Fun things at Lake Mirror

Posted on July 1, 2021 by dinajohnston

Color at Hollis Garden in Lakeland in early May.

I thought these lily pad were cool holding the water in their leaves. Lake Mirror in downtown Lakeland was full of them.

There’s a reason they are called “common” moorhens. They are everywhere and they have tons of babies starting in the spring.

I noticed this baby grackle screaming at his Mom for food. He was hopping around behind Mom but I think she was trying to get him to feed himself. He was old enough to be able to do that.

Across Lake Morton a new building was going up. The flags would have looked very magestic if they weren’t so worn out.

I don’t alway stop at Lake Mirror after a walk at Circle B Bar Reserve but this morning in early May I only did a short walk at Circle B and then went over to Lake Mirror. I was in the mood for some spring flowers that were in bloom at Hollis Gardens which sits right on the lake.

Meet Morton

Posted on November 21, 2020 by dinajohnston

Since mid-October there’s been a wild turkey hanging out at Lake Morton near downtown Lakeland. At least everyone thinks she’s wild. There’s a few parks and preserves close by so she could have wandered far off her path and ended up here. The neighborhood did a naming poll and the name Morton stuck. She seemed pretty domesticated to me. I found her as I was walking around the lake and she came pretty close to me. People have probably been feeding her. All of the turkeys I’ve seen out in the woods are very skittish and run away pretty quickly. She better be hiding this week.

She was strutting around like she owned the lake. There are brick retaining walls in a few places around the lake and the white pelicans along with the ducks like to nap there. She walked up to the pelicans which are much bigger than her and chased them off the wall.

She then strutted over to another wall and chased the ducks away. The pelicans had moved on and were climbing up onto another wall and she went over and chased them again. She was causing a lot of chaos this morning. It will be interesting to see how long she’s there.

Late November in Lakeland.

Posted on January 21, 2020 by dinajohnston

Various beauties around Lake Morton in late November.

Lots of turtles.

One of the many swan statues in the downtown area in Lakeland.

Even in late November, it was warm enough to want to jump in the fountain. As tempting as that is, there’s always the chance of a gator in that lake.

Winter white

Posted on May 2, 2019 by dinajohnston

It’s rare to see a white pelican in Florida outside of the winter months. Even in the winter you have to hunt for them in central Florida. There’s usually a few that hang out at Lake Morton in Lakeland. These guys were still here in mid-March. They usually leave to head north for the summer in late April. Some of the older ones had already developed that bump on their beaks which they only get during breeding season.

A young one was posing.

Once in a while, a few would take off flying, circle the lake and land back on the lake. I’m going to miss them when they leave but hopefully they’ll be back in fall.

Bright colors in late April

Posted on July 24, 2018 by dinajohnston

Things were in full bloom at Hollis Gardens in downtown Lakeland in late April.

Linking to Wednesday Around the World.

Lake Mirror in downtown Lakeland

Posted on July 9, 2018 by dinajohnston

Grackles are common but when the sun shines on them they are very pretty.

An anhinga with something stuck on her beak.

Some of the resident ducks around the lake.

There were several families in late April.

One of the families was busy swimming around and investigating everything.

Only in the winter

Posted on May 12, 2018 by dinajohnston

White pelicans are true “snow birds”. You only see them in Florida in the winter and even then it’s rare to see them. For the last several years there have been a few hanging around Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland (also know for their resident swans that live on the lake). I had seen a few earlier in the winter but when I stopped by to see if any of the swans had babies yet in mid-March, the lake was full of white pelicans. They were busy fishing and didn’t notice me at all standing on the side of the lake.

They seemed to be herding the fish into the vegetation and then scooping up the fish. You would think that after doing this all day they would eat all of the fish in this little lake. I went back several weeks later and all of the white pelicans were gone. I”m assuming they moved on to another pond or left to head up north. I realized when I cropped that last shot that there was a northern shoveler swimming in front of them.

Many of the pelicans were busy preening or flying around.

White pelican ballet

Posted on February 6, 2018 by dinajohnston

It’s rare to see a lone white pelican. This guy was actually in the group below.

It’s beautiful to watch the white pelicans gracefully float around the water and feed. They don’t dive in head first to catch the fish like brown pelicans. They work in a group to herd the fish into shallower water. Bobbing up and down they look like they are synchronized fishing. I found them in a small lake in central Florida. They only stay here in the winter.

One swam under a water fountain in the middle of the lake.

Several flew over my head.

Linking to Wednesday Around the World

So many babies, so little time – at Lake Mirror

Posted on June 18, 2016 by dinajohnston

So many babies, so little time. This seems to be a big baby duck year. I’m seeing big families everywhere. Getting them all lined up for a family portrait wasn’t easy. The babies are very curious and were running around all over the place. Eventually they tired out and settled down for a nap hiding under mom.

They grow up so fast. One of the first duck families this year at the lake. They are still sticking close together.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters

Turtle day at the lake

Posted on January 23, 2016 by dinajohnston

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.