The first time I went to the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Gardens a couple of days ago was just at closing time. So I went back today. That was a really good thing.

I saw many more birds and wildlife today. Everything from the common to the unusual.

The most common bird in the world is the domesticated chicken. Here they are feral, and you see them everywhere in Key West from the streets to the Botanical Gardens:

A Rooster in the Botanical Gardens

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Rather more exotic is the unusual looking Muscovy Duck, a tropical bird that is seldom seen north of Mexico. I found this one in a pond at the Botanical Gardens:

A Muscovy Duck

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Even more exotic is this heron. Although it is almost pure white, it is a Great Blue Heron.

A White Morph Great Blue Heron, Sometimes Called a Great White Heron

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This Heron and an Anhinga shared a rock along the edge of this lake for a while. The word “anhinga” comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird, which is what its neck looks like.

An Anhinga

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The Anhinga Dries its Wings

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At the Botanical Gardens pond I saw several Red Slider Turtles, including this little one:

A Red Slider Turtle

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Finally, in the Key West Tropical Forest I came across this little Anole Lizard. While I’m not sure exactly what type of Anole this is — at least 372 species of them are known to exist — I couldn’t miss this one when it inflated its dewlap:

An Anole Lizard Inflates its Dewlap

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Sometimes it makes sense to retrace our steps.