Lots of ladies in the park

On April 20, 2026April 4, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

The welcoming committee at Chesnut Park in early January. I was driving in and saw them and pulled over to take a few pictures before heading to the back of the park for a walk. They looked over at me for a second and then went on feeding.

“Get out of the road, Lady. I got a walk to do.”

Out on the dock a purple gallinule was looking for food in the spadderdock leaves.

Gingerbread (named by the regular walkers at the park) is a domesticated duck that was probably someone’s pet and was dumped in the park. She seemed to be doing okay for a while and rescuers were trying to get her so I’m not sure what her status is.

Birds in the bushes above are a red bellied woodpecker and a yellow-rumped warbler.

I found a ruby-crowned kinglet hopping around with the other birds. I don’t see these birds often. The last time I saw one was in 2015. What a cute tiny bird.

A red shoulder hawk looking back at me.

An anhinga posing (actually drying off her wings) on top of the shelter roof.

A lady watching me from the dry swamp. She was so close I took this with my phone.

Lots of ladies as I was pulling out of my parking spot. No males around this morning.

Fighting bucks

On March 28, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

I have only gotten a few fleeting glimpses of this big guy at Chesnut Park recently. I was there early one morning in early December and saw him running through the woods off the back boardwalk.

I came off the boardwalk and was on the dirt trail when I heard a commotion in the woods. I went in a little ways and hid behind a tree and caught him and a slightly younger buck going at it. I couldn’t get any closer (not that I would have wanted to) so all I got are a few blurry shots of them locking antlers. They fought for just a minute and then the younger buck ran off and the older one went deeper into the woods.

A lady standing in front of the boardwalk.

The usual birds were a titmouse and a chickadee.

Spatterdock in the lake.

This cute pied grebe would flap her wings when coming up after a dive to get the excess water off.

I passed another lady on the trail.

This guy was not shy. I think this is the one fighting the bigger buck.

We were still in drought mode and the swamp was dry and full of the dead cypress leaves.

Flying up high and swimming underneath

On March 25, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

A few days before Christmas Brett and I went for a long walk along the water at the St. Pete Pier. As we drove into the parking lot I noticed the orchid trees were still blooming (although they were past the peak). I got out of the car and saw a flock of nanday parakeets flying into the tree right in front of our car. It was another one of those “I wish I had my camera” moments. Even though the parakeets blend into the leaves they were easy to spot because they were so LOUD.

The tide is usually super low in the winter.

We passed a party going on in the street. There was a DJ and they were playing music. They were dressed so colorfully and looked like they were having fun.

The entrance to the pier was decorated for the holidays.

We saw a lot of dolphins this morning.

These guys were cast netting for mullet. It’s hard to catch mullet with a fishing pole so most people use the nets. There were several boats along the pier pulling up the fish and the ones who had just arrived had the empty boats. The “mullet run” season runs September through November but they must have still been swimming around by the thousands in late December. I’m assuming there was going to be a lot of local restaurants with smoked mullet on the menu after this morning.

The dolphins were also doing some fishing in the same spot.

Climbing up the stairs of the pier to the top level, I could see Tampa far behind the sailing class.

Looking towards St. Pete.

On our walk back to the car I could hear more parakeets screaming as they fly by me under the sun.

They flew into a nearby palm tree and hung around for a few minutes before taking off again. These parakeets are wild here but not native to Florida. They were brought here from central America and have been growing in population since the 60’s.

Get to the park early

On January 24, 2026January 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

The welcoming committee at Chesnut Park. If you get there before 8am you can see lots of deer. As more people come into the park the deer start to head for the woods and disappear. I took the above with my phone out the car window in mid-October. The babies had lost their spots but were still smaller than the Moms.

A young buck was near the back of the park where I park my car.

These ladies (and one buck) were making their way towards the woods in the back of the park.

I didn’t see a lot of birds but managed to find a wintering female indigo bunting and a usual chickadee showing off.

I’m assuming this is a comfortable spot for this guy above.

Looking out over the lake.

More deer before leaving. I saw 18 deer this morning which is a lot. I usually only see a few each trip.

Fun animals at the zoo

On January 17, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals4 Comments

We had a brief cold front (meaning high of 75) in late October. Brett and I decided to spend the morning walking at the zoo. We got there right as the macaws were having their fly over. They free-fly from the front of the zoo and circle around the main area before landing on the perch. They were moving so fast it was hard to keep up with them.

The Marabou storks were flirting on the nest. They already had an egg so they must have been celebrating.

Koala bears sleep up to 22 hours a day and it’s rare to catch them awake. This one did a few stretches and a big yawn before going back to sleep.

I guess three’s not a crowd. I was watching this couple flirting and then another parakeet showed up and they all flirted with each other.

The flamingos were waiting to be fed.

At first I thought this yellow billed stork was trying to hear what I was telling him but no, he was just scratching an itch. It’s fun when they come close in the open aviary.

The ducks were using the manatees as a floatation device. The manatee hospital is always busy caring for, rehabilitating and releasing injured manatees.

A quick video of the manatee eating his yummy lettuce.

A turtle pops his head up to give us a look.

Another “this never gets old” treat.

On December 20, 2025December 3, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

A sliver of sunrise was peeking through the clouds at the end of August on my walk at the Safety Harbor waterfront. After a short walk I headed to nearby Philippe Park to walk the stone stairs on the back side of the Indian mound (I was prepping for all of that walking and stairs on the Italy trip coming up).

Right as I walked out on the walkway on the waterfront this dolphin popped up in front of me. There were 2 feeding along the seawall and I spent half an hour watching them swim back and forth in front of me.

It was high tide this morning so they were herding the fish into the sea wall.

I took so many short videos with my phone and these were the best ones. At this point there was a small crowd also watching.

This was one of those “it never gets old” treats that we see here in the area.

The dolphins finally moved down the sea wall and towards the open bay so I started my stair climbing while it was still cloudy.

So many spots

On November 29, 2025November 14, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals3 Comments

At the end of August I made another late afternoon drive through at Chesnut Park, hoping to see more of those cute spots. There were a lot of deer along the back wooded line of the ball field including the guy above.

Then I saw 4 fawns playing together at the farthest end of the field. I think this was a big year for baby deer.

After a few minutes they all headed into the woods so I continued my drive through the park.

At the other end of the park I found a Mom and baby.

I sat in my car and watched them feed on a beauty berry bush.

Then I found 2 more at the far corner of the park. These two were also playing and then one crossed in front of my car.

This lady was alone and I waited for her to cross the bridge and go onto the trail before passing by as I headed home. This was a fun afternoon.

This never gets old.

On November 15, 2025October 31, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals3 Comments

I was making many trips to Chesnut Park in late August. There isn’t much else to get excited about since it’s so hot here and birds are scarce. The fawns here are such a treat to see and they grow up so fast. I stopped in late one afternoon and the park was almost deserted (way too hot and I drove through instead of walking) so the deer were out along the street through the park.

This little one was old enough now to hang out with the whole herd including a buck.

After leaving the park I drove through a nearby neighborhood and saw this couple feeding in someone’s yard. For some reason the deer sightings in my neighborhood have been very scarce and this is the first summer in 4 years I haven’t seen any babies in our neighborhood.

These two ladies were taking a break.

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.

More fawns in the park.

On October 25, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

I was back at Chesnut Park in early August hoping to see more baby deer. This time of year there isn’t much in the parks except mosquitoes and deer flies so it’s a good reason to load up on bug spray and get out for a walk. I got there early and first stopped at the baseball field. Across the field I could see some adults including one male.

Close to the woods I saw a Mom and her baby. They were looking at something from the other direction of the woods.

Here comes another Mom and baby. They seemed to know each other and greeted each other with sniffs.

All of a sudden many adults appeared from the woods and started to feed and ignored the babies.

The babies were playing and chasing each other. It was such a treat to sit on the sidelines and watch them having fun together across the field. I had my 400mm lens and these are all cropped up.

This lopsided young guy walked right up to me and I kept backing up. I’m sure someone is feeding them which is highly discouraged and there are signs saying it is illegal to do so.

I walked over to the other side of the ball field and could see another baby near the maintenance area.

This handsome guy stopped to glance at me for a few minutes in between eating. More people were starting to show up and the deer started to make their way into the woods so I left to walk the back boardwalk.