I found some very young mute swans preening at Lake Morton at the end of July. These young adults were born early this year and were acting like they own the place.
Juvenile male wood ducks. Just starting to get their male colors in.
I also found some female wood ducks.
This cute little limpkin family stole my heart. Both babies were staying close to Mom.
I stopped by Lake Morton in Lakeland on the way home from Circle B Bar Reserve in mid-May. I usually see one or two wood duck couples there but on this trip they were all around the lake. Sleeping in the grass, hanging out on the swan fences, chasing each other. They must have been gathering for a baby making convention. I have not made it back over to the lake since then so I’m not sure it there were a lot of babies but I would hope so..
All of the usual suspects were there.
Feeding the fowl is encouraged at the lake although bread is extremely discouraged. They have feeders that are filled with pellets that you can buy a handful for a quarter. This lady was feeding them cracked corn.
Clouds were rolling in and it was time to go home for lunch.
Color coming out in early April at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. Yes, the gardens were open during the big shut down. I went around 8am and there were very few people there. Most probably thought it was closed. It was nice to walk around in the quiet garden.
Watching these crazy parakeets getting sticks for their nests.
Not many birds in early April. The usual blue jays and wood duck couples. The wood ducks usually have babies here in the summer but they go into hiding and it’s hit or miss seeing them here.
Caterpillars were on the milkweed but those pesky milkweed bugs were taking over.
Beautiful wood ducks hiding under the cypress trees.
Baby black swans staying close to their parents.
White pelicans were preening and stretching.
A lone goose with a striking face and beak. There use to be a lot of geese around this lake but I only found 2 on a trip in late February.
It’s that fun time of the year when there are baby ducks everywhere. This one Blondie in the family was so cute. It’s amazing they grow up to look like mom.
The three stooges standing on a pipe.
Beautiful swans at Lake Morton.
It felt like spring in late March.
A wood duck couple.
A few fun things at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.
The beautiful silk floss tree that blooms in the fall. I always forget about it the rest of the year since it’s just full of green leaves. I forget about the pink flowers and am always surprised and amazed when I see this tree in late October. This was towards the end of the bloom and the ground was covered in the pink flowers.
Not many birds. A local red belled woodpecker and a wood duck couple.
The above was hanging on a tree in the woods at the gardens. Kind of creepy but also cool.
Wood duck babies are so cute. I found this little family at a hidden pond at the Largo Botanical Gardens in May.
After walking around the gardens, I headed over to Largo Nature Preserve and found this baby limpkin following Mom under the boardwalk.
I was staring at this turtle that was sitting just underneath the below.
A bald eagle was sitting on a utility tower in the park. I don’t think anyone else walking by noticed the eagle just sitting up there.
I was taking pictures of the colors of the high plants across the creek and looked down and saw these guys staring up at me like “Feed us.”
All taken back in late April.
The usual suspects at the lake.
There wasn’t many little birds there but I did catch the above northern parula and carolina wren.
A few wood ducks floating around.
Teeny tiny critters along the boardwalk.
Just a few things from a recent walk at Lettuce Lake Park in north Tampa.
People come to this lake to feed the ducks and swans but it’s mostly the ibis that get fed. They fly in by the hundreds and attack the person holding the food.
A few random ducks.
You can always find wood ducks at this lake.
There was a pair of coscoroba swans (smaller swan with the bright pink beak) but I think there is now only 1. I think the mute swan has become friends with the coscoroba. They were hanging out together and flirting.
It’s mating and nesting season for the mute swans at Lake Morton.
Baby wood ducks are the cutest duck babies. They have a pretty pale face compared to the mallards which have a lot of pattern on their faces. There were several wood duck families at my favorite lake in Lakeland recently. One of the families with older babies were all napping under a tree. Later, the younger babies were running around chasing after each other and trying to keep up with mom.
Linking to Saturday’s Critters