A Morning Walk in the Garden

NOTE: The mystery photo I shared in my previous post is nothing but a piece of decayed palm frond!

Altho I took my walk in a dense fog on Sunday morning and got some very interesting photos along the river banks and park area, I thought I'd post my walk from last week at the Botanical Gardens instead. I'll get the fog photos up for the next time i publish a blog post. I'll begin with the section of the hummingbird garden.  The grounds-keepers have several feeders and have planted special flowers that attract hummingbirds....

The desert section was filled with night-blooming cactus flowers the day I was there.  With the promise of many, many flower buds awaiting their turn to open and attract night feeding birds and bats.

This is Gator Lake and a Tahitian - style Gazebo on the lake's bank.

The area with the sunflowers is another garden of wildflowers and a windmill with fountain...the path with the sign shows you're about to enter the elevated bird tower that has views of Gator Lake.

...and on the lake as I walked the pathway I spotted a mama Mottled Duck with two of her ducklings!!

Throughout the grounds, many land birds and shorebirds can be found. There is another larger area lake on the other side of the garden grounds and Oso Creek even farther away; still on the property. All during my walk early in the morning [I get there before it opens to the public - being a member has its quirks and I can get into the 'park' before others], the birdsong was resonating everywhere...the flight of some interrupted my steps as I had to stop and see what bird it was....Many, many cardinals were busy chowing down, and a couple -one male and one female- were in search of nesting material. I spied the female as it flew into the thicket...carrying what I thought was tissue paper...But...it wasn't upon closer inspection!! It was snake skin!!!!

Snakes?!! Time for me to exit, stage left!!!