Archive for the ‘Wildlife’ Category
Tracking swans around Lakeland
Look for clues for elegant swans in and around the Central Florida city of Lakeland
Admission: Free
The swan motif you see around Lakeland commemorates the city’s long history of swans drifting across its lakes; the original pair lived on Lake Bonny in 1926. In 1954 the queen of England presented two mute swans to Lakeland, descendants of a pair presented from Queen Beatrice to Richard the Lion-Hearted during the Crusades. You’ll see several generations of swans gliding across Lake Morton, as well as elegant swan sculptures that were a part of “Swansation,” a project encompassing 62 unique works of art scattered around the region.
To find the Swansation statues, walk around downtown Lakeland. Several are in front of office buildings in the city center, and others are found near Lake Morton. Don’s miss the swans themselves; you can walk around the lake on a shaded sidewalk.
