This spring, I got to travel to North Carolina and various places around Florida. Naturally, I took lots of photos. Over the next few weeks, I plan on publishing several posts (either here or over on Happier.Place) dedicated to specific locations, e.g., Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Pinkster Flower (North Carolina)
Pinkster Flower (North Carolina)

But for now, here is a collection of photos featuring spring blooms and baby birds, or teen birds, if you will. Officially, spring isn’t over – but in Florida it already feels like summer and “they grow up so fast”. So I don’t really expect to take any more photos of springtime wildflowers or baby birds. Except that I’m hoping to still get everything aligned just right to get better photos of younger pelican chicks (vs. the tweens I’m featuring in this post).

Because nature doesn’t always stick to the “calendar season,” I’m also including a photo of almond blossoms that I took during a trip to Germany in early March, officially still winter.

For more photos and to purchase prints (or photo-adorned items), please visit the Spring Blooms and Chicks gallery on the LuciWest photography site.

Moorhen chicks looking for their parents (Largo, Florida)
Moorhen chicks looking for their parents (Largo, Florida)
Moorhen speeding across the lake to the chicks
Moorhen speeding across the lake to the chicks
Moorhen catch-up and feeding time
Moorhen catch-up and feeding time
Azure Bluet aka Quaker Ladies (North Carolina)
Azure Bluet aka Quaker Ladies (North Carolina)
Mountain Laurel aka Spoonbush getting ready to open (North Carolina)
Mountain Laurel aka Spoonbush getting ready to open (North Carolina)
Not the blossoms, but the very poisonous seeds of the Rosary Pea (aka Jequirity Bean) found in spring (Honeymoon Island, Florida)
Not the blossoms, but the very poisonous seeds of the Rosary Pea (aka Jequirity Bean) found in spring (Honeymoon Island, Florida)
Red Silk Cottontree (that huge, super cool tree in front of the Fine Art Museum in St. Pete, Florida)
Red Silk Cottontree (that huge, super cool tree in front of the Fine Art Museum in St. Pete, Florida)
Weeping Bottlebrush (Largo, Florida)
Weeping Bottlebrush (Largo, Florida)
Great Horned Owl Chick (Honeymoon Island, Florida)
Great Horned Owl Chick (Honeymoon Island, Florida)
Stop looking at me!!! (same owl, a week or so younger)
Stop looking at me!!! (same owl, a week or so younger)
Flowering Dogwood (North Carolina)
Flowering Dogwood (North Carolina)
Limpkin aka Cry Bird eating Apple Snail (Gainesville, Florida)
Limpkin aka Cry Bird eating Apple Snail (Gainesville, Florida)
Mmmm snail innards! Limpkin parent feeding its chick an Apple Snail
Mmmm snail innards! Limpkin parent feeding its chick an Apple Snail
Two Limpkin aka Crying Bird chicks are, of course, Cry Babies
Two Limpkin aka Crying Bird chicks are, of course, Cry Babies
Let's just call it as we see it: the Yoda Plant (North Carolina)
Let’s just call it as we see it: the Yoda Plant (North Carolina)
Whitetop Sedge aka Starrush Whitetop (Paynes Prairie, Florida)
Whitetop Sedge aka Starrush Whitetop (Paynes Prairie, Florida)
Bee on a Spiderwort (Gainesville, Florida)
Bee on a Spiderwort (Gainesville, Florida)
They grow up so fast! Bald Eagle and scruffy-looking chick (Florida)
They grow up so fast! Bald Eagle and scruffy-looking chick (Florida)
Pink almond blossom in Haselau (Germany)
Pink almond blossom in Haselau (Germany)
Water Hyacinth taking over a lake (Largo, Florida)
Water Hyacinth taking over a lake (Largo, Florida)
Put a bird on it: Great White Egret landing in field of Water Hyacinths
Put a bird on it: Great White Egret landing in field of Water Hyacinths
Water Hyacinth - so pretty, but so invasive in Florida.
Water Hyacinth – so pretty, but so invasive in Florida.
Powderpuff Mimosa (Gainesville, Florida)
Powderpuff Mimosa (Gainesville, Florida)
Baby pelicans in a tree! (Belleair Beach, Florida)
Baby pelicans in a tree! (Belleair Beach, Florida)

Actually, these aren’t little babies anymore, which have even shorter beaks and fluffier white feathers. But the waterproof camera gave out before I could get to the other side of the island with the younger chicks. And since then the pump for my paddle board broke. Hoping new pump arrives and camera works better before they are all grown. Might just add more photos to this post if I get them.

If you want to see even more spring flower and bird photos, you can find those in the Spring Blooms and Chicks album on Flickr.

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