Emerging from penultimate instar under Passiflora edulis arch
Seminole State Forest, Lake County, FL, May 2024. Tarflower Chapter FNPS field trip.
I was taking photos of dragonflies on these mats of algae when I realized this brown thing was not an algae, but an alligator. My first!
The last three photos demonstrate what it looked like swimming in the water, coming out and starting to shake off the water as these birds are similar to cormorants in that their wings are not waterproof. What an unusual looking bird!