Fun things under water

On May 4, 2026May 4, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animalsLeave a comment

I had such a clear view of the fish that I felt like I was snorkeling without getting wet. Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park has an underwater viewing bowl. It was heavily damaged during the hurricanes in 2024 and was just recently renovated and reopened. The glass was so clean and unscratched and the water here in the springs is also clear as I watched them swim close to the windows.

At one point the fish were parting and a wild manatee came right up to the window.

Up on the dock that is over the river, I could see people kayaking with the manatees. There are roped off areas where the manatees can escape to if there are too many people around. There are also volunteers in kayaks that make sure that everyone is respectful of the manatees.

One with an injured tail goes floating by the dock. The tail was probably hit by boat motors.

A Mom with her young one was also near the dock. The water in the springs stays warmer than out in the open water in the gulf so manatees come here in the winter to stay warm. The Wildlife Park also rehabs injured manatees until they are well enough to be released.

Is he trying to hide under that tiny leaf on his head???

Most of the animals here are injured or displaced wildlife. This beautiful piebald deer was found as a baby without a Mom and was raised here. She was looking up at me as I stood on the raised deck over the huge deer area. I found some information on piebald deer that you can read here. Less than 2% of white tail deer have this and most with extreme white fur don’t survive long. Hopefully she can live out a long life here.

A baby and some bathing.

On May 2, 2026May 1, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In early January I made my usual winter trip up to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park for a long walk. The pelicans here are all permanently injured birds that live here. They have a safe home and get fed and are not caged in. Many of them were already pairing up for nesting season.

Surprise! There was already a winter baby. The babies born here grow up with Mom and then can fly away free when they are old enough.

When this one was flapping you could see he was missing a wing.

Several of the white pelicans had permanently injured wings.

Splashing around in the small pond.

The pelicans looked like they were having fun bathing.

I saw many other birds and lots of manatees so more to come on this trip.

A foggy morning in the yard

On April 29, 2026April 15, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights6 Comments

I slept in a little late in early January and when I looked out the window I saw the fog. It was disappearing quickly so I ran out with my phone to get the above in the backyard. The sun was already up over the fairway but not quite over the trees.

Looking down the fairway, the fog was almost gone.

Then I ran out the front door and was walking over to the pond across the street when I noticed the sun coming through the fog and trees.

There was still enough fog along the water to cause a fogbow across the pond.

A January walk in Tarpon Springs

On April 27, 2026April 27, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In early January I was out for a walk at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs. I like walking here in the winter because I can walk along the water and the traffic to the beach is low since it’s too cold for most people to go to the beach. The tide was super low this morning. I could see the smaller Sunset Beach Park across the water.

This guy on a skateboard knew how to give his dogs a better walk with minimal effort.

Cormorants like to hang out on this small jetty on the causeway.

Pretty beach sunflowers on the beach.

Kayaks ready to go out. Maybe later.

Looking back when I’m almost back to my car.

I stopped by Craig Park on the way home and the Epiphany boats were still in the water. The city of Tarpon Springs celebrates the Epiphany in a big way here. You can read about my post when I attended the celebration in 2022 here.

Looking for some anis.

On April 25, 2026April 12, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I was watching the pelicans diving for fish in late December. I got to Fort Desoto Park right at sunrise and stopped at the beach before heading to the woods to look for some birds.

Two rare birds had been hanging out here for several weeks. The above is not one of them. Starlings are common here but he looked pretty shining in the sun.

A grooved-billed ani and a smooth-billed ani were hanging out together near the bay pier wooded area. I saw them both briefly but was only able to get shots of the smooth-billed one before they both took off over the trees. They aren’t very attractive but they are cool birds anyway. Both were not new birds. The only time I saw a grooved-bill was in 2011 and there was a smooth-billed one here back in 2017.

After seeing the anis I went for a walk on the beach to look for shorebirds.

Plovers were plentiful including the black bellied plover and piping plover above. The piping plover was missing his feet and I’ve seen him several times at the park so he must be doing okay.

Looking across the lagoon, reddish egrets were feeding when a fish jumped out and made a big splash. They were both like “Where did it go?”.

As I was leaving the park I saw something black flying across the road so I pulled over and realized it was the anis in the berry bushes. The smooth-billed one was out in the open and I though he was going to eat the berries but he was just fanning himself.

This was the only shot I got of them both (one in the top left and one in the far right bottom). The grooved-billed ani seemed really shy compared to the other one. They are still at the park, several months later.

I made a quick stop at Crescent Lake Park on the way home to see if the white pelicans were there. Only a handful were hiding in the shade under the big banyan tree.

The only winter ducks that had showed up so far were a few lesser scaup. I checked back here weeks later and there were tons of white pelicans so more on those later.

Dancing cranes on the bike trail

On April 22, 2026April 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I had another sighting of the elusive fox squirrel on the Pinellas County bike trail near Brooker Creek Preserve at the end of December. There were two but one stayed hidden high up in the tree.

I don’t see deer often on this trail so this was a treat to see her looking at me.

Three sandhill cranes walking along the trail.

A kildeer flies by.

This mockingbird had an overgrown beak. This was the first time I had seen this.

A pair of kestrels were in the cow pasture. One was on the utility wire and one took off from a dead snag right when I saw him.

On my way back to the car I saw the three sandhill cranes again. This time they were starting to dance around. They usually do this to flirt but there was three of them and they seemed to be agitated over something on the ground.

One kept picking up what looked like a hollow dead branch and danced around with it. Maybe it was two males trying to impress the female? They did this for quite a while then just stopped and started walking away. What a funny thing to watch.

Grazing near the trail. Is this a miniature horse or a pony?

Heading home I took a less traveled back road and slowed down when I saw a doe on the shoulder. She crossed right in front of me.

Lots of ladies in the park

On April 20, 2026April 4, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

The welcoming committee at Chesnut Park in early January. I was driving in and saw them and pulled over to take a few pictures before heading to the back of the park for a walk. They looked over at me for a second and then went on feeding.

“Get out of the road, Lady. I got a walk to do.”

Out on the dock a purple gallinule was looking for food in the spadderdock leaves.

Gingerbread (named by the regular walkers at the park) is a domesticated duck that was probably someone’s pet and was dumped in the park. She seemed to be doing okay for a while and rescuers were trying to get her so I’m not sure what her status is.

Birds in the bushes above are a red bellied woodpecker and a yellow-rumped warbler.

I found a ruby-crowned kinglet hopping around with the other birds. I don’t see these birds often. The last time I saw one was in 2015. What a cute tiny bird.

A red shoulder hawk looking back at me.

An anhinga posing (actually drying off her wings) on top of the shelter roof.

A lady watching me from the dry swamp. She was so close I took this with my phone.

Lots of ladies as I was pulling out of my parking spot. No males around this morning.

A morning of usual critters

On April 18, 2026April 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I was at Roosevelt Wetlands in late December hoping to find some great winter ducks but only the usuals were there. Above a pied grebe was watching me take his picture.

Ring-necked ducks are usually here during the winter.

And coots are easy to find in the winter.

A year round bird but not that common is a Cooper’s Hawk. He was hiding in the shadows.

Eastern phoebes and savannah sparrows are plentiful here in the winter.

Boring ole mallards were trying to sleep on the main trail.

Since things were slow at the wetlands I left early and stopped at Philippe Park on the way home. The great horned owls nest here in the winter. Dad was sitting high up in the tree and was easy to find.

Mom was still sitting on the nest. They sat on the nest for a month and abandoned it twice this winter. Something wasn’t working for them. Maybe the eggs weren’t hatching? Everyone thought they would have left the park by now for the season but I’ve recently heard that she’s back nesting on a different tree in the same park. Maybe third time’s a charm?

It was low tide along the sea wall and ibis and a few laughing gulls were feeding in the muck.

Around the yard in December

On April 15, 2026March 29, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 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.