Not one but two baby duck families!

On February 24, 2024February 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I got to Lettuce Lake Park right when they opened at 8am. The moon was still up and I could see vultures circling near the moon. I hadn’t been to this park in a long time since I moved farther away. It was mid-November and I wasn’t expecting to find anything new but I had heard there were black bellied whistling ducks babies and thought that would be fun to see them if I could find them in this big park.

I didn’t see a lot of birds when I first started walking but then I found this great blue heron in one corner of the boardwalk. As I was taking his picture I saw something floating farther behind him that looked like ducks.

I found a black bellied whistling duck family with older babies. They were dabbling around in the water and one of the young babies was trying to nap but eventually he joined his siblings.

I walked a little farther down the boardwalk and found some younger babies. These guys were young enough to still look a little like floating bumble bees. They were all sitting on a big stump in the water but looked like they were going in for a swim.

Once the other parent got in the water they all started jumping in after her. They were pretty far back in the swamp and looked like they were heading farther back so I walked back to the other family.

The older babies were closer to the boardwalk and they were so busy feeding.

And I was back to the little babies. They were climbing back up on the stump but didn’t stay there long. I spent quite a while running back and forth between the two families. The younger babies eventually swam farther back in the swamp so it was time to head home.

Across the swamp I could see a tall cypress tree that had turned into an ibis tree. I guess they were going to take a mid-morning nap up there.

Hovering for fish

On August 24, 2021July 31, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Standing on top of the lookout tower at Lettuce Lake, a snowy egret cruises by down below. I walked down a flight to get a closer look.

There were several snowy egrets feeding right in front of the tower. It was funny to watch them skimming the water as they were looking for fish. Sometimes it felt like they were hovering over the water. Sometimes they were successful and sometimes they missed. They did this for a while before one by one they all started to fly away.

Escargot for breakfast

On August 14, 2021July 23, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

When I was out at Lettuce Lake Park in June, the water levels were really low. The limpkins were feeding right along the boardwalk. I caught this one bringing in a snail right in front of me.

That’s when I realized the other 3 limpkins were juveniles of the adult with the snail. They looked like almost grown limpkins but were still making that wheezing “I want to be fed” baby noise and they were just a little bit smaller than Mom. One of them ran over to Mom and was trying to help her dig out the snail.

That baby got a big chunk of yummy snail.

I watched for a while as Mom brought up several snails.

The other baby was looking around picking up anything that looked like a snail but wasn’t. The third one was trying to take a nap. They were so close that I was glad I had brought my zoom lens this morning.

Early morning at Lettuce Lake Park

On August 12, 2021July 20, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

The lake was low in early June. The summer rains weren’t in full swing yet. The birds above were standing knee deep and they were pretty far out in the lake.

A few spoonbills were feeding close to the boardwalk.

Other birds along the boardwalk were storks and a tricolored heron, posing on a snag.

I saw this northern parula singing his heart out.

A very young titmouse.

Black bellied whistling ducks were cruising by the overlook tower and landing in the trees. They kept hopping from tree to tree, calling out to each other. I saw them when I first got to the park and was on the boardwalk. They were gone 20 minutes later so timing is everything.

My first robber fly sighting. What a cool bug. Although I probably would have freaked out at first if he flew on me. I saw him land on this branch and was wondering what it was.

Views from the boardwalk, not so early in the morning. Although I was there right when it opened at 8am and before there were lots of people on the boardwalk. It was so hot. I can’t image being out here after 11am in June.

Vultures and strawberries!

On March 4, 2019March 5, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

Not much to see on an early morning walk at Lettuce Lake Park in north Tampa in late January. Not many birds but tons of turkey vultures hanging around.

You can really tell it’s winter here with all of the leaves gone from the cypress trees that line the lake. And by winter, I mean I didn’t need more than a long sleeve tshirt to keep me warm.

Before heading home, I stopped at Medard Park to see if there was anything there since I hadn’t been in a long time. It was quiet there as well. A great blue heron preening was all that I could find.

Medard Park is in Plant City, in the middle of “strawberry” country. Hillsborough county produces around 15% of the nation’s strawberries with over 11,000 acres. Chances are if you are eating strawberries in the winter, they came from here. There’s a farm right outside of the park and I pulled over for a few minutes and took a couple of shots of the almost-ready berries.

This is the view for miles before hitting the highway.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

Little things at Lettuce Lake Park

On January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Little critters at Lettuce Lake Park in late October.

Little birdies.

A quiet morning at Lettuce Lake Park in October.

Linking to My Corner of the World.

Summer critters on summer flowers

On October 8, 2018October 9, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Lots of little critters buzzing around at Lettuce Lake in August.

Not many birds but I did see a juvenile northern parula and a red-eyed vireo.

This was the last time I saw the swallow-tail kites, in mid-August. One was flying over the boardwalk. They all left town to head south for the winter.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

Birds at Lettuce Lake Park

On July 28, 2018July 3, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Usual birds at Lettuce Lake Park in north Tampa.

A rare bird you only see soaring high in the sky in the summer, two swallow-tail kites were cruising by while I was on top of the observation tower. One looked like he had something in his claws.

It looked like it was part of a duck or maybe a baby bird. These guys snatch baby birds right out of a nest. They eat while they are soaring, mostly dragonflies though.

A cute black bellied whistling duck cruised by as well.

I stopped by the teeny tiny golf ball size hummingbird nest before leaving the park. At first the almost grown baby was sitting alone on the nest. Then mom flew in to feed it.

Twins

On June 2, 2018May 14, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Mom was napping close to the trail.

The barred owl twins were close by, very curious about everything. They were checking out every bird, butterfly or bee that came by. They were only a short time away from fledging, days or maybe a week.

A ruby throated hummingbird was sitting on a nest near the nature center. It looked like a bug sitting on top of a golf ball with the naked eye.

The squirrels were being their usual cute selves.

A walk through Lettuce Lake Park in late March.

Lots of little birds in late March

On May 5, 2018April 9, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

This little titmouse seemed to be showing me his snack.

So many little birds at Lettuce Lake Park in late March including that little spotted Hermit thrush in the last 2 pictures (or so I was told by the bird experts at the park that morning). This was a first sighting of a hermit for me.