Some friends and I went up to the Celery Fields, east of Sarasota.  My hopes were to obtain more images of the King Rails and possibly the Virginia Rails seen there in April.  Big surprise!  The marshes near the gazebo, where I had previously observed the Rails, were dried up.  No birds there except for several Red-winged Blackbirds and Eastern Meadowlarks.

On the south side of Palmer Road, there was still some water.  Several wading birds, such as Coots, Egrets (Cattle, Great, Snowy), Herons (Green, Little Blue, Tricolored), Ibis (Glossy, White), Limpkins, and Moorhens were observed in the area.  There was also a Red-tailed Hawk flying around.  At Ackerman Pond, several Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Mottled Ducks, and Anhingas were observed.

I visited some vacant lots on Colony Point Drive (west of Marion St) on Monday and Wednesday mornings to take some pictures of Burrowing Owls.  There were two taped-off areas, each with Burrowing Owl chicks.  One nest had four chicks and the other had three.  They were used to humans and provided some nice poses for pictures.  There were two other taped-off areas, each with one adult Owl sitting near the nest entrance, but no sign of other activity.

I visited the Laurel Landfill this morning, arriving there shortly after it opened (8 am).  After passing the entrance gate and before reaching the admin building, I noticed the marshy pond on the right was mostly dried up.  I signed in at the administration building and received an updated map showing where birders are permitted.  The section of the perimeter road in front of pond 1 is closed off; however, you may walk the length in front of the pond.  The section beyond pond 1 is closed off to birders due to construction. 

After I left the building, I proceeded along the perimeter road past ponds 4 and 5.  I noticed that the drainage ditch round the perimeter road was dried up and the levels of the ponds were about two feet below normal.  I saw a wild pig and three deer in this area. I continued past ponds 6 and 7 and past the R/C model field, where several people were flying model airplanes.  I saw very few birds along this part of the road.  The most notable was a pair of Great-crested Flycatchers around their nest, about a half-dozen Cattle Egrets, and a Red-shouldered Hawk. The bird population picked up as I approached the landfill area.  There were at least a hundred Laughing Gulls, many Black Vultures, and one lone immature Bald Eagle.  Further along, in pond 1, I saw Wood Storks, Glossy and White Ibis, Little Blue Herons, and Great Egrets.  There were more birds in pond 1 than all the other ponds combined. I tallied a grand total of 21 bird species during my two-hour visit to the landfill.

During a weekend visit to see our daughter, who lives in Lakeland, I decided to visit the newly created Colt Creek State Park, located about 13 miles north of Lakeland.  This Park was created last year with the purchase of a 5,067-acre parcel of land.  A small portion of the Park, about 600 acres, opened on January 20^th of this year.  There is still an ongoing cattle operation on the property, which should be completed later this year.

There are three small lakes on the 600-acre portion that is opened.  Fishing is permitted in these lakes and non-motorized boats are allowed.  I arrived there on Sunday morning a little before 8 am; I was 8^th in a line of cars waiting to get in.  As with all State Parks, the gate was opened at 8:00.  By the time I left (9:30) there were 30 cars parked in the lots.  Most of these people were fishing.

As far as birding goes, I didn’t see many different species.  There were a few waders, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and Tricolored Heron along the lake edges, but they flew off as more and more people arrived.  I walked through one of the forested areas, where I heard Cardinals and Carolina Wrens, but didn’t see much.  Around the lakes, I discovered several pairs of Killdeer that were still nesting; at least two of the birds pulled the broken-wing act to keep me away from the nest area.  I saw a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks fly over.  There were also about a half-dozen Cattle Egrets foraging near the Park entrance.  Other birds seen included Anhingas, Boat-tailed Grackles, Mockingbirds, and Moorhens.  Not a productive day, photographically speaking.