On Sunday, September 22, twenty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a morning of fall migration birding at Greynolds Park in North Miami Beach. Bird activity in the park wasn’t especially high, but we still managed to find 31 species after about two-and-a-half hours of birding. A definite highlight of our visit was watching a perched dark morph Short-tailed Hawk being mobbed by several Blue Jays and Northern Mockingbirds. Other birds encountered during our visit included Chimney Swift, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos and seven warblers: Ovenbird, American Redstart, Northern Parula and Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Yellow-throated and Prairie Warblers. Downy and Pileated Woodpeckers were among the species heard but not seen.
Six birders joined me for additional birding at nearby Highland Oaks Park. Among the new species seen there were Egyptian Goose, Common Ground-Dove, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Gray Kingbird, Spot-breasted and Baltimore Orioles, Cape May and Black-throated Blue Warblers and Scarlet Tanager.
We ended the morning with 41 species combined for the two parks. All are listed in an eBird trip report, which can be viewed at Greynolds Park & Highland Oaks Park Birding, 9/22/24 - eBird Trip Report.
Short-tailed Hawk: Photo by Brian Rapoza