Critters and blooms in late November

On April 4, 2026March 17, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

By mid-November the wintering birds were paying regular visits to the feeders including the pine warbler (top shot) and the palm warbler (bottom shot).

A Tufted titmouse with a snack.

Bluebirds were still coming for the dried worms and the birdbath.

Squirrels being cute in the backyard. I think that first one was eating a mushroom.

Thanksgiving weekend I put up some red lights along with the bistro lights in the backyard and a house finch was checking them out. He posed for me while I took the above through the window.

The leopard plants that we planted in the back in early July were blooming. These were the last of the blooms. The squirrels ate most of them.

The camelia bush in the front was covered with blooms.

A few poinsettia plants near the front door.

The Christmas cactus was already blooming.

Hiking through some Atlanta history

On April 1, 2026April 1, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta4 Comments

Some people shop and visit tourist attractions when they visit Atlanta but since Brett and I lived in here for many years, we’d rather spend the time outdoors. Especially when it’s cold out since we have such a short winter back home. We found 2 more new parks to walk while we were in here in December. The Dunwoody Nature Center is a small park and we walked this quickly. Even though it was close to were I worked when I lived in Atlanta I never made it here. It was pretty with a creek running through it but tiny so we found another park after this one.

Nearby Morgan Falls Overlook Park has a lot of history. It was a big park and we walked for a while. I’m sure it’s beautiful here in the fall when the leaves are starting to turn.

The Power family lived here in the 1830’s and built their log cabin here and farmed this land. The brother ran a ferry business along the Chattahoochee River (hence the name Power’s Ferry Road). In 1902 the land was deeded to the Atlanta Water and Electric Company. You can read about the Power family and more of the history of this park here.

We walked down the path along the water and the clouds were moving in.

We stumbled on this cool dam in the park. This dam was built in 1904 and still generates power today. The overlook park was opened in 2010. You can read more about the dam here.

All of the parks we visited on this trip were free to visit and park which was a bonus. So many nice places to hike when we visit.

It was drizzling the morning we were driving back to Tampa. Looking out the side window I could see the tall buildings in Buckhead.

One last look at the city as we drove through.

A new park near Atlanta

On March 30, 2026March 30, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, Vacation2 Comments

Brett and I found a new park while we were in Atlanta in December. The Vickory Creek Park is in Roswell and the old Roswell Mill ruins are along the creek.

There are over 5 miles of hiking trails and while I’m sure it’s prettier in the summer when the leaves are on the trees I was glad we could see all around including the old textile mill in the bottom shot above.

Walking the higher trail, we could see the waterfall far down below.

We made our way to the other side and came upon parts of the old mill. Roswell Mill was built in the 1830’s and the dam and waterfall were used to power the booming textile business here. During the Civil War Union soldiers burned most of it down and the mill was rebuilt in the 1870’s.

On this side of the creek you can get much closer to the waterfall and it was loud.

Parts of the machinery still stand along the trail.

This was a fun morning and after lunch we were able to hit another cool park so more on that later.

Fighting bucks

On March 28, 2026March 12, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

I have only gotten a few fleeting glimpses of this big guy at Chesnut Park recently. I was there early one morning in early December and saw him running through the woods off the back boardwalk.

I came off the boardwalk and was on the dirt trail when I heard a commotion in the woods. I went in a little ways and hid behind a tree and caught him and a slightly younger buck going at it. I couldn’t get any closer (not that I would have wanted to) so all I got are a few blurry shots of them locking antlers. They fought for just a minute and then the younger buck ran off and the older one went deeper into the woods.

A lady standing in front of the boardwalk.

The usual birds were a titmouse and a chickadee.

Spatterdock in the lake.

This cute pied grebe would flap her wings when coming up after a dive to get the excess water off.

I passed another lady on the trail.

This guy was not shy. I think this is the one fighting the bigger buck.

We were still in drought mode and the swamp was dry and full of the dead cypress leaves.

Flying up high and swimming underneath

On March 25, 2026March 27, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

A few days before Christmas Brett and I went for a long walk along the water at the St. Pete Pier. As we drove into the parking lot I noticed the orchid trees were still blooming (although they were past the peak). I got out of the car and saw a flock of nanday parakeets flying into the tree right in front of our car. It was another one of those “I wish I had my camera” moments. Even though the parakeets blend into the leaves they were easy to spot because they were so LOUD.

The tide is usually super low in the winter.

We passed a party going on in the street. There was a DJ and they were playing music. They were dressed so colorfully and looked like they were having fun.

The entrance to the pier was decorated for the holidays.

We saw a lot of dolphins this morning.

These guys were cast netting for mullet. It’s hard to catch mullet with a fishing pole so most people use the nets. There were several boats along the pier pulling up the fish and the ones who had just arrived had the empty boats. The “mullet run” season runs September through November but they must have still been swimming around by the thousands in late December. I’m assuming there was going to be a lot of local restaurants with smoked mullet on the menu after this morning.

The dolphins were also doing some fishing in the same spot.

Climbing up the stairs of the pier to the top level, I could see Tampa far behind the sailing class.

Looking towards St. Pete.

On our walk back to the car I could hear more parakeets screaming as they fly by me under the sun.

They flew into a nearby palm tree and hung around for a few minutes before taking off again. These parakeets are wild here but not native to Florida. They were brought here from central America and have been growing in population since the 60’s.

Fall and spring at the same time

On March 23, 2026March 23, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants2 Comments

Thanksgiving weekend was a perfect time to go for a walk in my neighborhood. It had finally cooled off and the leaves were turning those fun fall colors.

There was still a lot of things blooming in the ground and bushes along the utility field and it looked like spring in some spots.

The yellow flowers had turned to seed pods.

The invasive brazilian peppertree bushes were covered in berries. I can usually find a few bugs on them including what I think are leaf footed bugs above.

I could hear a peeping noise deep in the reeds and keep looking for what was making that noise. Finally a sedge wren popped out. I don’t see them often.

Plants along my walk.

All of the usual winter critters

On March 21, 2026March 20, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I wasn’t expecting to find anything new at the Largo Nature Preserve in early December. I did find some usual wintering birds including a blue-gray gnatcatcher and a yellow rumped warbler.

Yellow crowned night herons hang out along the boardwalk that circles the small lake. Years ago they nested here but I haven’t seen any nests in a long time.

A female blue winged teal is common here in the winter.

Northern shovelers are occasionally seen here in the winter. There were several males and females on this morning.

A pied grebe was running away.

I found some tiny critters trying to hide on the leaves.

The bald cypress trees were starting to show their fall colors.

A sunny start to December

On March 18, 2026March 20, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In early December Brett and I were back at Davis Islands for another afternoon walk. We were soaking up the cooler sunny weather.

It was a busy sailboat day and we sat for a while watching the boats go in and out of the yacht basin.

We found the perfect bench to sit and look for birds and dolphins.

This male grackle was showing off his pretty colors in the sun.

We also had a nice view of downtown Tampa from our bench.

Foggy season has started

On March 16, 2026March 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was late November and foggy season had arrived. I love cool foggy morning walks so I headed to the Dunedin causeway. As I drove up this crow posed in front of my car. The fog wasn’t super thick but it was just enough to cast that weird winter spell.

The sun tried to peek through a few times as I walked over the bridge.

White pelicans were flying over my head. I really had wished I had my camera.

The tide was low and I could see the coral under the bridge.

The fog didn’t let up through my entire walk.

An osprey takes off after landing for a few minutes in the low tide.

A lone roseate spoonbill was feeding along the sea wall under the bridge. Even in the fog his bright pink feathers popped out.

An osprey eating a fish on the drawbridge gate. It would have been funny to see the gate start to go down while the osprey was on it but at least he got to eat his meal in peace. Not many tall boats out this morning.

Fun morning at the zoo

On March 14, 2026March 14, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

In early December Brett and I made another trip to the zoo. The weather was too nice to be indoors and we had so much fun on our last trip. The gibbons are always a hit at the zoo and the young one was having fun swinging while the parents watched from the ground.

A quick video of the penguins swimming right in front of us.

Brett had never taken the buggy ride and since we were there early we hopped right on. The Marabou storks were walking around and kept stopping in front of the buggy so we were stuck there for a few minutes.