A winter drizzle walk

On May 30, 2024May 24, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Tampa bay sights6 Comments

It was partly cloudy when I drove over to nearby Safety Harbor for an early morning Saturday walk in mid-March.

I could see a dolphin far out in the water as the clouds moved in.

I first walked the long pier and then walked over to the boardwalk through the mangroves. The tide was low and the birds were scarce.

By the time I got back to the pier it was barely drizzling. I didn’t mind since it was mild and the drizzle made if feel a little like winter. It was March after all.

There were two manatees hanging out along the pier.

A quick video of one coming up for air.

Before heading home I walked down Main Street. The sidewalk chalk festival was happening later that afternoon and they had the street blocked off to traffic. It was fun walking down the middle of the street, not having to worry about cars. People were just getting set up to start doing the artwork and there were a few booths selling things.

Critters in the backyard

On May 27, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

My neighbor’s hibiscus bush has been blooming for months. I’m always sneaking over to her side of our shared courtyard to take pictures of them.

Every once in a while we have a turkey or two cruising by the backyard.

All of the usual birds have been stopping by. Downy woodpeckers, chickadees, red bellied woodpeckers and blue jays. The above were all taken while I was sitting outside one morning. I sat still in the corner and the usual birds don’t mind coming to visit while I’m out there.

There is almost always a downy woodpecker on the suet feeder. The pine warblers don’t mind and would land on it when the woodpeckers were there.

Bluebirds have been stopping by the bird bath. They started to work on a nest in my nest box but didn’t finish it. I’m not sure why they don’t stay. Is it because they can see me in the window? This is the 3rd spring the box has been put up but no nesting.

A pileated woodpecker stopped by and I went outside to get the above. They stay high up in the trees.

A white ibis digging around under the bird bath.

I saw these ladies through the window right before dark and quietly went outside with my camera. . They were on the other side of the fairway so they would have been too far away to take through the window. They glanced at me for a minute but then kept on going down the course.

A quick walk around Crescent Lake Park

On May 25, 2024May 17, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Tiny butterflies and a big one at Crescent Lake Park in late March.

A pied grebe in the middle of the lake. This one had his breeding stripe on his beak already but I didn’t think they nested here.

Green herons were everywhere.

Just a few of the many turtles around the lake.

Mama muscovy with a baby. I’m sure she started with many more than the one.

A pretty mallard sits in the vegetation.

European starlings don’t get any respect around here but they are pretty when the sun hits them just right.

The old banyan trees are looking a little rough The one on the left is turning brown. It might be from the lack of rain. Hopefully it will come back when the summer rains hit.

A spin around the neighborhood.

On May 23, 2024May 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

It was almost the end of March and I hadn’t been out for a spin around the neighborhood in a while so I hopped on my bike after lunch and took off. The first pond I stopped at had a little alligator floating in the middle.

After taking the picture of the alligator I noticed a pair of anhingas down along the pond. Both the female (with the brown neck) and the male (all black) where fanning out their wings to dry out so they must have been feeding here. I could almost imagine she was smiling at me.

There was a soft shell turtle sunning himself on the other side of the pond.

The next pond I stopped at had the usual birds. A great blue heron taking a break and a little blue heron creeping along the shoreline.

Butterflies were out at the utility field.

The bottlebrush trees were blooming all over the neighborhood. They attract hummingbirds but I didn’t see any this morning. I stopped at a few of them and waited for a while but all I saw were bees. It might have been a little early for hummingbirds to come through but I had heard there were some sighted nearby.

I stopped by the eagle’s nest when I saw the eagle sitting up on the tower. Mom was still hanging around even though she lost her mate and babies in late January (I wrote about what happened in this post). It looked like she had a stick in her talon. She flew to the nest and sat up there for a while. It was really too late for her to re-nest again even though she had a new boyfriend.

The boyfriend was sitting on top of the next tower. He still has some brown in his head. He’s been hanging around for a while. Now it’s mid-May and they are both gone and I will have to wait until late September or October to see if they come back.

A morning walk at Fort Desoto Park

On May 20, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

It was too early for Spring migration in mid-March but I wanted to take a walk out on the beach at Fort Desoto. I went straight out to the north beach area. I stopped half way and took the above. The first is looking back towards the parking lot and the second is looking north to the tip where I was headed.

There wasn’t a lot of shorebirds on the beach but I did see a few snowy plovers. These little shorebirds are state designated “Threatened”. This is the only place I’ve seen them and not very often although I’ve heard there are some on the beaches in Sarasota.

This little piping plover was across the lagoon and I didn’t notice his missing feet until I was editing the pictures and cropped this up.

Oystercatchers flying by.

After walking the beach I headed over to the east beach trail for a quick walk. No little birds but the nanday parakeets were acting their usual crazy selves. This couple kept getting interrupted but finally had a little alone time.

An osprey takes off and flies right by me.

I always stop at the long gulf pier before leaving and this time there were dolphins swimming close to the pier.

You can really see the scars on the above’s back and fin.

There were 2 female red breasted mergansers taking a bath right at the beginning of the pier. Not sure if it’s really a bath since they spend most of their time in water but they seemed to be cleaning up after a feeding.

Rescues in March

On May 18, 2024May 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In early March I picked up a bald eagle that had an injured wing from the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay in Brandon and drove it down to a vet in south Sarasota that was going to reset the wing and bandage it up. Luckily his wing was broken in a place that was easy to fix.

A wood stork also came on the trip and after dropping off the eagle I drove out to the beach in Sarasota and took him to Save Our Seabirds. He had an injured leg.

Before heading back to the Tampa area I stopped by the Audubon Celery Fields in south Sarasota. I don’t get down here often since it’s so far away but had my camera in the car and stopped for a quick walk. There is a huge purple martin nest house in the parking lot and it was full of martins.

It was the middle of the day and I didn’t expect to see much but they have bird feeders near the nature center and there were some brown headed cowbirds feeding on the ground under the feeders. I don’t see them often.

There were plenty of grackles as well. It was getting hot so I didn’t stay long.

A few days later I took 2 squirrels to Penny in St. Pete. A baby squirrel and a very shy adult squirrel that had several bot fly bites on him. He would not come out from under the towel and I’m assuming he didn’t feel good. All I could see was his little nose. Penny was able to get the bot fly larva out of him and nurse him back to health.

A sick crow also made the trip.

The next week I drove 9 baby possums from the Raptor Center to Penny in St. Pete. The Mom had been hit by a car and these 9 babies were in her pouch. A good samaritan saw the dead possum, stopped and checked the pouch and brought the babies to the Center.

This young hawk was rescued not too far from my house. I met the rescuer and picked up the hawk and drove it out to the Center. Nancy took his hood off and was checking to see how skinny he was.

A March bike ride

On May 16, 2024May 8, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments

I was out in the northern tip of the Pinellas Trail for a bike ride in early March. I saw a bald eagle sitting on the first utility tower I passed. Then a few towers down there were 2 sitting on a nest. I didn’t see any babies here. I have recently heard they didn’t have any this year. The eagle watchers didn’t see any signs of any babies so no one is sure what happened.

The eastern meadowlarks were out being visible this morning. One was on the cow pasture fence and several were in the brush along the trail.

There were a lot of sandhill cranes but it was too early for babies.

Why did the crane cross the road??? I’m glad I stopped cause he just walked right in front of me.

This is a castor oil plant. It was all along the trail. It’s an invasive plant so I wonder why it’s here.

Other things growing along the trail.

A two park morning

On May 13, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I was out at Largo Nature Preserve on a foggy morning in early March. I didn’t expect to see anything new but you never know. I saw a mallard across the golf course that sits next to the preserve.

There were also 2 Canadian geese on the course. I haven’t seen any since last year.

The limpkins were looking for breakfast. After a quick walk I left and stopped at the Roosevelt Wetlands to see if there was anything there.

As soon as I got out of the car at the wetlands I saw 2 northern flickers on a utility pole. I looked around for a nest but they stayed on the pole or wire for a while. These may have been 2 females.

The blanket flower was coming back from the cold spell and starting to fill out along the trail.

A pair of northern shovelers were sitting on the bank.

The usual birds were there including a limpkin and great egret.

As I walk down the trail I could see tons of birds hovering over the nearby waste plant. I think the bigger one in the top was an eagle.

Towards the end of the trail I could a lot of turkey vultures. It didn’t look like they had something to eat so they may have just been resting.

A young juvenile eagle flew right over (I took this into the sun) and headed past the trees.

I saw something moving around on the side of the landfill. I realized it was a coyote. This was the first time I have seen a coyote in Florida. I know there are tons of them here and people have seen them in my neighborhood (mostly at night) but I have not seen one here. I have seen them in Utah and Colorado but this was my first Florida one. He was far away and ran along the ridge for a few minutes before disappearing.

Hooting and swimming

On May 11, 2024May 2, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

While both of my sisters were here we went to the zoo on an early Monday morning. It was fairly cool that morning and the siamangs (primates) were out playing.

They were hooting very loudly so turn up the volume and play the video. We could here them across the zoo.

It’s always fun to watch the penguins swimming.

We got up close with this grey crowned crane on the backlot tram tour.

The big guys.

The zoo has an underwater viewing area and you can see the manatees swimming around and eating up close.

Taken from the Zoo Tampa website: The David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center is the first non-profit, acute care facility of its kind specifically dedicated to critical care for wild manatees, and one of just four contracted federally permitted manatee rehabilitation centers in the state of Florida. Since 1991, the manatee care and veterinary team have treated over 400 manatees with more than 230 of those reintroduced into Florida waters.

There were several turtles swimming around in the manatee pools.

In the words of Dory from Finding Nemo – “Just keep swimming”.

Face to face with a dolphin

On May 9, 2024April 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Tampa bay sights, zoo animals8 Comments

Look at that face! It’s not often you get this close up to a dolphin. After our dolphin boat tour my sister and I stopped at the nearby Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter the dolphin who lost his tail (The movie Dolphin Tale was about him and filmed here). They rescue, rehabilitate and house (if needed) permanently injured dolphins, turtles, otters and other sea critters.

This huge turtle had lost his back legs.

This turtle was hit by a boat and lost his ability to submerge properly. He swims around with his butt in the air.

Some of the turtles that are rehabilitating and will be released soon.

A few of the smaller swimmers.

The ladies on the right got to feed the shark that was in the middle. He was obviously a docile shark since he’s fed several times a day.

This is Nicholas and he came right up to the window. He was found as a young baby stranded on Christmas Eve in 2002 and had 3rd degree sunburns on his back. You can still see the scars on his forehead all the way to his fin.