As I prepared to leave Lake Morton on Sunday, I stopped to photograph a Limpkin standing tall by the lakeside. I approached cautiously, tucking myself behind a tree so as not to surprise him. When I emerged on my knees to photograph him at eye-level, I was the one who got the surprise. He had five little Limpkin chicks with him!

They were a little older than the chicks that rode the Circle B Water Slide last year, but still young enough to be fuzzy. They stood around poking their noses in the grass together. At one point they did an adorable nose-to-nose moment. Then something spooked them, and they ducked quickly under nearby grasses.

My best shot was of this chick, who I caught open-mouthed as he tried to catch a bug. Look at him stick his tongue out!