Statute of Liberty and East Lake Park

We decided to get out despite the cold.  Our first visit was East Lake Park in Birmingham which has a one mile loop around and is known for bird watching.  It definitely lived up to its reputation.

Great Blue Heron

American Coot

Black-crowned Night Heron

Opossum (with a night heron looking on)

Black-crowned Night Heron

Muscovy Duck - which from my internet search I understand is non-native and a domesticated species often found on farms and in parks

More Black-crowned Night Herons

Another Muscovy Duck

Great Blue Heron

Our next stop was ... the Statute of Liberty.  It was a bit less crowded than we expected.

It seemed to be a requirement that you drive a white car to visit.

As you may have guessed this is not actually the Statute of Liberty found in New York City but instead a replica one fifth the size of the original which used to sit on top of the Liberty National Insurance building downtown Birmingham.  It has since been moved to a park in the suburbs.

Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Vulcan Park

We took advantage of another beautiful day by visiting the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which offers free admission every day of the year, a plus during this time when neither of us are receiving a paycheck.

I have always enjoyed Japanese Gardens and so we spent a fair amount of time in their Japanese Gardens.

Yes the tree on the left has new leaves on it and the tree on the right is in full blossom (see next photo)!

A forest of bamboo!

The rest of the gardens included diverse plants and fountains and were equally as impressive.

These look like the start of daffodils to me!

Additionally, the botanical gardens have a conservatory which includes three greenhouses, one of which is a dessert, the two others more tropical.

On our way home, we happened to pass Vulcan Park and Kiwanis Centennial Park so we stopped to take in the views.