Just 4 miles away from Maggie's house are the Celery Fields, a large series of manmade wetlands. I was on the hunt for the Crested Caracara, another bird that has been haunting me. Ken and I have been watching for this bird in several of the habitats that we have visited but this location had the highest probability of success. I got there before the sun and worked the northern fields for a couple of hours. The usual suspects were all present but no caracara. So I got back in the car and headed to the southern area and walked out on a long boardwalk. Nothing much to see here and so as I was heading back to the car, a british woman exclaimed, the caracara! There it was and I got the picture. I headed back to the house and everyone was still in bed so I made some tea and looked at my pictures to see what birds were there. Once everyone was up Maggie whipped up some biscuits and pan fried country ham. That was so tasty that we soon headed out for lunch.
The sun is soon to rise
The early bunny gets the best grass
A limpkin
A green heron
Alligator
Fog over the fields
Mushrooms from a distance looked like birds
Prepare for the Florida heat
Ibis in a row
Low flying birds
Weather station
Ducks and geese, oh my!
The hill was soon to be filled with runners
Cactus bloom
Thjere was a wildlife center next door and these are probably emu
A wild turkey on the grounds
Big cats could occasionally be heard roaring
Sandhill cranes
Mr. Ed the horse
A high tech purple martin house, currently unoccupied
Prime osprey habitat
Purple swamphen
The Crested Caracara, bird # 997 on my lifebird list. I got a much better look as I was driving out
Heading out for brunch
Downtown Sarasota was busy
Loaded with statuary
Giant fans
Spanish tile work
We have arrived at the Colombia Restaurant....
Very fancy
The signature salad was developed in 1905
Grated cheese
Tasty indeed
A huge cuban sandwich
Neptune
A fully clothed mermaid
Mr. Ringling a local civic booster
Back at the car and time to shift gears
