Mosquito Lagoon

Alligator stalks spoonbill.
Alligator with what may have been a turtle in its mouth.
View across Mosquito Lagoon towards Pads 39B (left) and 39A (right).
I saw many hundreds of birds such as these in Mosquito Lagoon.

I spent several hours driving slowly along a narrow road through the wetlands bounding Mosquito Lagoon, stopping frequently to admire the profusion of wildlife. This included many alligators. With some delight I watched as one 2 metre alligator stalked a wading bird, but this bird was too smart to get caught. Another sun basking alligator lunged into the water and came up with what at first appeared to be a football sized rock in its mouth. It tossed it up several times to get a better purchase on it. I guess the prey was a turtle, although I could see neither head nor legs. Perhaps they were retracted defensively.

In some places dragonflies were legion.

There were legions of water birds and dragon flies. I used my macro lens for the first time on this trip to take photos of the dragon flies.

A final look across the waters of Mosquito lagoon, with its lurking alligator, to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

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