 | Description | Lake Morton, located in downtown Lakeland, Florida, is home to about 60 Mute Swans and a myriad of other ducks and geese. Walkers and joggers frequently feed the birds, making them very tame for photography. Even the Wood Ducks are pretty tame. My favorite time to visit is the spring (March through June), when the birds are nesting and raising their young. |
| Photography Advice | I use both my long lens and my intermediate telephoto. |
| When to Go | March through June |
| Species Photographed (13) | American White Pelican, Black Swan, Black-Necked Swan, Indigo Bunting, Mallard, Muscovy Duck, Mute Swan, Redhead, Ring-Billed Gull, Ring-Necked Duck, Scarlet Tanager, White Ibis, Wood Duck |
| Website | https://www.yelp.com/biz/lake-morton-lakeland |
| eBird | https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1314027 |
| Google Map | Click here to view Google Map |
| Trail Map | None |
August 26, 2012 - I stopped by Lake Morton this morning on my way to help my dad in his computer lab. It was very gray and nasty outside as Tropical Storm Isaac approached. But I haven’t had much opportunity to photograph lately, so even gray days are fun. Plus I always enjoy my time with the birds at […]
July 24, 2012 - A few weekends ago when I was photographing at Swan Lake (a.k.a. Lake Morton), I looked up from the cute babies to see this Mallard sitting posed in great light with a perfect reflection. I loved the contrast of his feathers against the blue lake background. I kinda wished the cute babies would have stood […]
July 14, 2012 - My hubby isn’t the most, um, obsessed about birding. So I had to laugh when he asked me, “are you going back to the Goosey Pond this weekend?” He was referring to Lake Morton and Father Goose…but I had to disagree on his name for the place. I much prefer “Swan Lake!” :)
July 9, 2012 - All the birds at Lake Morton are playing “Duck, Duck, Goose!” as they watch Father Goose take care of his little ones. Mrs. Muscovy posed with her bright white face against a nice green background. She tried to be dignified, but it’s hard when you have a feather on your beak. This is one of […]
July 8, 2012 - Many human children grow up hearing the tales of Mother Goose. On Lake Morton, the young chicks grow up with Father Goose. This unique goose takes it upon himself to play nanny with young Muscovy duck families. I spent a sweet couple of hours with this little family on Saturday morning at Lake Morton. A […]
May 6, 2012 - While checking on the swan nests at Lake Morton recently, I’ve gotten to see some other fun babies too. In early April, I came across a flock of recently-hatched Mallard chicks, probably between 12 and 18 of them. In later visits, the babies were bigger, although in fewer numbers. They are certainly well-fed at that […]
May 2, 2012 - As I teased on last Friday, I stopped by Lake Morton on my way home from Fort De Soto and found a newborn cygnet. I went back on Sunday morning to observe the nest and spend some time with the baby. This little guy has a band of followers (hi Kim! hi Pam!) who spent […]
April 30, 2012 - As frequent readers of my blog know, we adopted a black and white kitten last year. He’s been helping me review my recent images from Lake Morton, and he’s a little confused. You see, here’s the picture I took of a Black Swan cygnet in early April: …and here’s the picture I took of a […]
April 27, 2012 - I had the most incredible day today! I went to Fort De Soto to check out the migrants, and I finally got my first Scarlet Tanager male, along with a ton of orioles, grosbeaks, buntings, and a few warblers. Birders kept telling me that today was a “slow” day in comparison to last weekend’s fallout…but […]
April 14, 2012 - Last week Rich and I were in Lakeland to judge the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair. We had a great time talking to the students about their projects. Afterward, I twisted Rich’s arm into taking a nice walk around nearby Lake Morton. I wanted to see if the Mute Swans were nesting yet – […]
April 8, 2012 - I hope this picture of a Mallard duckling doing the splits will bring a smile to everyone on Easter. More from Lake Morton in the next post!
January 3, 2012 - After a quiet morning at the Circle B Bar Reserve on Friday, Dyeyo and I decided to head to Lake Morton. Herman has been telling me about it for ages, and he always knows the good birding places! There were lots of Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks sleeping on the lake. It was my first opportunity […]