A busy house at the marina

Posted on May 13, 2023 by dinajohnston

I found the purple martins at the end of the nesting season last year. The babies had already grown up and were flying. I checked on them early this year and caught them working on their nests. There were so many of them and someone had added a 2nd house although I didn’t see any of the birds going in the holes on that one yet.

It felt like the females (in the lighter color) were the only ones getting sticks and leaves for the nest. The males were watching but I only saw one male picking up a stick from the ground.

As one female brought a big stick back to her hole in the house another male tried to mate with her (while her mate was sitting right there). She ran into her hole as her mate chased the intruder away.

It was a busy morning.

The stick gathering went on all morning as I sat and watched

This female brought back a stick that wouldn’t fit in the hole. She eventually dropped it.

This was in mid-March so I’ll be checking back for babies soon. This is the only place that I know of that they nest in the area although there may be some hidden ones in backyards. There’s a house in my neighborhood that I pass by as I leave but in 2 springs I haven’t seen any birds on it. I love the sound they make. It sounds like one of the animals on Jurassic Park.

Pedaling around the neighborhood

Posted on May 11, 2023 by dinajohnston

I was heading out on my bike for a ride through the neighborhood when I saw a swallow tailed kite cruising by. I snapped the above and then he was long gone over the trees. I’ve been seeing them flying high over the neighborhood for several weeks but they don’t hang around long. One or two circles around the area and they fly fast and high.

I keep stopping by the great blue heron nest but I haven’t seen any babies. One of the neighbors nearby said that last year they didn’t have any babies either.

I was pedaling along the golf course and some birds flying into a tree caught my eye. I stopped and realized there were cedar waxwings were up there. I got my camera out of my backpack and watched them for a while. Luckily I was far enough away from the fairway that I didn’t have to worry about getting hit in the head with a golf ball.

They were feeding on the nearby small pepper tree. They would fly back forth between the pepper tree and the big oak tree. I just sat down on the grass half way behind an oak tree and watched them gorge on those pepper berries.

A juvenile blue heron sitting in the grass along the bank of the pond.

One of the regulars going down for a nap.

The yard in early March.

Posted on May 8, 2023 by dinajohnston

Look who showed up in the backyard in early March. Last year they were here all winter but I hadn’t seen any parulas at all until March. I was sitting outside for a while enjoying the cool weather and the above got close enough for me to get some shots.

That lone robin was still hanging around in the backyard.

Bluebirds were stopping by.

A lone turkey was cruising by for a few days and one day I caught her taking a nap just outside our window.

We get tons of woodpeckers at the feeder and bird bath.

Butterflies on the hanging lantana.

Someone nearby is feeding these ibis. I saw them pecking around the tree and when I went outside to sit down one of them walked right up to me. I had to step back up against the house to fit him in the picture. He wandered off when he realized I wasn’t going to feed him.

Gardenias were starting to bloom.

Fun things at the eagle’s nest

Posted on May 6, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was mid-March and I was sitting in my chair along the fence line at the eagle’s nest. I was waiting for the baby eagles to wake up and I look over the small wooden fence and see some deer feeding right in front of me. I stood up to take some pictures and they stopped to check me out but then kept eating and working their way down the utility field.

One of the parents dropped off a tiny fish for breakfast and after eating the oldest baby did some practice flaps.

A few days later and the oldest was still flapping his wings while Mom watched.

On this particular morning I heard a loud scream and got out of my chair and turned around just as a pileated woodpecker flew in the tree next to me. She was pretty close and ignored me.

A red bellied woodpecker flew onto the utility pole next to the tree and started banging. He must have caught the attention of the pileated woodpecker. She flew over and chased him off the pole. I guess size wins in this game. It’s amazing the critters I see at the eagle’s nest.

Chilly bike ride

Posted on May 4, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was a little chilly in early March (meaning 60 degrees) and I decided to bundle up and go out for a bike ride on my favorite cow pasture trail. There were a few cows near the trail but the almost grown calves were far back.

This time the turkeys were fairly close to the fence. Tom was really showing off for the ladies. The ladies were ignoring him.

A kildeer was cruising along one of the ponds.

This was an interesting grasshopper. Not the usual lubber but I’m not sure what kind.

Blooming along the trail.

I found a big invasive rosary pea plant near the beginning of the trail. Most of the pods had opened up and revealed the bright red seeds. These seeds are highly toxic to humans and many domestic animals but birds can eat them without any problems. I’ve read that one seed can kill a horse or cow and this plant was right along the cow pasture with a horse barn on the other side. I’m surprised they haven’t pulled this out.

Early morning on the pier

Posted on May 1, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was early March and too nice outside to be inside so I headed over to nearby Oldsmar pier to sit for a while. When I first got there the eagle was sitting high up in the pine tree. He left pretty quickly and then made several passes over the pier.

The tide was low and left a small sandy spot in between the mangroves. I was watching this cute dog find a stick and then turn around and show it to his human before heading in the water with it. I’m not sure if he was saying “Dad, look what I found” or “Dad, can I play with this stick”.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen someone catch a fish here.

The crab trapper guy was closer to the pier this morning. It’s fun to watch the pelicans follow him, hoping for a free handout. I was recently going through some old pictures, cleaning out files and saw that I had taken pictures of him in 2015 from Philippe Park. This guy has been doing it for a while. It would be a nice side gig but I’m not sure how many crabs he gets in this northern part of the bay. I wonder if he needs a helper. I would do it for free a few times. To sit out in the boat with the pelicans in the early morning would be great.

Little critters in early spring

Posted on April 29, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was early March and I was sitting on a bench in the butterfly garden at Folly Farms in Safety Harbor hoping to see hummingbirds (it was probably a little early for them though). No hummingbirds yet but I did see some usual birds. Titmouse are common here and parulas were everywhere in early spring. Both have distinct calls.

The giant milkweed was full of caterpillars.

Little critters in the garden. The yellow butterfly looks like she was laying eggs.

I’m not sure what this plant is but I’ve seen it at several botanical gardens. It’s really cool and the flowering part is huge.

Stop and smell the flowers

Posted on April 27, 2023 by dinajohnston

I got up early for the almost 2 hour drive to Bok Tower Gardens in central Florida in early March. The weather called for sunny and warm but halfway there the fog started. The closer I got to the gardens, the foggier it got. I was a little bummed but I figured it would lift sometime in the morning. It was still foggy when I started my drive into the gardens.

You pay at the gate and then drive for 5 minutes up to the where the gardens start. Part of that drive is through orange groves. I had my windows rolled down so I could smell the orange blossoms. The smell was strong and I pulled over for a few minutes and snapped the above with my phone. Nothing screams “central Florida” more than ripe oranges and orange blossoms together on the tree.

There’s always a lot blooming here, even in the winter.

You can see the spider webs in the fog.

I’m not sure what this pink tree was but it was almost past it’s peak.

The sun was just starting to peek out after I had been there for an hour.

The azalea bushes were still blooming with the color popping in the fog.

This was a fun trip and it was great to be out and about (even though I was riding a rented scooter). The fog eventually lifted but it kept things nice and cool.

Busy morning at the eagle’s nest

Posted on April 24, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was almost the end of February and I was still struggling to see the babies. The parent was just dropping off food now and the babies were eating on their own. At this point they still had some gray fuzz on their heads.

Things were still quiet at the nest. The oldest was screaming for food in the mornings before Dad dropped it off. Mom snoozed on the top of the tower when she wasn’t screaming at the opsrey for flying too close.

There are a lot of loud annoying birds nearby as I sit and wait for the baby eagles to wake up. There are a ton of mockingbirds and blue jays. The blue jays were gathering sticks for a nest.

The oleander bushes had started to bloom.

When I first got to the eagle’s nest I saw this squirrel popping in and out of this hole in the utility pole. I’m sure this hole has been used by many critters to nest I. I have also seen red bellied woodpeckers in here.

I hear this screaming behind me and turn around and see this nanday parakeet looking in the hole. I think the squirrel was still down in there but I couldn’t tell for sure. The parakeet was trying to get in there but kept backing out.

Now the parakeet was on the wire and joined by his mate. I got up off my chair and turned around thinking I might spook them away but they didn’t move. They were looking at me like “Yes, we see you but we’re not leaving”.

They stayed for a while, preening and mating several times. I guess that’s why they really want to use that hole in the pole for a nest. I’ll have to check back later to see what ended up using it.

Rainbow birds in the bushes

Posted on April 22, 2023 by dinajohnston

Spring had long sprung at the beginning of March. I wanted to get out of the house before it got too hot so I took a road trip over to central Florida to visit Bok Tower Gardens. They have scooters that you can rent for a pretty low price to scoot around the trails and since my foot was still hurting I decided this was a good way to get outside.

At first I didn’t see many birds, only a black and white warbler and a northern parula.

Later in the morning I scooted over to the corner where the bird feeder was and sat very quiet waiting for the above. The painted buntings were here last year at this time so I was hoping to see them again. This time there were 2 males. They were skittish and anytime someone would walk by on the trail they would scatter to the bushes.

If I sat quietly for a while they would slowly come back to the feeder. It was early enough that there wasn’t too much foot traffic yet. The two couples stayed for a while.