Little critters at Largo Botanical Gardens

You can always find lots of bugs and little flying things at the Botanical Gardens. It was hot so there were lots of them out. I walked over to a little lily pond and thought "It would be so cute if there were frogs in here". And then I noticed the tiny frog sitting right there looking at me. He was on the other side and I took the above quick. When I started to walk around the little pond to get closer he jumped under the water.

Below is a beautyberry bush. I told my hubby that we need to plant these in the backyard. They attract butterflies. Eventually we'll get around to it. The last picture was taken from one of the bridges that goes over the river that runs through the gardens. On one end the river has started to become overgrown.

Quiet morning at Largo Botanical Gardens

I went for a walk at the Largo Botanical Gardens last weekend and didn't see too many birds. In fact, I think the only thing I saw were moorhens. The above picture is of a juvenile moorhen. I didn't see any alligators there and usually they are everywhere. I'm assuming they are hiding under the water. There were tons of butterflies and dragonflies buzzing everywhere. If it wasn't so hot I probably would have spent more time trying to get different pictures. After two hours in the heat I headed home.

Florida Botanical Gardens

Osprey with a big nest in some kind of utility tower.

Female cardinal hiding in a tree.

Tufted titmouse. My first picture of this bird. He was hard to get hiding in the trees.

Anhinga drying off in the bushes.

Northern mockingbird.

Lots of birds out at the Botanical Gardens in Largo. It was a sunny day and starting to get hot. I knew we would go right from winter to summer. Not much of a spring this year. This was my first trip to the gardens where I did not see a single alligator. I know they are there but they must have all been hiding under the water.

Cardinal on my car

This weekend I stopped by the Florida Botanical Gardens to walk around. I had not been there since before all of the freezes that we had this winter. It looks like the gardens had a tough winter. There were a handful of volunteers there pulling up dead plants and trying to clean up. The beautiful black orchids that were along the fence at the back of the butterfly garden are completely dead. Just a handful of dead sticks on the ground now. What a shame. On a fun note, when I walked off the trail back to the parking lot I noticed the above guy sitting on my side view mirror. He kept flying down in front of the mirror to look at himself. Then he hopped on the front hood and was looking at his reflection in the windshield. I guess he finally realized there wasn't another bird there and took off. Luckily I hadn't put my camera in my backpack yet and was able to get a few shots before he took off.

Bug convention

It was sunny this morning so I made a trip to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. Not many birds there today. I think they all flew north for the summer. Lots of cool insects though. There's a butterfly garden hidden away there that was full of butterflies. I saw a hummingbird there with the butterflies but was not able to get a picture. There were dragonflies, tadpoles, turtles and grasshoppers everywhere. I only saw one alligator, the rest must have been underwater.

I also ran into this woodpecker sitting high on a utlity pole. He was on the mulch path that runs around the retention ponds. Those utility poles are full of holes. He looks like he is left over from the 70's punk phase.