[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Toe on 07:59:22 11/14/13
In Reply to: Re: Birding ENP, AKA vast wasteland of death and despair posted by Brian Rapoza
Unlike other counties, here in Dade public facilities are not accessible to birders. When I did the Cocoa CBC one year I was assigned to counting gulls at the local landfill. I just drove in, there were no guards present, parked, and proceeded to go up to the very top and count gulls. No one asked what I was doing, there were no paranoid security guards or government personnel telling me to leave, nothing.
By contrast, I've stopped to scope out the ponds at the wastewater plant near the landfill and 3 security cars have pulled up telling me I can't be there, even though I've been standing on a public shoulder next to a public road.
The birds at Mt. Trashmore can be seen, with a scope, from 97 Ave. at the chain-linked fence marked Gate C. At first I was asked what I was doing, but recently they seem to leave me alone. As for going inside, I wouldn't recommend it, since I was recently escorted inside by someone that has permission to go in and they too were asked what they were doing in there. Where the gulls were that day, the only way to spot a Franklin's was to go inside the property. You may get lucky and have them near the fence, but usually they are off to the left on a fill pad that is not visible from the outside.
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]