Birds at Circle B Bar Reserve

Little blue heron in green (with a small blue dragonfly buzzing over him).


Black bellied whistling duck was giving me the eye. They should be called Pink feet whistling ducks.


Male anhinga drying off after a swim for food.

Purple gallinule trying to hide. This is my first picture of this bird. They are beautiful with their purple feathers and red beak with a yellow tip. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of his big bright yellow feet. They are very skittish and he kept trying to go deeper in the grass. I didn't want to spook him so I left him with only the above picture.

Last weekend I made a trip to Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland. I hadn't been there in a while and was curious to see what was still hanging around the park now that the heat had set in. It was so hot, even early in the morning. I had heard it was alligator mating season and to be careful of them but I only saw one small alligator. The bigger ones must be deep in the cooler water now. The park was full of dragonflies and butterflies (pictures of them coming) and you could hear frogs croaking all over. There was only a handful of birds there. Now that all of the wintering birds and pelicans are gone it seemed a little empty in the park. It's still an amazing place though and I'll probably go back several times this summer even though I swear I won't until at least October.