Hot night at Lake Seminole Park

The usual dragonfly.


Great egret posing. He must be used to all of the people at the park. He didn't even flinch when I stopped to take his picture.

Tri color heron landing in the reeds. Taken into the sun right before sunset.

Great egret flying across the lake.

Juvenile moorhen screaming for a snack. I love their big yellow feet.

A large group of ducks waiting for a handout. The stick in the upper middle is a big sign that says "Do not feed the wildlife, including ducks." People ignore it. There's a spot at the lake near a small parking lot that the ducks congregate at. People park there and feed the ducks. The ducks are very aggressive and will charge at your ankles if you don't feed them.

I stopped off at Lake Seminole Park one day last week to check on the limpkin nest. I had been there 2 weeks before and there were several eggs in a nest built on a shallow section of the lake. I wanted to see if the eggs had hatched. Since it had been raining every day for a week the nest was under 2 feet of water. I couldn't see from the boardwalk if the eggs were still there so I don't know if they had already hatched and the family had moved on. I didn't see any limpkins on that end of the lake which is unusual. Sad, hot and depressed I started the walk back to my car. I was thinking I wouldn't find any birds around but I did manage to see a few before I left.

Limpkin nest

Mom limpkin eyeing me from the nest. I was standing on the boardwalk.

She stood up to stretch and you could see the eggs.

She was looking at the eggs. Think she was counting them?

Later the other parent showed up.

I had heard there was a limpkin nest near the boardwalk at Lake Seminole Park. They had built a nest out in the water on a shallow section that had reeds growing on it. The eggs incubate for 27 days. Since I'm not sure when these were laid, I may have to check back several times to see when the babies are born. I've never seen limpkin babies so I'm excited to see them grow up. Although they have some odds against them. It's now rainy season and it's been raining hard every night. That area may flood. There are also alligators that live in that lake. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Below is why the limpkins hang out near that end of the lake. Lots of apple snail eggs were all around there. Limpkins eat apple snails, as well as frogs and bugs.

Beauty of Lake Seminole Park

It's amazing such a beautiful place is hidden in a busy part of town. There's a Home Depot almost right across the street from the entrance. When you get into the park it's quiet and peaceful (except for all of the kids running around playing and yelling). It sits on the side of a pretty big lake and there are smaller ponds all inside the park. There's a big mound in the middle of one of the ponds with an osprey nest on it. There were already 2 osprey sitting on top of the nest when I walked by. Last spring there were 2 great blue heron nests with babies in the pine trees next to the osprey nest. I haven't seen any there yet but it's early for great blues. Even on a drizzling rainy day it's a fun place to spend a couple of hours.

Standing in place at Lake Seminole

I stopped along the trail to get a picture of this female anhinga drying off.




As I was standing there taking a picture of the anhinga, I noticed this great egret taking a break in the reeds right in front of me.

Then I noticed this juvenile blue heron (they stay white through the first 6 months) trying to hide close by.

Then a great blue heron flies by.

The kingfisher that I had been hearing cackling around the park flew by and landed high up in a tree close by where I was standing. By then it was starting to drizzle.

Saturday morning I decided to head out to a park before the rain moved in for the afternoon. I ended up at Lake Seminole Park. I walked around the dirt trail along the lake and was not seeing too many birds. After a full lap around the park I was discouraged. I decided to take one more lap down the dirt trail (I needed the exercise anyway.) On the way back to my car I stopped to take a picture of an anhinga drying off (I know, how boring). But she was doing such a nice little dance as she was drying off. As I was standing there watching her a series of events happened. I noticed a great egret in front of me trying to hide as well as a little blue heron that was still young enough to be white. After I snapped pictures of both of those a great blue heron flew by. And then I saw a kingfisher fly up into a tree not to far away. While I was taking pictures of the kingfisher it started to rain so I headed on to my car. After walking almost 3 miles I see all of those different birds standing for 10 minutes in one spot.

Lake Seminole Park

White duck looking for a handout.


Lone limpkin

Grebe all wet from diving under for food.

Great blue heron trying to hide in the reeds.

Saturday morning I paid a visit to Lake Seminole Park. I hadn't been there in while. It was pretty cold and windy when I got there. I wasn't sure if I would see much wildlife. There were a handful of birds there. The usual osprey, herons and ducks. This past spring there was an osprey nest with babies and a great blue heron nest with babies at the large center pond. I'll have to check again this spring to see if they are back. When I was driving out of the park I saw a big group of ducks by one of the small parking areas. I pulled in to see what kind of ducks where there. As soon as I drove into a parking spot the ducks all came running to the car. They have obviously been feed there often. When I got out with my camera they came running up to me as if to attack my feet. I jumped back in the car and took a few pictures from the window. The ironic thing is there is a big sign there that says "Do not feed the wildlife" with a picture of a duck.