Summer blooms at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo in late July.
This spider was busy with her crazy web.
Chewing on leaves.
A wood stork guarding the bridge. He didn’t even move when I walked by.
Almost grown baby wood ducks swimming under the bridge.
I ran into cuteness overload at Lake Morton in mid-May with two baby swans.They were staying close to the parents. They grow up in a big fenced-in pen right on the lake so the babies have a better chance of surviving at the lake and then are let out once they are big enough to take care of themselves. Ducks, other swans, hawks, eagles, alligators and snakes are just a few of the dangers there.
Two juveniles black swans were about to be released.
Older baby wood ducks were taking a nap.
Safety in numbers. These muscovy babies were all huddled together.
Mom was watching over these babies.
A female wood duck up above and her 4 juvenile babies hanging out on a rock.
It’s always fun to see the baby swans.
Across the street from the lake, in front of the library in Lakeland, there were still 2 swans sitting on nests. At least they had a good shady spot away from the crowds and a nice view of the lake.
Two butterflies together on the street. Where they mating? I’ve never seen this before.
Wood duck babies are so cute. I found this little family at a hidden pond at the Largo Botanical Gardens in May.
After walking around the gardens, I headed over to Largo Nature Preserve and found this baby limpkin following Mom under the boardwalk.
I was staring at this turtle that was sitting just underneath the below.
A bald eagle was sitting on a utility tower in the park. I don’t think anyone else walking by noticed the eagle just sitting up there.
I was taking pictures of the colors of the high plants across the creek and looked down and saw these guys staring up at me like “Feed us.”
All taken back in late April.
Sometimes when you go out expecting nothing, you get a big something. I was at the botanical gardens in Largo thinking I would not see much but moorhens and doves. I was focusing on taking pictures of flowers. As I was walking towards the rose garden, I saw this line of baby ducks out of the corner of my eye. Thinking they were baby mallards, I almost didn’t stop. But, since all baby ducks are cute, I decided to stop for a minute and take a break. I’m glad I did. They were wood duck babies. They mostly look like mallard babies but way cuter. The parents were keeping them close. Those baby moorhens were looking at the little parade go by like “What are those little ducks?” I snapped a handful of pictures as they cruised by and headed on to the rose garden.
