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.

Getting out in the gardens

Posted on February 8, 2021 by dinajohnston

Still so many pretty flowers at Bok Tower Gardens in November. The big lily pads were still blooming.

I hadn’t seen any frogs there in several years so I was excited to see this guy in a small pond.

Little flying critters.

I’ve taking a ton of pictures of the bell tower but this was the first time I noticed that there was a calendar carved in the back of the tower. I’m not sue what the lines mean. Has anyone seen this before?

There were still lots of caterpillars in mid-November.

Still hot in October.

Posted on December 1, 2020 by dinajohnston

Busy little birds at Bok Tower Gardens. A black and white warbler, a titmouse (with a nut), a red eyed vireo and a female redstart were the only migrating birds I could find in mid-October. I realized as I was running around in the woods at Bok Tower why fall migration is much harder than spring migration. The birds are more scarce in the fall and it’s just too hot to be running around looking for tiny birds high up in the trees. Here in central Florida in the spring, if you are lucky to be out on a day when there are a lot of birds around, at least the weather is usually cooler. On this morning in October it was 85 degrees by 9:30 and the humidity was brutal. It takes a lot of patience to wait for these little birds to come down from the tops of the trees and it’s hard to be dripping in sweat. With that said, it was still a fun morning out even if I only saw a few birds.

Beauty in the pond.

A grasshopper high up in the tree. He caught my eye while I was watching a hummingbird on the other side of the tree.

I was taking a break on a bench when this little squirrel came up to me. He looks like he had a bot fly problem this summer. He should be okay though.

Reflections on the pond.

Looking down on the pond, the fish were waiting for a handout.

Bok Tower Gardens in early September

Posted on November 2, 2017 by dinajohnston

Shots from my early September trip to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales Florida. There’s always interesting things to see there.

The front door to the Carillon bell tower.

From the bell tower area, you can see down into the valley. The bell tower sits on one of the highest elevated areas in Florida. An orange grove sits right outside the gardens.

A first visit to Bok Tower Gardens – Skywatch Friday

Posted on October 30, 2014 by dinajohnston

The bell tower building contains 60 bells and was finished in 1929.

Looking straight up, it’s pretty tall.

The details in the openings at the top have different birds. The gardens started out as a bird sanctuary by Edward Bok. The 30 year editor of the Ladies Home Journal magazine would spend his winters in Lake Wales and developed the gardens with the help of Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr ( his dad developed Central Park and Prospect Park in New York) and many others.

The door no one enters. To tour the inside of the bell tower, you need to have a high level of membership to go inside on one of the very few tours a year.

The lily pads were amazing.

Beautiful purple buds growing around the lily pads.

I was hoping to see frogs sitting in them but no luck there.

I’ve never seen these blooms before.

Looking down over a citrus grove, the bell tower sits on one of the highest points in central Florida.

The gardens were decorated for Halloween.

When did black and white pumpkins become so popular? Some had the spray paint starting to peel off. I guess I like the traditional orange ones.

The spider was pretty cool, made with pumpkins and branches.

I’ve been saying I want to visit Bok Tower Gardens for the last 5 years. I finally made it there on a rare random Monday off. It’s just under an hour and a half from my house so I need to get there more often. It was a beautiful day and very few people there. I took a ton of pictures so more to come.

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