Largemouth Bass Courtship

These two were kanoodlin' in a small retention pond at the track meet last week.

The track facility is built adjacent to (probably partially on) a cypress wetland in the city of Orlando. It was a moderate walk from the parking area to the actual track, so I had my eye open for life along the way.



As I strolled toward the track and field events, a small retention pond caught my eye and I crossed the asphalt to check it out. I really was expecting to see tilapia or some other exotic, but instead, I was treated to a pair of our native largemouths doing the spring thing.


That was a nice surprise ... as was the sight of a woodstork in a large drainage ditch next to the track and field.

I could also hear a few sandhill cranes just beyond the cypress trees that bordered the field ... all of this was giving me a case of TADD, but the MOST distracting sound at the track was ...



... a pair of ospreys nesting in the stadium lights. There was a constant chatter from the nest all day long.

It made it hard to concentrate on the track events ... unless it was a Junior event of course.

These two largemouth bass and their hoped for progeny will need to be alert.


Their shallow clear pond is an Osprey's dream.