No breeze in the middle of summer

On November 5, 2025October 31, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography11 Comments

The water was calm on my walk at the Safety Harbor waterfront in early July.

A night heron was sitting on the branch in front of the boardwalk.

This was the first time I’ve seen a kildeer here. There were two of them running around the grassy field. I could hear there distinct call across the field.

It was hot this morning and there wasn’t any breeze.

I left the waterfront and stopped at nearby Philippe Park to walk along the sea wall there.

Hiking up the Indian temple mound from the back stairs. It’s the largest remaining mound built by the Tocobaga Indians. You can read more on the history here.

The view from the top.

I tried not to disturb this couple making hanky panky as I walked back down.

I was getting back in my car and saw this pileated woodpecker fly into a hole in a tree in the parking area. I zoomed in with my phone and was able to catch him banging away. He didn’t seem shy at all.

Summer skies in the yard

On November 3, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

The best thing about the quick late day summer showers are the rainbows that follow. I saw the sun peeking out after a storm and ran out the back door to catch the above.

The clouds were swirling over our driveway one afternoon in late June.

I was able to catch lightning through the upstairs bathroom window.

Sunset over the pond across the street.

The juvenile bluebirds (with the white spots on their wings) were growing up fast. There were two families that were feeding at the dried mealworm feeder most of the summer.

Bunnies were still coming by to eat the grass late in the day. One day I saw a one near the patio and then later I looked out the window for him and didn’t see him. At first I thought he left and then I saw movement right below the window. He ate through most of that spider plant.

The hummingbird was feeding on the shrimp plant.

I was keeping my eye on her as she left the shrimp plant and flew up near the top of the oak tree. I was able to run upstairs and catch her through the bedroom window. She sat up there several days in a row after feeding.

This young Carolina wren was taking a break on the patio (which has since been cleaned) and was eating bugs from the patio but I think he thought that leaf was something yummy to eat as well.

Someone in the neighborhood is feeding the ibis. This one saw me standing in the door and walked right up to it looking for a snack. I took the above with my phone.

I was out doing yardwork at the end of June and heard what I thought was a swallow tail kite calling. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and was back out right as this one was sailing overhead along the golf course. Luckily there wasn’t anyone on the course and I was standing on the tee getting shots. There were 3 of them cruising over the trees and circling back over the back yard.

I realized that one of them had a frog in his talons.

A juvenile landed in the pine tree in our backyard and was screaming at the parent. He wanted the parent to bring him the frog and the parent wanted him to come after the frog and learn to feed himself. The parent with the frog made several passes over the pine tree, yelling at the young one. The juvenile finally flew off and followed the parents over the trees and they were gone.

Storms moving through the front yard as the sun peeks out right before sunset.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

A hot summer walk in the park

On November 1, 2025October 31, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals1 Comment

Another early morning walk at Chesnut Park in early August to look for baby deer.

I didn’t see any out on the ball field but when I drove to the back to park my car I came across this family right in front of my parking spot.

I saw this cutie once I got on the boardwalk. I had heard people were feeding the baby raccoons earlier this summer and now it’s evident with this guy walking up to the boardwalk to see if I have a snack for him instead of scurrying away. There are signs all over the park to not feed the wildlife and people are keeping an eye out for anyone that does.

I got a quick peek at a baby that gave me a parting glance as she followed Mom deeper in the woods.

Only the usual year-round birds are here in the summer including little tufted titmouse. They also come up close to see if you have some seed for them.

The water on the lake was still and quiet.

While on the dock an osprey flew by with a half eaten fish being chased by a red shoulder hawk.

A tiny critter taking a break in the shade.

Color along the boardwalk. I think the bottom shot is poison oak.

Back at one of my walking happy places

On October 27, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In late June I was out for an early walk at the Dunedin marina.

The front beach area of the marina has been closed since Hurricane Helene hit last September and I realized that it had just opened back up again after 9 months. It was so nice to be able to walk along the far side of the marina out onto the jetti area. The little beach area was covered in seaweed and it was high tide so much of the area was under water anyway.

The floating dock in front of the sailing center was being fixed that morning. A Dunedin utility worker was adding planks as I walked by.

This gravel spot is where the Dunedin Sailing Center meeting house sat since 1929, until Hurricane Helene and Milton flooded it and it had to be torn down. Eventually a new elevated building will be built.

Looking towards Clearwater Beach.

Some horseshoe crabs were swimming around in the shallow part.

This corner of the jetti had grass and 3 nice benches to sit and watch the dolphins come in the marina. They were all lost in the storms.

A green heron sits very still on a rock, trying to catch some bait fish.

I was excited to see the purple martins still here and their houses were still standing (the bases are set in concrete).

You can hear their sweet calls in the wind. The babies are all grown up and they left not long after I took this video. They’ll be back next spring though.

The marina was still closed to public boats and except for a few commercial boats near the entrance no one was coming in or out. Many of the docks are damaged and the sea wall caved in. I’ve read they were going to start repairing everything by the end of this year.

Linking to Image-In-Ing.

An almost perfect morning out

On October 22, 2025October 22, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

It was an almost perfect morning at the end of May at Fort Desoto Park. It was too warm to be perfect and there wasn’t a breeze on the beach.

A snowy egret was fishing for breakfast.

Red knots are threatened in Florida due to loss of habitat. The beach in Fort Desoto is critical to their survival as they stop over here to feed during migration. There was a small flock still feeding that hadn’t left yet for the tip of South America for the summer.

The sky and tidal pool were filled with royal and sandwich terns.

I caught a few of them taking a late morning bath.

A tiny Wilson’s plover stops to pose for me.

One of the resident white morph reddish egrets was dancing for his fish.

The backyard in late june

On October 18, 2025September 20, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The bluebird families were continuing to come to the mealworm feeder in the backyard throughout the summer.

I saw a pileated woodpecker in the oak tree in the back and ran out with my camera. I realized there were two of them and they were pretty high up in the tree. Dad (with the red stripe under his beak) quickly fed the juvenile and then went scooting up the tree with the young one screaming behind him.

Other birds at the mealworm feeder included a Carolina wren family and the thrasher that’s been hanging out here for a month.

We’ve had several bunnies stopping by and it’s fun to see 2 at the same time. One was much bigger than the other so I’m thinking the little one is an offspring of the bigger one.

A ruby throated hummingbird feeding on the shrimp plants.

The young squirrels spent so much time playing.

A juvenile Carolina wren was spreading his wings out in sun on our patio chair.

Watching the moon going down in the early morning from the driveway.

Summer skies in late June at the pond across the street.

Sunflowers on a cloudy day

On October 13, 2025November 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants4 Comments

I made another trip to a sunflower farm at the beginning of June. Jimmy Mc’s farm is closer to home and was a quick trip. They only have a small sunflower field and a few cows. Brett came as well since he had not been to this farm before. It had rained most of the night and I wasn’t sure if we would get rained out but at least it was cool.

One of the cows came over to the fence to see if we had sunflowers to feed him but it looked like he already had plenty to choose from on the ground. Maybe he remembered me from last year when I fed him some sunflowers and came over to say hello?

Just past the sunflower field I could see turkeys running for the woods.

This was the last day of picking season and many of the flowers were getting old but I still managed to find several handfuls to take home.

Some of the little critters out in the field.

As usual I try and check the ones I take home for hitchhikers but I had so many that I barely looked. When I got home and was getting them in vases I found one that had to go outside but not before taking a quick shot. The green lynx spider is good to have in the garden since they eat a lot of moth larvae that are pests.

Playing around with my phone camera. I used stage lighting on portrait mode to take the above.

As we walked to the car I noticed the great blue heron sitting along the edge of a small pond. It looked very peaceful.

Then I noticed these guys strolling around to my side of the pond. Sandhill cranes with 2 almost grown juveniles (with the orange beaks). They were just cruising around out on the farm. Two years ago I saw them here as well so I’m wondering if it’s the same parents.

A quick video of them yelling as they walked by.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

A morning on the beach

On October 8, 2025September 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

At the end of May I was walking out towards north beach at Fort Desoto Park. I looked back before stepping on the beach and saw that the sun was rising fast. I could see the silhouette of the osprey nest.

Zooming in it looked like one of the baby osprey was being fed.

I walked back towards the nest and could get a better shot of the two almost grown babies sitting with a parent. The baby on the left was pulling a fish apart.

A pretty willet in his breeding feathers was the first shorebird I saw.

Farther up the beach I ran into the 2 juvenile oystercatchers. These guys were growing up fast having hatched at the end of April. They were banded recently with YC6 & YC7.

They were both just walking the beach together.

Mom was close by.

Another oystercatcher showed up and Mom started screaming at it (it wasn’t Dad). Mom chased the interloper far down the beach.

The babies knew there was danger and they both hunched down into a sand holes and stayed there until Mom got back.

I think this was Dad that came back first because the babies ran to him.

Out at the far north beach tip I could see big boats out in the gulf.

Both parents were on the osprey nest when I got back to the parking lot. This was a great nest, sitting low and right in the parking lot.

The backyard in late May into early June

On October 6, 2025November 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

We’ve had 2 bunnies in the backyard since May. They both still come every few late afternoons, although not always at the same time. The first shot is the smaller bunny which I think may be offspring of the bigger one.

We had several juvenile tufted titmouse visit. They still have a little bit of cream in the corner of their beaks and don’t look so scruffy as the adults. I’m assuming they nest somewhere nearby.

We had a lot of juvenile cardinals as well.

Bluebirds have become regulars to the dried mealworm feeder and I can’t stop taking pictures of them.

We had a pair of brown thrashers in the backyard for a few weeks.

I saw the Carolina wrens hopping around and watched them go into my neighbor’s patio as the juvenile was still following the parent with the bug. The parent was teaching the young one to look for bugs but the young one just wanted to be fed.

My hanging shrimp plants were doing well. The hummingbirds get the nectar from inside the white part of the bloom.

I found some lacewing eggs on my jade plant that is up against the sunroom window. Those tiny white dots turn into something that looks like a moth but are a pretty green. I had the dots along the window as well but still haven’t seen any of the actual lacewings in the yard.

This is the first time I’ve seen one of these. A green coneheaded planthopper.

Taken through the window, a squirrel looking at me with an acorn in his mouth. I think he was afraid I was going to watch where he hid it.

I saw the turkeys through the window but since they were across the fairway I snuck out the back door and was able to get the above from the patio.

Later I looked out the back window and this one was right in front of our patio. I took the above through the window as she stared at me for a few seconds and then left with her friends.

Sunset going down behind the pond across the street.

Critters around the neighborhood

On October 4, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

We had rain all morning in the neighborhood in early June. Once it stopped I was ready to get out of the house so I headed out on my bike for a quick spin.

Since it had just stopped raining I took a quick detour on the golf course behind our house thinking there wouldn’t be any golfers coming through for a while. I ran into a limpkin and a great egret.

The sun was out by the time I made it around the neighborhood and I slowed down when I saw a head pop out of the pond. He climbed onto the bank but didn’t go any farther. There were several people walking their dogs and they all saw it before getting too close.

Early one morning I was going to the grocery store and saw 2 figures from far away on the left side of the road. I slowed down and realized it was 2 coyotes. One was black. I had heard about a black coyote in the neighborhood but this was the first time seeing one. Black coyotes are not rare but are uncommon in Florida. They get their color from a genetic mutation known as melanism. The black one crossed first, right in front of me. I was glad no one was behind me because they would have been honking to hurry up.

The brown one crossed next and stopped in front of me and had to scratch an itch. I didn’t have my camera which was just as well since I wouldn’t have been able to get it out quick enough but my phone was right there.