Crandon Park: Bear Cut Preserve and Beach

This park occupies the north end of Key Biscayne and spans both sides of Crandon Blvd. The preserve is at the northeast end, behind the Crandon Visitors and Nature Center, and includes a boardwalk through mangroves good for breeding Mangrove Cuckoos, Prairie Warblers and Black-whiskered Vireos. Coastal hammock trails have White-crowned Pigeons and migrants like Cape May Warblers. Gray Kingbirds hawk for insects in open areas in spring/summer, and Common Ground-doves scratch in sandy spots along the trail. Look for Ospreys, Broad-winged Hawks and falcons in fall along the sand dune trail. The beach is good for shorebirds, terns, gulls (especially Lesser Black-backed Gulls) and plovers. The beach and mudflats provide winter habitat for several Piping Plovers in winter. Like its neighbor to the south (Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park) Crandon Park attracts rarities; American Flamingo, Franklin’s Gull, Cuban Pewee, Thick-billed Vireo, and Western Spindalis have all been spotted in recent years.