A Hot Summer Day at the Garden

This time of the year is pretty quiet when it comes to birding but you can still have fun photographing local birds and butterflies at the San Diego Botanic Garden. I started my morning walk at the San Elijo Lagoon but with only a few ducklings to photograph, I decided to go to the Garden to see what interesting subjects I could find.

The only subjects that I could find at the San Elijo Nature Reserve were the ducklings in the small "duck pond" at the southeast side of the nature center loop trail. 

 Sleepy babies.

One refuses to take a nap with the others. 

Looking at the duckling through a tiny opening in the branches.

 A closer look.

 Eye to eye. 

Nice reflections in the water.

Several older ducks were also spotted in the "duck pond".

The little duckling decides to stay with his siblings. Only four ducklings were spotted in this area. I don't know what happened to the other five but it sure is good to see these doing so well. While checking on the ducklings, I ran into  Nick , a photographer that visits the San Diego Botanical Garden frequently and he mentioned that there were lots of butterflies to shoot at the Garden. Butterflies are always fun to capture on beautiful flowers. Walking quickly back to the truck, I was soon on my way taking the scenic route to the San Diego Botanic Garden  with all the windows down enjoying the cool ocean breeze on a hot summer day.

Arriving at the Garden, I started my walk at the large lily pond. Several beautiful lily flowers were still in bloom and a small Lotus bud appeared ready to open soon. Here is a lily in full bloom.

Just looking at these flowers will lift your spirits. 

My first bird subject was a Western Scrub Jay foraging on the ground. 

Outstanding vibrant color on this artichoke flower catches my attention.

Beautiful summer flowers.

This Butterfly may have had a close encounter with a spider web. 

 A female Allen's Hummingbird looking a little tattered. Lots of birds are molting and looking quite ragged. 

Bright and sunny, these roses were glowing in the sunlight. 

Beautiful golden color soaking in the sunlight. 

One of my favorite flowers at the Garden that can be seen this time of the year.

Seed pod on the Silk Floss Tree has burst open and the ball of cotton like fuzz containing little seeds are now on display. 

A fascinating plant. 

 Wonderful colors.

 Pure joy to see.

 

Close up.

 A Brown-headed Cowbird lands and begs for food. 

It's surprising to find an adult Song Sparrow responding to the begging calls of the young cowbird. Brown-headed Cowbirds do not care for their own young.  Rather, the female lays her eggs in another bird's nest and thus often tricks the other species of bird into caring for her young.

 These are quite the favorite of hummingbirds.

 

Sure enough, one makes an appearance.

A female Allen's Hummingbird.

What a beauty. LOL, the feather markings on her belly makes her look as though she has four legs.

She is getting some new feathers on her wings.

There were lots of butterflies but hard to find one that stood still for photos. Here is one that landed and a pretty cluster of flowers.

Close-up. It was another fun visit to the Garden and now it's time to head for home. 

Have a super week everyone!