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.

A type of gazelle in the elephant area.

That was one big fat lazy gator. I’m sure he’s popular with kids.

The mallard thought this manatee was just a big floating pillow.

Watching a manatee and mallard eat their breakfast.

The zoo was decorated for the holidays. This certainly said “Florida Christmas”.

The big critters were out playing.

I think I could fall asleep watching these giant tortoises eat their breakfast. It must take them all day.

A cold morning at Morningside Nature Preserve

On March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta5 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta before Christmas we had a few hours to kill before meeting up with my sister and her husband so we went back to a preserve that we had found during our trip last year. Morningside Nature Preserve is located in an older intown neighborhood and backs up to a busy street.

This creek area is known as Atlanta’s “dog beach” but it doesn’t look like much in the winter. Dogs are allowed off-leash here and in the summer it’s a busy place.

We walked after lunch and it was a balmy 38 degrees but there were shallow spots along the edge of the creek that were in the shade and still frozen as well as frost on the leaves on the ground.

The leaves weren’t as pretty as last year’s visit but we still managed to find a little bit of fall color along the trail.

I could see a hawk high up in the tree.

The sun was on the other side of the trees as we climbed back up the stairs to get to our car.

The holly bushes in the parking lot were full of red berries. It made the lot look like it was decorated for the holidays.

A cold pre-Christmas trip to Atlanta

On March 9, 2026March 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta1 Comment

Brett and I headed up to Atlanta the week before Christmas week. It was going to be much colder (high of 40 and lows in the teens) than last year’s visit but we brought plenty of warm clothes. My sister and her husband came over for a night and we spent a morning at Stone Mountain Park. I had not been to the park since 2011. It was really cold so there wasn’t a lot of people here (and it was a weekday).

One of the attractions here is the carving into the mountain stone of several Confederate figures as well as the big beautiful wooded park. You can read more about the carving here. There’s a lot of controversy over the carving and the history that the park represents. There are groups that are trying to change that but it’s been a slow process. You can read about it here.

My sister and I posing on the lawn. Many years ago when I lived in Atlanta I climbed the mountain several times. There’s a winding path up one side of the mountain to walk up.

There’s a small (tourist) village in the park that was all decorated for Christmas. Even the dinosaurs were decked out in holiday scarves. Since it was a cold weekday the village was closed but it was nice to walk around in the quiet.

It’s beautiful here in the park, right outside of the city. There’s hiking trails and a big lake for swimming in the summer. After lunch nearby, Debbie and her husband were on their way back to Birmingham.

After lunch Brett and I went out looking for some new parks to walk around for the afternoon. We found an old one that we had never been to. Just off a busy road in Atlanta, the Blue Heron Nature Preserve was a small pretty park with Nancy Creek running through it.

We were working our way towards downtown to try a new pizza place but still had an hour to kill so we found another “new to us” park on the way. The Reservoir Overlook at the Bellwood Quarry was a small park but we were able to walk around for a while and got a view of downtown right before sunset.

We spent 4 days hiking around in the cold weather so more to come.

Critters on my November walks

On March 7, 2026March 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In early November I was out walking along the Safety Harbor waterfront. The fishing pier that was destroyed by the hurricanes (in late 2024) was getting close to being finished. On this morning they still had to put the rails up and finish the end but the birds were enjoying the pilings.

This anhinga was trying to chill on the boardwalk so I took a quick video from far away and left.

Another morning I was out at Philippe Park, climbing the stairs. Those rock piles in the top picture (just above the railing) are man-made oyster beds that were installed to help the oysters grow here and help with erosion. Oysters are natural water filters and will help keep the water in the top of the bay clean.

I’m finding these little shells all over the place.

Another morning I was out on the Dunedin causeway and stopped to watch the shorebirds flying back and forth. It looks like these are sanderlings.

I was able to catch some of them landing. These are mostly ruddy turnstones and short billed dowitchers.

Another morning and I’m out at the Dunedin marina. I walked north towards the Weaver Park fishing pier. The pier is still closed due to damage from the hurricanes (the end was torn off). It is slated to be rebuilt in 2027.

Walking back to my car I could see an immature eagle (he still had a lot of brown on his head). He was chasing an osprey with a fish. I was wishing I had my camera.

The eagle and osprey went behind some trees and somehow the fish was taken from the osprey. The eagle landed in a nearby tree and was trying to eat his prize.

Both the osprey and crows were diving at the eagle. It’s not like either or going to get that fish from the eagle. The eagle moved farther into the tree and started to eat.

My last view of the eagle before heading back to my car. I don’t see this often.