A baby and a common loon.

On August 31, 2016August 15, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Lots of flirting still going on at the least tern nesting site on the beach. The males bring their girlfriends a fish instead of roses. There was only one baby but many adults still sitting on eggs. This is a tough area that they picked to nest in. Lots of crows and crabs trying to get to the babies and the eggs. That’s why it’s important the parents don’t get scared away. The area is roped off so people don’t go walking through there. The babies and eggs blend in so well, if someone was walking through with chairs, towels, coolers, etc, they would not see them.

A ghost crab heading into the roped off area.

A snowy egret was creeping along the shoreline.

I saw a rare common loon swimming out in the gulf. I thought he should still be up north until fall. We usually don’t see these guys until late October.

Stuff at Fort Desoto in late July.

Things in my yard and neighborhood

On August 29, 2016August 30, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I went for an after dinner walk and found this duck family in the pond near my house. I’ve been seeing this pretty creme mallard for a while now. I saw the family recently and the babies were getting big. Sadly, there were only 4 left.

Frog on our downspout after a storm.

Saw this lizard next to our dock. This is the first one I’ve seen with a rust head. Can they really blend in that well?

Here’s the same creme mallard back in May. She was floating around behind our dock.

Curious blue jay.

Hibiscus poking through the fence.

I took this through the kitchen window.

Taken through the bedroom window, the juvenile night heron was creeping around our neighbor’s dock.

Our neighbor a few houses down has an almost dead palm tree in their backyard. I came home from work and saw the tree full of crows eating the berries (or are these nuts?). Taken directly into the sun.

A few crows waiting their turn to get on the palm tree.

Something spooked them and they all flew off in a hurry. At this point it was almost dark.

Things in my neighborhood this past summer.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing Life Thru the Lens Weekly Link-up | Lisa Kerner | Simply Living Photography

More baby skimmer shots

On August 27, 2016August 27, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

More pictures from my visit to the skimmers on St. Petersburg beach this summer. These little babies have so much personality. They are very brave, trying to take on the world. Then they grow up and spend the day sleeping on the beach.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters

Tiny flying things at Lettuce Lake Park

On August 22, 2016August 23, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Prothonotary warblers nest at this park so you can usually find a few around the boardwalk.

Creepy wasp nest.

Butterflies and a dragonfly along the boardwalk.

A very young bird. I think this is a blue gray gnatcatcher. I’ve heard they nest near the nature center here.

A titmouse being cute as usual.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

Stuff in the swamp

On August 21, 2016August 22, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

Saw this gator chomping on a fish.

Pretty green lizards.

Another reason to stay away from the squirrels. The bottom pictures shows a big sore near his back. This is a botfly bite. I won’t gross you out with the details. It doesn’t kill the squirrels but is probably just very itchy and annoying. Eventually it should heal. I see these sores a lot on the squirrels in the summer.

A fancy lunch left over by the limpkins.

I think this is some type of cicada. He was making a lot of noise for such a tiny bug.

Pretty in the swamp.

All from a July walk at Lettuce Lake Park.

LIFE THRU THE LENS weekly linkup | Lisa Kerner | Simply Living Phtography

Summer nights in Tampa

On August 18, 2016August 18, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights11 Comments

I peaked out the window and saw some dark clouds moving in. I grabbed my phone and ran out to the backyard. I kept hearing crashing coming from the front yard so I ran around to the front and got the shot of the lightning. The night storms have been crazy lately in the beginning of August.

The next night I drove home in pouring rain and by the time I got home the sky looked like the above in the backyard.

On the way home from work I stopped at a parking deck right off the bridge to take the above. Looking towards downtown Tampa, it was beautiful blue skies. When I turned around, the big storm was moving across the bay. I had just driven through that.

All of the above were taking with my phone.

SkyWatch Friday

A few birds at Chesnut Park

On August 15, 2016August 16, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography15 Comments

The usual titmouse were all over the park.

Cardinal families were all over the park. Lots of very young ones born this spring. The young ones look scruffy with their adult feathers coming in.

There were also Carolina wrens everywhere.

The best find was the great crested flycatcher families. I saw two different ones at opposite ends of the park. Both had juveniles that didn’t quite have their adult feathers in. I don’t see these often. They stayed high up in the trees and don’t get close to look for a handout like the resident birds do.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing Life Thru the Lens weekly linkup | Lisa Kerner | Simply Living Photography

More cute baby ducks

On August 13, 2016August 13, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

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Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Petersburg had lots of duck families in late June. There were several muscovy families as well as a few mallard families and one white duck with an orange baby.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters

Lots of fun things in a small park.

On August 8, 2016August 9, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I can always find green herons at this lake.

This looks like a young mallard that’s molting and getting his male feathers in.

Lots of young blue jays.

A grackle with a yummy snack.

A leucistic Eurasian collared-dove. It’s rare to see an all white Eurasian dove.

You can always hear the loud screaming of monk parakeets at this park. They nest in the water tower near the park and spend a lot of time on the grass eating. They blend in really well and unless you hear them screaming, you would never know they were in the trees in front of you.

Crescent Lake Park is a small park near downtown St. Petersburg. There’s a small lake with a sidewalk all around. There’s a ball field next door as well as a dog park and houses across the street on 2 sides of the park. On a Saturday morning, the park is full of joggers, walkers, kids playing and me, the crazy lady with the camera.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

The cutest babies of all

On August 6, 2016August 6, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

“I am Skippy the Skimmer and I am the cutest one here.”

“Me first.”

“This is my fish.”

“I’m Sparky the Skimmer and I am a little bit older. I’m starting to get color in my feathers and my beak is getting longer.”

“Where’s my Mom? You’re not suppose to bother me, Least tern.” said the baby skimmer. “But you look tasty and I’m hungry” said the juvenile Least tern.

“Stay away from my baby!” said the adult skimmer.

“You stay away as well”

“I’m sticking close to mom”.

“Who me? I’m not going anywhere.”

“Mom, where’s my fish?”

“I pretend to be brave but now I’m scared and running to hide under Mom.”

“I’m Stanley, one of the oldest babies skimmers here. I’m almost grown up and just learning to fly. I’m also learning to brake.”

I didn’t make it to see the baby black skimmers until late July. I was expecting to see them all grown up but this was a late year and there were still many tiny babies. The babies have a lot against them. Between the tourists getting too close, the crows and laughing gulls trying to get a meal and the risk of high tide, it’s a hard knock life for a little bird. If the tiny babies wander away from the roped off area, a tourist could easily not see him blending into the sand and step on him. If we get another bad storm like Colin back in early June, the tide could get too high and the little babies can’t swim yet or fly away. But, hopefully most make it through. I took so many pictures of these cute little guys so there are tons more to come.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters