A wetland wonderland just outside the Tampa, FL city limits
Lettuce Lake is a Hillsborough County Park right in North Tampa, near the University of South Florida. On weekdays it appears to be visited by parents of small children, and people multitasking outside time and conference calls. Much of the park is in the natural floodplain of the Hillsborough river. One of the key park features is a 3,500 foot boardwalk through the hardwood swamp forest. I happen to have a soft spot for boardwalks through wetlands.
Our mini hike on the boardwalk was beautiful! The sun was still low enough to shine through the lush foliage, but high enough for some fun reflections.
The constant stream of people has tamed the birds a bit. My child is particularly talented at ensuring I don’t get any pictures of birds...and yet, this blue heron perched on the boardwalk railing hung around long enough for me to get this photo.
We also saw a limpkin up close. Their primary food source is the apple snail...and there were plenty of those around too. I learned that apple snails have both gills and lungs, so they can breathe all the places. The more you know...
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