Around the yard in December

On April 15, 2026March 29, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The squirrels were getting frisky in the backyard in mid-December. Don’t they know it’s not mating season? Actually early December is the start of their winter mating season so I may be seeing some tiny ones soon. Just what we need, more squirrels digging up the backyard.

It was good to see that the neighborhood turkeys survived Thanksgiving as they cruised through our backyard. There is almost no turkey hunting in Pinellas county due to the density and urban nature of the area and there are no public hunting areas so these turkeys are generally safe in our neighborhood with the exception of being hit by a car.

A juvenile little blue heron looking for a snack (lizard) along the sidewalk to our front door.

I hate it when the grackles come to the feeder (which isn’t often) but they are pretty.

Black bellied whistling ducks in the rain. I was standing outside with a big golf umbrella watching them as they found a little puddle to drink from.

I was adding some red lights to the back along the roof when this guy fell down. I’m glad he didn’t land on me because neighbors from many streets over would have heard me scream. I know they are out there but he caught me by surprise.

Blooming in the front yard in December.

Brett and I took the long way around the neighborhood after dinner out to see some lights. We saw a lot of deer out feeding.

This is not a great video since it took Brett a while to stop and I was filming from the moving car but the coyote couple passed by us on the sidewalk. The green eyes glowing belongs to the black coyote that almost blends in. It was really cool to see them in the dark but they kept moving fast.

Sunrise on the beach

On April 13, 2026April 14, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sightsLeave a comment

I was up early at the end of December, headed to Fort Desoto Park in south St. Pete. I’m usually lucky having no other cars behind me before going into the park and I can stop on the bridge and take a quick shot of the sun coming up behind the Skyway bridge.

The sun was already up past the bridge when I got into the park (it opens at 7am so you can’t get there in the dark except during a short window of time before the time changes). My first stop was the East Beach turnaround but since the sun was to the far right I drove over to the East Beach picnic area.

I could see lots of barges out in the water. Looks like maybe they were dredging there.

High up in the sky were 2 guys on motorized paragliders. They must have had a fabulous view coming over the bridge.

I made my way over to the bay fishing pier. The end of the pier was still closed off due to damage from the hurricanes back in late 2024 and the pelicans were enjoying the space.

The pier bumpers where the ferry comes in at was full of fishing line. There was even a fish caught on it.

I finally made it out to North beach and it was super low tide.

A sailboat was stranded on the beach.

I came to the park to look for some rare birds that I was able to see but more on them later.

Watching the birds catch bait fish

On April 11, 2026April 14, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

On Christmas eve I made my usual trip down to south St. Pete to the Bay Pines National Cemetery to visit my parents. I didn’t stay long and it was such a beautiful day that I decided to swing by the beach on the way home to stop at one of my Dad’s favorite places, the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary.

This rescue, rehabilitate and release sanctuary sits right on Indian Shores Beach. They also house many permanently injured birds. It looks like it was feeding time.

A couple of quick videos of them feeding. It was funny to watch the white pelican stick his whole head in to get the fish. Then the snowy egrets said “Hey, I can do that too!”.

They were catching live bait fish in the tubs.

Pretty faces. Most of the pelicans are missing a wing or eye.

A wild night heron hangs out hoping for a free snack.

A shot of the view from the deck on the way to the beach.

A holiday sunset walk

On April 8, 2026April 9, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights6 Comments

We did not have family come into town for Christmas this year and the family that is local had gone out of town so after our late Christmas supper we headed over to the Dunedin marina for a sunset walk. It was a beautiful cool night and we were not alone. The marina area was packed although I was able to get the above pictures without anybody in them.

Going down behind the nearby dock. This dock was completely lost in the hurricane in 2024 and was just finished being rebuilt right before Christmas.

The marina with that pink and orange glow once the sun had gone down.

Early December walks

On April 6, 2026March 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Love locks on the Safety Harbor waterfront boardwalk. This trend that started in Paris has made it’s way here. The problem here is that too many locks weigh the wires down and cause them to bend and pull out of the wood so unfortunately they get cut off and thrown out periodically.

I stopped by Kapok Park in mid-December and almost missed the fall colors on the bald cypress trees. The small lake is surrounded by them and it’s pretty when the leaves change.

One of my favorite trees at this park is a large oak tree that was pulled up during a bad storm many years ago. The tree still thrives and has adapted it’s shape to grow along the ground.

I was out at the Dunedin marina on a foggy morning. Kingfishers are common here in the winter and this was my first sighting this season of one. He was hovering for a long time looking for fish to catch.

Another foggy morning I walked on the causeway. Above is the view from the top of the bridge.

An osprey was watching me.

On a sunny morning on the causeway I saw a fisherman trying to keep the birds away from his bait fish that he had just pulled up. I noticed the snowy egret (in the bottom shot) was missing a foot. He could still fly so he was getting around well.

Willets and dowitchers were feeding along the shoreline.

A herring gull with a tasty snack.

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, 2026April 10, 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, 2026April 10, 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.