Tag Archives: Swan Lake Iris Gardens

Canada Goose Goslings

May 23, 2018 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

A Canada Goose family was wandering through the edge of the cypress swamp, with the goslings foraging for food under the watchful eyes of their parents.

It was a cloudy morning and there was a full canopy above us so the images had a very high ISO. I reduced the noise and clarity which gave the youngsters a soft look that I found appealing.

They stayed surprisingly close to the boardwalk even as we approached, but before long the adults steered their charges back into the water.

Click on any image for a larger view.

Flowers, Insects

Insects on Irises

May 22, 2018 Ellen Jennings 8 Comments

It was a dull day and my images of the Japanese Iris border at Swan Lake and Iris Gardens didn’t amount to much. The insect activity on the iris flowers was much more interesting.

Here a bee is backing out of the flower center after adding to his pollen cache.

He buzzed around the back of the flower and if you zoom in you can see one tiny leg sticking out from the right side of the stem under the petal stem. I didn’t see the second insect on the petal until I was developing the images.

Insect on Iris – click on image to enlarge

A small spider crawled all over the petals of this delacately colored bloom.

Meanwhile a Skipper was touching all the parts of the next flower over.

This is a section of the Iris border that is on a pond. There is a dragonfly perched on a frond just left and below center–another one I spotted after I got home. I expect there was more insect activity that wasn’t as obvious.

Dragonfly on Iris — Iris Border with a Dragonfly

Nature

Black Swan Family

May 5, 2018 Ellen Jennings Leave a comment

The cygnets were learning how to feed, sticking their heads in the water imitating their parents who were pulling vegetation up from the pond floor. The were each in constant motion, turning and dunking, making a family portrait a real challenge.