Click on the photo for a larger size. All three shots above are by Trey Mitchell at Cutler Wetlands October 2008. Andy woke me up promptly Sunday morning with reports of a flamingo seen at Cutler Wetlands in Miami-Dade County. We had tossed around the idea of going Saturday to Everglades National Park and hiking Snake Bight Trail in search of flamingos but decided against it when the weather forecast called for rainy weather. The idea of hiking through standing water and mud in the rain didn't sound very appealing. But a flamingo at Cutler Wetlands would be much easier. So without much planning we threw our bags together and set off for this small mitigation wetland in Cutler Bay.
Sometimes you go out searching for a bird and you fail miserably but this wasn't such an occassion. As soon as we got the car off the side of the road we couldn't miss our bird. The light pink flamingo stood out against the marsh. A lone Great Egret stood a few feet away for size comparision. It was such an easy snag that we actually starting scanning for other birds within minutes of being there. Other sightings included a Northern Harrier, a few Northern Shovelers, both Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, a Wilson's Snipe, and the usual wading birds. The birding was so good that we decided to head to Castellow Hammock Park next. Just wait until you find out what lifer bird was lurking there...
These shots were taken by Judd Patterson at Cutler Wetlands October 2008.
5 comments:
Hi Eva--
Congrats on the flamingo--can't wait for the Castellow Hammock reveal!
Looking forward to seeing you in Texas next week.
Jeff
Jeff,
Thanks for stopping in! I'm mad excited about the TX trip. I've heard so many great things about the RGV. It will be nice to see you again.
Beautiful photos. The last on is an absolute gem! Like a gangly twelve year old trying to be graceful.
Nice bird. I did make the drive to ENP on Sunday. Whoever designed Snake Bight trail is a true sadist.
Tons of birds, but nothing as good as the flamingo.
arija: flamingos really are weird looking birds.
eric: glad you got down to miami-dade...great birds down there. I've spent every weekend at a different park this migration season.
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