Ken Wilde has been doing an amazing job documenting the daily path of the beautiful pink flamingos that fly from Hialeah Park to the Miami Springs Clay Pits each night. The Clay Pits are located across from Miami Springs Senior High on Dove Avenue is owned by Miami-Dade Water and Sewer. The clay pits are basically a sludge lagoon that receives byproduct deposits pumped in from the Miami-Dade Water Treatment Plant across the Miami Canal in Hialeah. Because the sludge lagoon presents a sinking hazard, the area is closed off to the public by razor topped fencing.
This makes it an ideal place for a flock of flamingos to spend the night without being pestered by people and pets. So for the last couple of weeks, Ken Wilde, a longtime Miami Springs resident, local historian, and board member of the Miami Springs Historical Society, has been documenting the path of the Flamingos. He even discovered that the Flamingos were being stalked by foxes at the Hialeah Race Track.
Well, we had the opportunity to shoot some of the flamingos. With our camera, of course. Unfortunately, the flamingos are flying in at dusk making it very difficult to capture their beautiful pink color. However, we were able to capture their silhouettes against the red sunset sky. Take a peek at some of the pics of the beautiful Flamingos that call Miami Springs home every night.
We were able to capture these photos while patiently waiting near the high school on Dove Avenue. As darkness quickly approached I thought I might not be able to capture these photos for you. But sure enough, I started to hear a distant chirp. It wasn’t the sound of parrots. It was the unique sound of a flamboyance of flamingos flying closer. You can hear them before you can see them. With the high school behind me, I couldn’t tell if the sound was bouncing off the walls of the building. But sure enough they appeared above me as if flying down West 9th Street in Hialeah and crossing over the canal towards the high school. They entire colony flew over the clay pits a few times before the first group landed while other continued to fly overhead in a flamboyant display of beauty. Their pink bodies only visible when the light hit them just right against the quickly darkening night sky.
What was somewhat surprising was the sheer number of flamingos. They easily exceed one hundred individual birds. And they make their presence known with the constant honking and chattering second only to our already famous parrots.
This evening, we were joined by a couple of local Springs residents who were enjoying the airshow from the playground area of Peavey Dove Field. However, if this continues, it will no doubt attract bird watchers from across the area to get a glimpse of the famous Hialeah Park flamingos as they descend upon Miami Springs nightly. Miami Springs has long been a bird watchers paradise with countless species of birds and parrots. Now we can add flamingos to our repertoire of feathered friends.
We don’t know how long the flamingos will continue to fly into the Miami Springs Bird Sanctuary, but we hope they continue to call our community home. It’s yet another one of those little things that makes Miami Springs an amazing place to live. A quiet place to live. Centrally located to all that Miami has to offer. And an abundance of wildlife in the middle of an urban jungle.
Have you seen the flamingos in person yet? Let us know in the comments or via social media.
FLAMINGOS FLYING OVER MIAMI SPRINGS
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