Cruising past cow pastures

On January 29, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The Upper Pinellas Trail runs through cow pastures. It’s usually a nice quiet bike ride and sometimes I get to see something cool like maybe a new bird. In early November I got there just after the sun was up.

It was peaceful on the trail this weekday morning.

A kildeer was close to the trail. They are plentiful on the cow pastures and most of the time I hear them before I see them. It’s rare for them to get close to the trail.

Far out I could see turkeys and sandhill cranes hanging out together. There must be good bugs in that area.

The eagle couple hadn’t started nesting yet and they were together on one of the utility towers along the trail.

I saw a lot of pine warblers this morning. They were busy catching bugs.

I heard the sandhill crane’s loud chortle from across the pasture as they flew by.

A few deer were scattered along the back fence line.

Gopher tortoises have homes deep in the dirt along the trail. Most are sleeping far down in the hole and are hard to see but this one was half out. I could just barely make out his eye through the grass. Gopher tortoises are protected in Florida and are a threatened species. They are land animals and we lost a lot of them when Hurricane Helene came through and flooded many of the parks so every one of these are important.

I had heard there was a rare alder flycatcher at the beginning of the trail. I have never heard of one in Florida. They migrate through the central part of the states so this one was a little too far east. There were several other people there looking for him so he was easy to spot.

There was a large flock of cattle egrets flying back and forth across the pasture. I’m not sure what kept causing them to get spooked and fly away. Maybe the eagles were cruising by.

Around the yard in late September

On January 27, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was late September and I was taking the trash bin to the end of the driveway and I heard whistling over at the pond. I ran in and grabbed by camera and went over to the pond across the street and there they were, black bellied whistling ducks. Both adults and juveniles were there (juveniles born this summer would not have pink bills yet). I snapped a bunch of pictures and then left them. They were gone later that afternoon.

A few days later I looked out the back window and saw a lone bird in the bath. At first glance I thought it was a northern parula but I decided to look closer. It was a female chestnut-sided warbler. She was really pretty with that lime green on her head but I kind of wished it was a male. They have the orange/chestnut sides. I’ve only seen him once last year at Fort Desoto and only got a blurry shot of it.

The turkeys were coming through the backyard and I caught them scratching around in the yard debris that was still piled up.

The day after Hurricane Milton came through a prairie warbler was in my tree. This is the first time I’ve had one in the yard.

A lone buck was grazing around the debris in the backyard.

Early that morning I was out front cleaning the yard and had my phone in my pocket. These 2 red shoulder hawks landed in the tree across the street and started mating.

It was a little late for nesting season so maybe they were just glad to see each other after the storm.

Right after the hawks came by a bald eagle flew high overhead.

The little froggies were still coming around and were hanging out on my Christmas cactus.

In the spring I planted a handful of sunflower seeds in a sunny spot and had tons of big sunflowers bloom. Late in the summer I planted some more hoping they would bloom for fall. This is the only one that bloomed. It survived the storm with only one petal missing.

The yard was covered with not yet ripe acorns.

Driving along the neighborhood we could see a lot of trees down. Some had pulled up sidewalks with it. Luckily none around us hit any houses or cars.

One morning I was coming back into the neighborhood from the grocery store and saw the turkeys up ahead. I pulled out my camera to get a shot but they had already started running so I started videoing them as I drove by. They were moving pretty fast. I’m not sure why they started running but they all of a sudden stopped.

The view across the street after the storm.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Critter rescues this fall

On January 25, 2025January 14, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals8 Comments

My car was full in mid-September when I drove some lost critters from the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay to Penny, a rehabber, in south St. Pete. Baby squirrel season was in full swing and I had 2 boxes of lost babies as well as 2 hawks and a baby dove.

A few days later more baby squirrels made the trip to Penny. This time I had 2 baby flying squirrels in the car. They were so tiny and much smaller than regular squirrels. They can’t actually fly around like birds and bats but are able to glide from tree to tree with those tiny “wings” on their sides. They are nocturnal so they are hard to spot. I’ve heard they are in the area but I’ve never seen one in the wild until this day.

A few “regular” baby squirrels also made the trip.

Penny rehabs all kinds of critters and lives in south St. Pete. Her neighborhood had a few free roaming peacocks and this one was able to walk in front of my car so I stopped and snapped the above as she crossed the street. She’s pretty with a mix of white and blue.

At the beginning of October a young red shoulder hawk had just come back from a visit to the vet for an injured eye and was making the trip back to the Raptor Center to finish his rehabilitation.

Look at that face! This great horned owl had been rescued and was well enough to be released so I was driving him to the Raptor Center from a Barbara, the rehabber near my home. He will go into the big flight cage at the center to build back up his strength.

A turkey vulture and another great horned owl also made the trip.

A few weeks later I stopped at an emergency vet to pick up a baby squirrel that had been brought in that was found in someone’s yard. Then I drove it to the Raptor Center.

He joined another big box of lost squirrels and I drove them all to Penny.

An injured crow also made the trip.

In early December I picked up a caracara from the Raptor Center that had an injured wing and leg. We don’t see caracaras near my home and this one was brought in from central Florida. I took him to Barbara, the rehabber, who was taking him to the vet the next morning to have him looked and at possibly reset the wing and leg. This was the 2nd caracara I had as a passenger in the year and half of driving injured critters. He looks like a prettier vulture and acts like a vulture (mostly eating roadkill) but he’s actually a type of falcon.

A beautiful day at the beach?

On January 22, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights5 Comments

In late October I was heading to downtown St. Pete to see my chiropractor and I could see the missing roof that had been blown off the baseball field during Hurricane Milton. They have since taken the rest of the roof off and are still deciding how to fix it. With the season coming up at the end of March, the Rays will be playing at the Yankees spring training field in Tampa for the upcoming year.

A crane had fallen on an office building a few blocks from my chiropractor. It’s going to take a long time to fix that.

After my appointment I drove over to nearby North Shore Park and went for a quick walk along the water. It was too beautiful to go home.

A few days later Brett and I went over to Clearwater Beach to have lunch. The Columbia restaurant on Sand Key beach had just opened back up and were in need of patrons since most everything was still closed and not many tourists around. We love the Columbia so we had to go grab some lunch.

The parking lots on Clearwater beach were closed and full of sand that had been moved off the roads. They were just starting to clean up the beaches.

The famous Palm Pavilion Grill and Bar (my Dad was a bartender here back in the 40’s when he was home for the summer from collage) got a lot of flooding and damage inside. They are still closed but are posting they are hoping to reopen by early February.

Closed parking lots full of sand all the way down the beach. Many of the lots are now open and many of the big chain hotels (more than 2 stories) are open. The few remaining small 2 story Mom and Pop motels are still closed. It will be interesting to see how many reopen and how many sell out after the hurricane damage.

The Columbia restaurant on the intercoastal only got minimal damage inside since they are built up. They did have damage to their outside seating area and that is still closed. Brett and I went back for lunch again 2 weeks ago and that sailboat is still wedge up on the seawall.

Heading home in the other direction, home debris lined the street. Early news reports had said that 20,000-30,000 homes were flooded in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough and Pinellas counties) from Helene. And then Milton hit and did further damage. People are either staying with friends, spending a fortune on an apartment or renting an RV, staying in their homes without walls/kitchen and many are living in cars. Not to mention people are still living in tents in the snow in North Carolina.

Sunrise through the pink grass

On January 20, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

At the beginning of November I went to the Roosevelt Wetlands to look for the northern harriers that had showed up for the winter. The last time I was at the wetlands was in early October and the muhly grass had not turned pink yet. Muhly is a Florida native plant and turns pink in the late fall. We had it growing across the back of our house in Tampa since we had full sun there but we don’t really have a good place to plant it at our townhome. It’s more shade than sun. I miss seeing the pink.

The sun was just peeking out as I walked out on the trail. The muhly grass looked pretty through the sunrise.

Farther down the trail I saw a usual winter visitor, a spotted sandpiper (his belly has spots when he’s breeding in the summer). We don’t usually see them here with their spots on.

Other usual birds included a blue gray gnatcatcher and a loggerhead shrike.

A red-winged blackbird was sitting still for me.

The goldenrod was still blooming.

The sun was up when I made my way back to my car.

Looking through the pink.

I didn’t see the harriers on this trip but I eventually made it back and found the male, more on him later.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

A ride around the neighborhood

On January 18, 2025January 8, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I went for a bike ride in the neighborhood the day before Hurricane Milton came. A lot of people had evacuated the area and there wasn’t a lot of traffic early in the morning. The golf course behind our house was closed so I started out there.

Mushrooms were growing everywhere from all of the recent rain.

The ponds along the golf course behind our homes were already full and we were due to get a ton of rain when Milton hit. I noticed the neighbor down the street had a hurricane flag out.

A great egret and female anhinga down the street.

This goldenrain tree was blooming.

On the other side of the neighborhood I found some fun birds in a ditch. The water was high so wood storks, a snowy egret and a spoonbill were feeding along the ditch.

These ladies gave me a quick glance as I slowed down to snap the above.

The sun came out for a short while as I was making my way home. This pond down the street from our house was full of egrets and snowy egrets.

A beautiful sunrise

On January 15, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In mid-October I was out a little earlier than usual for a walk. I stopped at nearby Philippe Park to catch the sun coming up over the water. I didn’t stay long and headed to the waterfront in Safety Harbor for my walk.

It was a beautiful morning out.

The birds were just starting to get active as I shot the above video.

Over on the tiny beach a dog was having the best time going for a swim.

Walking along the boardwalk I see this damaged dock part stuck to the mangroves. I guess it will be here for a while.

The sun was coming up high by the time I reached the end of the boardwalk.

Back at the parking lot before leaving.

I decided to stop back by Philippe Park again before going home to see if there was a lot of damaged trees from the hurricanes. The ones down on the road had already been moved but the grass areas were covered with downed trees. It’s going to take the rangers months to clean it all up. I was glad to see the owl nest tree still standing and I’ve heard the owl couple are back nesting in it already.

Tarpon Springs is back open

On January 13, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights7 Comments

A week after Hurricane Helene came through I went out for an early walk on Dodecanese Blvd in Tarpon Springs. I like to go early and walk around before the street is crowded with tourists that are there to shop and eat. I knew there wouldn’t be any tourists here this morning. This morning there were only construction people. Everything was closed since the area flooded during the Hurricane. They were still hauling stuff out of stores and restaurants and the doors were open while workers were going in and out. Floors and walls had to be replaced. I parked behind Hellas Restaurant and they had all of the kitchen equipment and furniture out on the back lawn while the restaurant was being restored.

I didn’t see a lot of boat damage. They must have had everything tied up very well.

The old sponge diver statue was still there.

All of the streets around the area looked like above with furniture, drywall and kitchen cabinets piled on the curb. This street was several streets back from the water and most of these houses were several feet up but the water got too high this time.

In early November I went back for another walk after Hurricane Milton. There was still a lot of stuff on the curbs and the stores and restaurants were trying to restore by Thanksgiving since that’s a huge tourists week.

Hellas was almost finished and the bakery part of the restaurant had all new fixtures in and was about to open.

On this walk I did notice some of the boats and buildings across the water had some damage. Many of the old docks were falling apart.

The streets were still deserted with the exception of construction workers.

This old boat was still around, up on pilings. I wondered what it’s story was. It’s been up there for years.

Most of the area looked like this. New floors and walls and new equipment in boxes. Most opened back up right before Thanksgiving and almost all were opened before Christmas.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Late September in the yard

On January 11, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals2 Comments

In mid-September I bought a new bird feeder. I had white millet and black sunflower seeds in it. For the first two weeks only the usual birds were around. We had a lot of rain and the feeder was full of water soaked seeds and fell apart. Some of the metal pieces broke apart and we couldn’t fix it. So, I put the old one back up. Still looking for a new one.

I noticed this lizard sitting on the patio chair was just starting to shed his skin.

A female redstart showed up and spent an few hours in and out of the bird bath. She didn’t mind when the yellow throated warbler stopped by. These were taken through the window.

The yellow throated warbler is a winter regular visitor.

The frogs were still showing up after afternoon storms and I realized they were sleeping in my cactus plant near the window.

Late in the day after a storm I looked out the window and saw this beautiful guy.

I grabbed my camera and went outside to snap these from the patio. They were on the other side of the fairway and he saw me. I was afraid they would take off but he looked at me for a second and then continued to graze with his girlfriend.

They only stayed for a few minutes and then continued down the fairway.

Sleeping in a barn

On January 8, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

Brett and I spent 2 nights in a renovated barn (on the 2nd floor) near Vero Beach. We got there late in the afternoon and looked around a little before heading to the beach for dinner.

It was a little weird driving down a long dirt road after dark to get back to the farm.

The next morning I was awake early and could hear the horses down below. I got up and ran to the kitchen window and saw the above. The sun hadn’t come up yet. I quickly changed and ran out to see what was going on.

The horses were being let out of the barn. We were able to walk around the farm so I ran back upstairs and had a quick breakfast with Brett and we went out for a walk down to the main road.

We were also able to feed the animals and I had brought a bag of apples with us from our hurricane stash so the goats got a treat for breakfast.

Most of the cows were far out in the pasture but one Mom with 2 little ones came close to the fence for a drink of water.

The sun coming up through a spiderweb.

We walked out on the main dirt road and passed by a farm with a No Trespassing sign that said “Don’t even think about it”. Who would want to walk around on that cow poop filled pasture?