Posted by Raul U on August 11, 2003 at 13:15:15:
A quick tour of South Dade this morning revealed the following:
Dump Marsh is toxic! At least it looks like it's toxic. Nothing there but a lone kingfisher in one retention pond, and an egret and some ducks in the other (couldn't ID the ducks since they took off fast, but I'm betting they were Mottled).
Homestead Racetrack fields are now tall grass prairies. The westernmost field was still good to spot shorebirds since it hadn't succumb to the weeds, but all that has changed now. Still, some of the bigger shorebirds could be seen walking through the vegetation. Scores of Black-necked Stilts were present, as well as Killdeer, White Ibis, and dozens of Pectoral Sandpipers. Also seen were lots of the smaller peeps, but these guys were playing hide-and-go-seek making it hard to ID them. I was able to make out one Least Sandpiper. Barn Swallows were everywhere and four Mottled Ducks gave me some great looks.
A drive through Kingman Rd revealed nothing but overgrown fields (has this place been as productive lately as it was the past couple of years?)
It seems like the Lucky Hammock fields and adjacent SR9336 fields are "the" places to scrutinize...until the racetrack fields are plowed of course.
Yours truly,
Recovering from a hangover,
Raul "Rock Jetty" Urgelles
P.S. I did see a white-rumped bird of some kind take off as I approached the racetrack fields in my truck. It flew along with some shorebirds that also got spooked. I couldn't locate it again...oh well, I'm not guessing.