No Saturday bird walk, a short ride, we can't find the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but there are dolphins and owls. It gets really windy and cold. We can't find the Vermillion Flycatcher or the Snail Kite. It's a holiday weekend and space is at a premium.

It continued to rain on and off through friday night, but was just wet when we got up on Saturday.  Ellen went off to the morning bird walk only to find that it wasn't there. Saturday was the monthly "Big Day" event where the really avid birders start at the Coe Visitor Center, 40 miles up the road, and work their way through the park to Flamingo, a six-hour bird walk. Needless to say, Ellen didn't do that one. She just went off on her own to the nearby spots, while I took a ride up to  Mrazek Pond. Things were pretty quiet there after the rains, most of the wading birds were gone and only the ducks, grebes and coots were about in numbers...something about "good weather for ducks".

As the skies cleared we started drying things out. After lunch, we took a bike ride over to the visitor center to look for a black-backed gull. Using Ellen's spotting scope, I had seen one out on the flats in the bay a couple of days earlier. I'd pointed out, but she didn't didn't really take a look. So we went back to look again. It was not to be found.

As we rode along the water looking at the shore birds, a pair of dolphins swam by paralleling the shoreline. They were followed by a procession of kayakers who came streaming over to take a look. The dolphins just ignored then and just slowly cruised along. When we got back to our site, it was time to start breaking camp in preparation for leaving on Sunday morning. We took down the sun shelter, disassembled the chairs and table and repacked the back of Speedy. It is a bit of a puzzle fitting it all in.

Early in the evening, as we were having our dessert, the barn owl made several passes through the field next to our campsite. It seemed especially active after a rainy day. It headed back towards the tent area, but soon returned—followed by a second barn owl. In the almost two weeks that we had been watching this evening hunt, we'd never seen the second owl. They both hunted the field for a while, then turned back and headed east into the bush beyond the tent area. My guess is that they are a pair since one was significantly smaller than the other. Barn Owl males are  smaller than the females.

The temperature dropped pretty quickly after the sun went down and, even with jackets, it was quite chilly when we returned from the evening ranger talk. The wind came up and the temperature continued to drop overnight. We even turned on Speedy's propane furnace in the morning. Campers were walking about in thick jackets and wool hats and gloves. It was probably about 40, but that's pretty chilly in these parts.

As we finished packing up, we noticed that we were the only ones leaving. On sunday mornings, there is usually a mass exodus from the campground. It finally occurred to us that it was a holiday weekend, Presidents Day! It also occurred to us that it was probably also a school vacation week, which was one reason why we are having trouble finding campgrounds that aren't fully booked.

We headed out of the park fairly early, stopping at Royal Palm and the Anhinga Trail for a last look. We then stopped at the canal where the Vermillion Flycatcher was supposed to be found. Sally had seen it when they left on Friday. We searched and searched, but he was not to be found this morning. I'd be tucked up in a sheltered spot on a windy and cold day like today.

It was then off to the Tamiami Trail and towards the west coast of Florida. I'd planned to stop at Robert Is Here for a last key lime milkshake. It was so chilly that it wasn't as appealing as it should have been. We drove right by. We'd hoped to stop at the Shark Valley section of the park on our way and ride out to the observation tower, but the weekend crowds foiled that plan. When we arrived we were greeted by a "Parking Lot Full" sign. We waited in line and finally found a parking spot, but by the time we finished lunch, it didn't seem worth following the crowds. Ellen managed a photo of a Purple Gallinule standing on a water lily pad as we left.

We were told that 1.1 miles up the road from the Shark Valley entrance was an abandoned airboat ride stand. If we parked there we would be able to see a Snail Kite, a raptor, seen only in the Everglades, that hunts Apple Snails. We found the spot and looked and looked, but no Snail Kite. Perhaps it, too, was tucked up out of the wind and cold.

After only one more short stop at the Big Cypress Preserve visitor center, we pulled into Collier-Seminole State park late in the afternoon. It wasn't any better than we remembered it. It is a very tightly packed park and completely booked up. It is probably tighter than Highlands Hammock, though not as large. We are here for two nights, as we are visiting with Ellen's cousin in Naples tomorrow, and there were no other nearby campgrounds with an open site for tomorrow night.

It is still chilly and getting too cold to write.

Maybe pictures later this week.