a Northern Flicker but wasn’t sure because I spotted it while I was driving it plunged for the street while I was passing by…. I do not know of any other woodpecker that feeds on the ground. All in all it was a great weekend except for some rain, mosquitoes and heat. I am looking to take a trip up to Green Cay / Wakodahatchee wetlands either next weekend or the following.
 
Sounds like good spotting down there. I'd love to see the kites...I might head down that way in a few weeks to see what I can find.

Wako/Green Cay has been pretty good - was just there yesterday at both parks. Green Cay, I spotted the following:
snowy egret
great egret
purple gallinule
black and white warbler
cardinal
red-bellied woodpecker
mottled duck
black-bellied whistling duck
black crowned night heron
great blue heron
little blue heron
tricolor heron
green heron
boat-tailed grackle
blue grey gnatcatcher
tree swallow
ibis
blue jay
blue-winged teal
anhinga
double-crested cormorant

At Wakodahatchee, many of the same spottings, plus:
cattle egret
least bittern
yellow warbler
osprey

Possible sighting of an eastern phoebe...but hard to tell through heavy brush in a shadowy canopy area.

I'll be taking a little vacation up to Disney this coming weekend, so I'll be missing out on Green Cay/Wako for the first time since June. I'll look forward to getting back again the weekend of 9/25 as the winter birds seem to be coming back more and more each passing week.
 
Wow Zackiedawg sounds like plenty of sightings at Green Cay/Wako Wetlands cant wait for this weekend....I have never been there before is there an admission fee?

Hey if you are going to look for those white-tailed kites at the Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area Lucky Hammock/Frog Pond make sure you venture off to your right hand side when you reach the first big group of trees (I remember some type of structure) on the right hand side make the turn down the trail all the way to the wooded area. The kites were perched in one of the pine trees as I drove up they flew away thats how I was able to id them....after a while they stop flying and perched on a different tree.

Hope you have a great trip to Orlando this weekend Ill be looking forward to your post after the trip let us know what you spotted. It seems like the winter birds are already starting to show up in Miami.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the additional info on the kites.

At Green Cay/Wako, both sites are free - no admission. They're both right next to eachother too - just less than a mile apart, but on different roads. So hitting both in the same day is a breeze.

In Orlando, I'll mostly be on Disney property, but they have quite a bit of wilderness area throughout the grounds, so should still be good spotting up there. The usual waders are always there as down here too...but there are chances for eagles and some early winter visitors too...so I'll be keeping my eyes open.
 
I still haven't gotten the Black and White wrabler at Green Cay. It doesn't help though that I haven't had a lot of time to sit and wait.
 
tree777 said:
I visited the Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area Lucky Hammock/Frog Pond located in Southern Miami-Dade this weekend and saw:

White-Tailed Kites
Barn Swallows
Eastern Kingbirds
Northern Cardinals
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

I think I spotted an Indigo Bunting as well but I could not verify since it moved so fast it could have been a blue grosbeak but looked too small though….the real treats were the group of Sandhill Cranes that I saw in the surrounding fields. I also saw a Belted Kingfisher perched on a telephone wire by the road next to the correctional institute out there. Then I moved further down to Everglades National Park. I first visited the Research Road before getting to Royal Palm which had some:

Eastern Meadowlarks
Blue Herons
Egrets galore (Cattle, Snowy, & Great)
Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers.

I left Research Road and went a bit further to Long Pine Key where I spotted numerous Eastern Kingbirds as well as an American Robin also think I saw a Northern Flicker but wasn’t sure because I spotted it while I was driving it plunged for the street while I was passing by…. I do not know of any other woodpecker that feeds on the ground. All in all it was a great weekend except for some rain, mosquitoes and heat. I am looking to take a trip up to Green Cay / Wakodahatchee wetlands either next weekend or the following.
Click to expand...

Congrats! - esp on the White-tailed kite. I still don't have that one, or the Kingbirds.
 
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