Lettuce Lake Park, Tampa

[hunter58]

On 10/22/12 I visited Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa Florida. I was there for about two and half hours and mainly walked the boardwalk. This is a great location for birding and nature photography. If you are in the Tampa Bay Area this is a must visit.

In my short time there I saw:

Pied-billed Grebes
Black-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Herons
Little Blue Herons
Great Egrets
Wood Storks
Pileated Woodpeckers
Eastern Phoebe
White Ibis
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Limpkins
Common Gallinules
Alligators
Banded Water Snake
lots of plants, butterflies and a few squirrels

Here is a link to the park information
www.hillsboroughcounty.org/Facilities.aspx?page=detail&RID=437

And some shots of the lake

[flphotographer]

This is a great park. Especially given it is right in Tampa. Only negative I can say is it was sad to see the amount of trash looking over the boardwalk. In fact, a couple standing maybe 20 yards from me threw their beer can at a small gator as I watched. Notified the park about them but the couple left before caught. The employees at the park were very friendly and helpful though.

[hunter58]

Jan 9, 2013 15:10:23 GMT -5 flphotographer said:

This is a great park. Especially given it is right in Tampa. Only negative I can say is it was sad to see the amount of trash looking over the boardwalk. In fact, a couple standing maybe 20 yards from me threw their beer can at a small gator as I watched. Notified the park about them but the couple left before caught. The employees at the park were very friendly and helpful though.

I did notice some litter as well, more near the shelters. We don't need idiots doing things like that. I'm glad you said something but I wish they were confronted.

[Ira Runyan]

Lettuce Lake Park opened in 1982 and is a 240-acre site. Of interest to photographers is that Lettuce Lake is also a haven to study nature. An interpretive center, featuring exhibits, leads to a 3,500-foot boardwalk and an observation tower where visitors can view an extensive variety of wildlife. More than 300 species of plants have been identified in the park. An extensive variety of wildlife can also be observed from the trails and boardwalk.

More information on Lettuce Lake Park in Tampa with a map of the park is available in a PDF file as follows......

Welcome to Lettuce Lake Park