Yesterday Dottie and I went to Lake Morton to photograph the swans and other waterfowl. The swans below are two of the five species in the lakes within the city limits. In the 1950's the swans were not existent, having fell victims to natures elements and predators. To repopulate the swans a request was sent to the Queen of England for a mating pair of the royal swans on the Thames River. The request was granted, a pair captured, crated and shipped to the city of Lakeland, Florida. All on the white Mute Swans are descendants of that pair of swans from England. The Black Swans were a gift to the city from Australia. All of the Black Swans are descendants of that pair.
Mute Swan
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#2
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#4
Black Swan
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#2
While there this bird caught my attention because of the large reddish orange eye so I captured a couple images. At home after post processing and trying to identify it I realized that it was the molting stage of a bird I had photographed earlier in the year. A male Wood Duck....
Molting Stage
Normal Plumage
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