Cutest fuzzballs ever!

On May 28, 2013May 28, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography20 Comments

Mom keeping an eye on everyone.

The gray one on the left was born only 18 hours earlier. The beige ones were born the day before.

Snuggling together.

“You guys make good pillows.”

The youngest one is ready for a nap.

“What am I suppose to do with these big feet?”

“Is there a bug on my neck?”

Parting butt shot.

A shot of the nest with my phone.

I hadn’t planned on stopping by Lake Morton. I was on my way to Circle B Bar Reserve which is only 10 minutes away. It was drizzling on the way to Lakeland and I was thinking I didn’t want to get out on the trails and it start to rain. As I got closer to Lakeland I decided to stop by Lake Morton first and then see how the weather holds up an hour later. I got to the little lake around 8am. I was driving around looking for a good spot to park when I saw a group of people hanging around a swan nest. I thought “There must be babies there.” I parked and walked over and there they were. Three of the cutest fuzz balls ever. Not even 2 days old. The park was taking the babies and raising them offsite due to the thefts of eggs and babies last year so these little ones were probably going to be gone by that afternoon. I was lucky to spend an hour watching them move around. They did not leave the nest while I was there. Both parents were close by. There is also a camera high up in a tree keeping an eye on the nest as well so everyone was on their best behavior. Many people stopped by for a few minutes to get a look at them. How could they not melt your heart?

The sun started to peak out after an hour so I left and headed to the reserve.

Too see more amazing swan family pictures, check out Kim’s blog. She lives near the lake and has caught many wonderful moments of the babies with their parents.

Check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

A few more from spring migration

On May 20, 2013May 21, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography31 Comments

I was told this is a Tennessee Warbler. It looks like it from my Stokes Birding Guide.

If so, it’s a lifer for me.

White eyed vireo singing in the morning.

He was chirping away.

This was my last indigo bunting sighting of the season. These were taken in mid-April.

I saw this guy for a flash of a second so this was all I got. It was the only time I saw a hummingbird at the feeder during all of those trips to the park this spring.

Swallowtail on the flowers.

This guy was jumping around while we were trying to take pictures of the bunting.

This has been a long drawn out migration season. Last spring there were tons of birds in two weekends and then nothing. This spring it’s been a small handful of birds each weekend starting at the end of March and fizzling out near the end of April. I saw a few new birds this spring and met a ton of new people. It’s amazing the bird traffic at Fort Desoto. People come from all over the country during April for a “bird vacation”. Most of the travelers I spoke with were hitting parks all around Florida. At least at Fort Desoto, when you walk out of the woods, you’re on the beach and your “bird vacation” can become a few hours of a “beach vacation”.

Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday Our World Tuesday Graphic

Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

Hanging with a crabby curlew

On May 15, 2013April 22, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography11 Comments

I was standing on the beach taking pictures of a ruddy turnstone when the long-billed curlew flew right in front of me.

I never get this lucky. He was looking at me like “I’m ready for my photo shoot.”

He already had sand all the way up his beak so he’s been feeding.

I sat down on the sand and watched him dig.

Success. A little sandy crab came out of the hole.

After swallowing that one, he continued to dig.

This one he flipped up in the air like popcorn shrimp.

Still digging. What a pig!

He seemed to want to show me this one up close. He started walking toward me with it in his beak.

He flipped it up to swallow it. After this crab, he started wandering off down the beach so I left him to his feeding.

This ruddy turnstone wanted to get in on the crab action as well. He walked right in front of me showing off his prize.

Another Saturday morning on Fort Desoto beach.

Baby crane is growing up

On May 14, 2013May 14, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography17 Comments

It was weird to see the family casually walking down the trail together. Just like a normal family out for a morning walk.

After strolling a short distance, they stopped and started looking for bugs.

Junior was finding bugs on his own but still getting bugs from the parents.

Strolling across the trail, he looks so grown up.

They started cruising down the trail again. I had to keep getting up and running farther back so I could fit them in with my zoom lens. All of a sudden, Junior started to run and flap.

He was practicing his take offs.

It was funny to watch him do his little burst of practice flying. He did it twice while walking down the trail.

A few seconds later, it was back to finding bugs.

And getting bugs from Mom.

They started strolling down the trail again so I got up and walked around the rest of the park.

Usually I get to Circle B Bar Reserve and think it’s going to take me all morning to find something specific I’m looking for or not at all. I got lucky on this morning. As soon as I walked out of the parking lot and a little ways down the trail I saw them walking towards me. This sandhill crane family only had one baby. I’m not sure if this is the family that started with two and lost one. I had also heard another couple only had one baby so this could be that family as well. I didn’t see another family with two that day but they could be somewhere else in the park. It was such a treat to spend a half hour sitting on the trail and watching this family go about their daily lives. Junior got really excited when he started flapping. By now he’s probably flying. It would be a great thing to see him getting that first lift off but my time getting out there is limited to Saturday mornings so I’m sure I’ll miss it. Maybe one day I can see a sandhill crane taking his first flight.

Check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

My first sora rail

On May 8, 2013April 12, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

As I walked around the small lake, I saw nothing unusual. A cormorant swimming by.

A female anhinga posed for me with her funny face. Anhingas are common at this lake. They sit on the boardwalk rail and don’t even move when someone jogs by.

The grackle was picking the fuzz off of the cattails.

It was getting late, I had about half an hour before I lost the light. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t see the Sora rail that had been spotted here a week earlier. I was on the last section of the lake when I saw something moving in the reeds along the edge.

I found him! My first sora rail. Soras aren’t that rare here but I keep missing them at the parks in the area. I finally found one and was able to get a shot. It was after 7pm at this point so I snapped a couple of pictures and then headed back to my car.

He was busy feeding. There were two soras there but they stayed pretty far apart. They camouflage into the reeds pretty well so I was excited that I found him. This park is only 5 minutes from my office. There usually isn’t too much to see because there are so many joggers and dog walkers after work but it’s a nice way to spend an hour and wait for traffic to ease up.

Of course, I had to take a picture of the local pond gator. He was a tiny one.

Last shot before getting in my car and heading home.

Birds of prey at Fort Desoto – Skywatch Friday

On May 2, 2013April 10, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography13 Comments

I was in the woods looking for little yellow birds and looked up and saw this kestrel watching me.

Walking down the east beach trail, I interrupted this osprey eating his breakfast.

I said “Relax, I’m not going to steal your stinky fish.”

He still yelled at me. I don’t know why he picked a low branch on a busy trail during a busy spring migration weekend.

He took off and flew around in a circle with his half eaten fish and landed on a higher up branch.

Later that morning I was standing at the north beach roped area and was talking to some other photogs about the shorebirds all flying off and someone yelled “Look over your heads.” Duh, the shorebirds had flushed because the above juvenile bald eagle had just circled the area.

Upclose. We think this is the new baby that was born earlier this year at the park. The eagles nest high up in a utility tower in the park. He circled around the roped off area a few times and then flew over the trees and was gone. I guess he figured those shorebirds were harder to get than he originally thought.

Just a few birds I saw on my morning walk at Fort Desoto in early April.

Check out more sky pictures at

And then there were 3

On May 1, 2013April 23, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

“Stop tickling me.” “Don’t move, I’m picking the bugs off you.”

“Hey, big sis, what is that lady doing?”

“Don’t look, I gotta pee.”

“What is that big silver thing flying up there? That is one big bird.”

“I need a stretch and a yawn.”

” I need to climb over this branch.”

“Who put this branch here?”

“Almost!”

“Bye, bye, lady.”

It was a sad sight when I got the spoonbill nest at the Lowry Park Zoo. There were only 3 babies and last weekend there were 4. I knew it was going to be tough with 4 babies growing up on that small nest. One step too far and it’s into the gator exhibit for a little baby bird. At least the remaining three seemed to be doing well. They are growing up so fast. A week after I took these I had a friend who stopped by and the three were still there. It’s still going to be risky as they start flapping their wings and branching out. They still have a long way to go. The babies are so cute though. I’m going to try to get back there at least once more before they fly the coup.