So many baby ducks, so little time. They grow up so fast. There were several different families at Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland in late April. Since then there are even more babies so I have a lot of duckling shots coming.
Linking to Saturday’s Critters
It’s show off time at Lake Morton. The swans are flirting and just starting to nest. The geese were being their usual honking selves. I’m going to try and get over to the lake often this spring to see if I can get some shots of babies.
The turtles at Lake Morton are usually extremely skittish. If they see me across the lake the dive under water. For some reason they stayed out on the rocks in late December. Maybe they just liked the warm sun too much that morning. There were several on the rocks along the lake. They all have slightly different patterns on their face and neck. They didn’t seem to mind the ducks coming close or even me so I snapped a lot of pictures of them that morning.
I caught this beautiful mute swan taking a bath in the shade at the end of the lake. She went on for a long time. I’m not sure how dirty they get swimming around all day but she was determined to be spotless. She did it very gracefully!
An unusual looking hybrid. Looks like a cross between a mallard and a muscovy duck.
A baby mallard in December!
A coot and a gull fighting over bread that someone threw in the lake.
Duck butts!
A lone female bufflehead. Not a common duck here.
A ring neck duck taking a bath.
Drying off.
I cannot figure out what kind of duck this is. Is it a hybrid of some sort? I’ve only seen one at the lake. That pink beak and the pink legs are amazing as well as the eyes.
I found out today that this is a Coscoroba swan. It is the smallest of all swans and comes from South America. The city of Lakeland bought a pair for the lake last January. At this point there is only one at the lake.
There are so many different ducks at Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland. They are known for having swans on the lake but there are a lot more ducks there and so many different ones. It’s fun just to walk around and look at all the duck action going on.
White pelicans who should have been north by now. They were still hanging around central Florida in May.
Ibis flyby.
The beautiful black neck swans were nesting. I don’t know if the babies hatched.
Nosy goose.
Grackle with a snackle.
A laughing gull couple far away from the beach.
An injured ibis. He was still able to fly away.
A turtle in the lake.
I took a quick walk around Lake Morton in Lakeland after my long walk at Circle B Bar Reserve before heading home.
It’s that time of the year. The moorhen babies with the big feet show up everywhere. This family with two babies that were growing up fast where hanging around the edge of the lake with white ibis, ducks and swans.
Two baby ducks that were orphans were close by. They seemed to be doing okay without any parents.
Baby mallard ducks were trying to nap under the bush.
One swan Mom was raising her babies in one of the fenced off areas. That way they are protected from predators including hawks and other mean swans.
Little critters flying around the lake.
I stopped by Lake Morton in Lakeland on my way home from another park to see if there were any baby ducks or swans. A few of both were found. Not a big baby boom going on in early May but enough to keep the cuteness going.
The pretty white pelicans will be gone soon. They will be heading north for the summer. I’ve only seen one at this lake all winter until recently. They must be stopping over for a rest before their long flight home.
The resident swans are all priming and flirting. Several couples are already sitting on eggs.
The kapok tree on the lake is in full bloom.
I think this is a Tabebuia or trumpet tree. They are in full bloom right now.
Family time for the bees.
Trying to snooze along the lake.
There was other cool stuff at Lake Morton besides baby ducks. it was a warm morning and everything was blooming.
My first fuzzball sighting of the season. Based on the last picture, more to come. I was at Circle B Bar Reserve and decided to stop by Lake Morton on the way home. I had read on Kim’s blog about the new family there and was hoping I could find them. I found them about half way through my walk around the lake. They were sleeping together on the grass. I sat down on the grass and was watching them sleep for a few minutes when the geese came up on the bank and started to bother the babies. Mom headed into the water with the babies and they hung out along the side of the lake for a while. I think the geese just wanted their spot. All of the above were taken at 200mm and extremely cropped.