Posted by Dan on January 07, 2016 at 18:36:01
I birded C-111E canal this morning outside of Homestead and located three calling Brown-crested Flycatchers. I walked south down the western edge of the canal about 3/4 of a mile to a mile until there is a small yellow gate crossing the road. The flycatchers were in the forested area west of the canal between this gate and a small sign that designates a Miami-Dade conservation area about a 1/4 mile further down. I believe it is referred to as Holiday Hammock Preserve on google maps. This is an area where Brown-crested Flycatchers have been seen in the past. As a word of caution, there are also Great-crested Flycatcher in the area, and I heard two calling. At the Miami-Dade sign where there is a scrubby marsh area backed by a West Indian hammock, I was able to see and hear two Least Flycatchers in the marsh scrub (soft whit call). On my way home, I stopped at the Hattie Bauer Hammock Preserve in the Redlands near the corner of 268th St. and 157th Ave. I walked the small loop trail in the hammock on the east side of 157th Ave. and found a nice male Wilson's Warbler with a good sized feeding flock that included Black-throated Green Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, N. Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Blue-headed Vireo. The Wilson's was quite vocal with its distinctive chip note, and should be easy to relocate given the small size of the hammock. Finally, it is worth noting that there is a good sparrow field off of the road paralleling the C-111 canal on the north side of 9336. Walk about a half-mile north on the road on the west side of the canal and there is a small two-track that cuts west through the high weeds into a more open field area with shorter vegetation. I saw approx. 60 Savannah Sparrows in the field as well as a few Grasshopper Sparrows and Lincoln's Sparrows. Unfortunately, I didn't track down anything unusual but I missed plenty of birds and the weather was kind of cold, windy, and foggy when I was there first thing in the morning.