Spring is definitely in the air! I like it when the groundhog gets it wrong and we get an early spring. On this afternoon in early March, it was too nice to stay inside, so my dad and I headed up to Lake Morton in the late afternoon.

Swan nesting is well underway. Some of the Black Swans have already had their cygnets, and those families now reside in protective pens. The Mute Swans are in the process of building their nests. I love to watch them work as those graceful long necks maneuver to carry twig after twig to just the right spot.

Everybirdy is looking spiffy these days as they come into their breeding colors. Even the common Anhinga deserves a head shot as he sports that blue eye and handsome dark patch.

I’ve been seeing more Brown Pelicans in Winter Haven and Lakeland in recent months. We tend to think of them as a coastal bird, but they’ve been known to nest in Lakeland. So I wasn’t surprised to see one flying over Lake Morton on this pretty afternoon. I had fun watching him fish. He’d circle the lake, eyeing his prize (a fish), and then suddenly turn his nose down and dive-bomb the lake.

The winter ducks are still around in pretty good numbers, but they were starting to think of starting that long flight northward. These Ring-necked Ducks were stretching their wings. The female is on the left, the male is on the right. A few of them over-winter in Lakeland.

When you see pairs of ducks in the spring, it’s easy to assume they are male and female. In the case below, I had a male Wood Duck and a juvenile male Wood Duck, still molting into his full adult plumage. I bet they will both be chasing the ladies soon. I hope to get back to see cute little baby wood ducklings!

The American White Pelicans are back! The lighting conditions were terrible in the afternoon, but it’s always fun to be close to these birds. They were preparing for bed and doing their after-dinner preening routine before settling in for the night.

I heard a splash, then the agitation of wings against water, and then I saw a mesmerizing display of water droplets against the backlit scene. I think this was a case of Swan #2 getting a little too close to Swan #1’s girlfriend, so Swan #1 chased him off. There was a lot of splashing involved!

There are many purple trumpet trees around Lake Morton. They are gorgeous when in bloom, and then the falling flowers make a blanket of purple on the green grass. This Wood Stork posed himself in front of that blanket, and I loved how the purple contrasted with his white feathers. He told me I need to come back soon! :)