MK and I walked ’round the lakes on Friday and I thought you might like an update on the Lake Cherokee Mute Swan family. When I first posted about this year’s brood, the cygnets were young and very small.
Proud parent – from April 16, 2020
And here they are from last Friday:
Proud parent – September 2020
Although three of the six were lost, these three look very healthy. They still have a lot of their gray baby color, but they’re as big as Mom. And MK reports they’ve fledged and she’s seen them flying around the lake.
Here are a few more photos from our walk:
Shoreline. Birds really seem to like this spot along Lake Davis.
Got my Mottled Ducks in a row
Egyptian Goose
Red-bellied Woodpecker and a grub(?)
These two lakes in downtown Orlando are a very nice place to walk. There’s a lot to see (and photograph) and you can get some steps too. Thanks MK for inviting me and thanks for helping me spot things! I think we were lucky to get our walk in on Friday. Looks like we’ve got a bunch of rain heading our way.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. I hope all of you are staying safe – take care of yourselves, your friends, and your families. And if you can, make some photos!
It’s still baby bird season here in Central Florida. I thought I’d update you on several I’ve been following.
Lake Cherokee Mute Swans
As of May 23rd, there are three surviving cygnets at Lake Cherokee (this photo is from May 17th). On April 25th, I counted 6.
Lake Davis Mute Swans
There are only two cygnets left at Lake Davis (this photo is from May 17th too). On April 25th, there were 5. They seem a little bit larger / older to me than the ones at Lake Cherokee.
There’s a lot of wildlife in and around Lake Davis and Lake Cherokee. One neighbor’s seen owls, hawks, eagles and otters there and it wouldn’t be surprising if there are alligators too. Life for these young swans is dangerous.
All of the remaining ones seem to be healthy and growing. Hopefully they’re big enough now to avoid any more predation.
Winter Park Ospreys
Wing exercise – These two chicks are still in this nest. In this photo (also from May 17th) Mom and sibling duck out of the way as the other one exercises its wings.
They’re growing fast and getting stronger. I don’t think it’ll be too long before they fledge.
Bonus baby birds
Here are a few other young birds I’ve seen in the last week. These are from a stroll at Orlando Wetlands Park.
Black-necked Stilts: Mom and chick
A young Night Heron in flight. I think this one is a Black-crowned Night Heron. They’re much more common around here than the Yellow-crowned ones.
Family cruise – Mottled Duck Mom and ducklings
Okay – that’s all of the baby bird news I have. Now for a more serious subject.
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Memorial Day
Here In the US, we celebrate Memorial Day on the last Monday in May (the 25th). It’s a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy. Every one of us owes them a debt we can never repay.
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Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog. Hang in there, stay safe, and take care of yourselves and your loved ones. And if you can – make some photos!
MaryKate had the day off last Thursday for Independence Day and invited me to walk around Lake Dixie and Lake Cherokee with her. I was glad to go – I’d been by before, but only inside a car and unable to take a close look. We also wanted to check on how the cygnets she wrote about on Fathers Day are doing.
Lake Cherokee
Lake Cherokee is the smaller of the two and both are lovely. For a location in downtown Orlando they have a lot of wildlife. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by this since they’re very close to Greenwood Park and Cemetery, where there’s also a lot of wildlife.
One of the first things we encountered was this Heron. I thought at first it was a Green Heron, but got some help with the ID on Flickr. It was small and still – and I glanced right past it without any recognition. I’m glad MaryKate commented on it so I could make a photo! Least Bitterns are supposed to be common in this type of environment, but I don’t see them much. I think because they’re so good at hiding!
Hunting Heron (Least Bittern)
Next we came up to this Mallard posing for me in the grass in front of some yellow flowers.
Mallard
And there were several Wood Ducks. I’ve seen them before at Greenwood and Mead Gardens, but hadn’t paid attention to their non breeding colors. This young one is interesting and I’m looking forward to spring time when their plumage starts changing.
Juvenile Wood Duck
Here’s a bird that I’d never seen before or even heard of.
Swan Goose
Swan Geese are native to the Far East and have also been domesticated. There were two, this one and another that was all white. It’s likely they escaped or were released from captivity since they don’t occur naturally in the US.
This Mottled Duck was resting in a notch about seven feet above ground. It watched us as I made the photo, but didn’t seem nervous. The tree was right next to the sidewalk and it must be used to people nearby.
Sleepy Duck
Unfortunately, there’s some bad news about the Lake Cherokee Mute Swan family. There were initially three babies, but only one’s been seen lately.
From across the lake, MaryKate and I spotted two adults but no babies. We worried they’d lost the last cygnet too. But when we got closer, we saw what was going on – Mom was riding the baby on her back!
Mute Swan Mom carrying baby
We also saw Limpkins, Common Gallinules, Great Egrets, a second Mute Swan family (with four large juveniles!), Anhingas, and several turtles. What a wonderful walk and what an unexpected abundance of things to experience and photograph! Thanks for inviting me, MaryKate!
You can click on each of these images to view a larger version on Flickr. And if you’re interested, I’ve started collecting my photos from here in this album on Flickr.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!
I don’t have much to say this morning, so the photos will have to do most of the talking. I started yesterday along the Indian River at Space View Park.
Watching the morning sun. This is a two frame, blended exposure. I made the bottom half exposed for the water with a Neutral Density filter to slow my shutter speed to 20 seconds at ISO 100 and f/11. I made the top part with the filter off, exposed for the sunrise at ISO 100, f/11, 1/100 second. I was very happy to see the Osprey fly through the frame with a fish as I clicked the shutter. I blended them together in Photoshop with a layer mask.
I planned to drive around on Gator Creek Road next, but it was closed – so I headed to Black Point Wildlife Drive.
Juvenile Little Blue Heron. There were several around, so they must be nesting nearby. I’ve seen Green Herons breeding there, but not Little Blue Herons.
A Mottled Duck. I don’t spot these too often. When I looked it up, I learned (or maybe re-learned) some things. Mottled Ducks are related to both Black Ducks and Mallards, and are the only duck adapted to breeding in southern marshes. The Florida population is a subspecies and the male has lost its distinctive plumage so that the both sexes are colored alike.
The Photography Interest Group elected to return to Viera Wetlands this morning. Once again, it was a very nice visit. The weather was much better than last time. We had clear skies and plenty of light, although the road was chained closed due the recent rains – making it a walking visit only. Walking is better for us anyway.
One thing I definitely wanted to see was the masked duck that had been reported in the paper recently. Apparently, these are very rare in the area – and I’d never seen one. There are a lot of birders coming from as far as 2 hours away to add this one to their life list.
Masked Duck
Here’s a few other photos from this morning.
Wood Stork in flight – I like the water drops in his wake.
Limpkin in flight
Pair of Mottled Ducks (?) – I really like the lead duck’s head reflected in the water.
I’ve added these and several others to my Viera Wetlands Set on Flickr, where you can view larger versions of them.
Proud parent – from April 16, 2020
Proud parent – September 2020
Shoreline. Birds really seem to like this spot along Lake Davis.
Got my Mottled Ducks in a row
Egyptian Goose
Red-bellied Woodpecker and a grub(?)
