I stopped by Lake Morton in Lakeland in early August on my way back from Bok Tower Gardens. I wasn’t expecting to see much since it was August and hot. Right away I found some of the young swans that were born earlier in the spring.
They were busy preening and ignored me.
There were several adult gray swans (I’ve heard they are kids of the mute and black swans).
There were also some juvenile wood ducks swimming close by.
Bathing beauties!
You know it’s spring when the mute swans at Lake Morton in Lakeland start mating. I was walking around the lake and saw this pair swimming around together and the fun started right in front of me.
I’m assuming she put up a struggle because it went on forever and at first I thought he was going to drown her. They floated close to a pair of black swans and the black swans seemed disturbed by it.
I thought she got away but he went after her again. At this point the black swans started to chase them and then she kept swimming into them. After a few seconds the black swans ducked out.
It felt like it went on forever, much longer than I’ve ever seen before but it was probably only a minute or two. The male finally got his way and they split up.
They both started to preen and bath and of course the male stood up showing off.
The little baby swans at Lake Morton were so cute. It’s hard not to get all gushy over them. They look so fluffy.
Taken through the fence, the baby swan looked like a dream. The city of Lakeland keeps the baby swans and their parents in fenced pens until they get bigger to keep them safe.
Taking a snooze.
Lots of cormorants cruising across Lake Morton.
Cleaning up for the ladies. It’s nesting time around the lake.
Seven swans a sleeping?
Posing for me.
“Got a cigarette lady” Talk about timing. I was taking pictures with my long lens of the swan preening far out in the lake when I heard a noise right in front of me on the edge of the lake and saw these two getting frisky. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and snapped these. More baby swans coming around the lake.
The swans at Lake Morton were showing off in early April. It was mating season for all of the critters at the lake.
Lots of couples floating around together.
No “rooms” for these couples. They were getting frisky right there at the lake.
Even the geese were getting frisky. Although, not sure what was going on with this threesome. They are always together.
Later, they were strutting around looking very proud of themselves.
Lots of action at Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland. It felt like a warm spring day and all of the ducks, geese and swans were feeling it.
Sometimes things just work out. I was heading home after a long walk at Circle B Bar Reserve and decided to stop by Lake Morton near downtown Lakeland for a quick walk around the small lake. I was hoping to find some baby wood duck families since there have been a lot of wood duck couples hanging around the lake. I got even luckier. This was the first time I’ve seen baby swans that young swimming with the parents. The little twins were very curious pecking at everything but they stayed close to the parents. I sat down on the grass and took a ton of pictures. All of these were taken in late April with my 300mm lens and were extremely cropped.
They grow up so fast. Baby black swans that are teenagers at this point.
It’s nice to see more black swans around the lake.
Looks like this swan was getting restless,watching for her babies to hatch.
I took so many pictures of these little guys. They were very curious.
Most of the swans were nesting when I walked around Lake Morton in late April. Only a few babies had been born and they were already all grown up. The city has each nest roped off so people don’t get too close. The swans can be very aggressive if you come near the roped off area.
Linking to Saturday’s Critters
