Fish were jumping on my walk

On August 27, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

In mid-May I started out at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs for a walk on the causeway. School was still in and the beach area was nice and quiet. I didn’t stay long and on the way home I decided to stop at Wall Springs Park for another walk.

This a small park but has a great 3 story observation tower. I usually take the stairs up to the top and the ramp back down.

From the top you can see out to the gulf. As I was walking back down the long ramp I noticed that a lot of the taller trees did not have any leaves on them. I’m assuming this is from the hurricanes that came through last fall. I hope they grow back in the next year and aren’t completely dead.

The mullet were jumping. It’s fun to see them jump out of the water but it’s hard to time it just right. Sometimes they jump out twice so I was ready with my phone. I’ve read that you can catch mullet with a fishing pole but it’s rare and hard to do. Most people catch them with cast netting. My husband loves smoked mullet but I’m not a fan.

I took some quick videos of them jumping as I stood on the dock in the shallow area.

Some other type of fish swimming by the dock.

A two nest morning

On August 23, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

I did not find this ruby throated hummingbird nest on my own. It became a well known nest once it was spotted and at first I heard there were tons of people there to get shots of it so I waited several weeks before going.

I took the above with my phone. The nest was off the trail and across the wide creek. It’s in the red star area. I brought my heavy 600mm lens and the first shot is heavily cropped. There had been several hummingbirds buzzing around the area and I guess some people watched them fly across the creek to the nest.

Just down from the hummingbird nest was a raccoon nest. This nest was easy to spot. The tree was almost up against the boardwalk and Mom would sleep hanging out of the hole as her babies got bigger.

I heard there were 3 babies in that hole but after waiting over an hour I only got a quick glimpse of one baby when Mom was moving around.

Mom came back outside the hole and entertained us for a few minutes before going back to sleep.

I made a quick lap around the park before leaving and saw one of the eagles in the usual spots.

Wading critters near the dock.

Sunrise and the dolphin show

On July 28, 2025August 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

Another early morning at Fort Desoto Park. It was mid-April and I was going down to the park (about an hour south of me) regularly since it was spring migration time. Besides seeing different birds coming through, the sunrise was later and we could get in to see the sun come up from the beach (the park opens at 7am). The mosquitoes weren’t bad yet and those pesky summer tourists hadn’t arrived yet in big numbers.

Seafoam on the beach.

Turning around I noticed the moon was still up high as the sun came up.

Someone had left this shoe on a tree along the trail. It must have been in the water a long time with all of the barnacles on it.

This view never gets old.

Boat traffic headed in and out of the bay.

After a walk on the trails and the beach I stopped at the gulf fishing pier before leaving. The dolphins were busy trying to steal fish from the fishermen and were coming close to the pier.

This one came right up under the pier and I could see his fresh scars. I’m not sure what could have made those. He might have scraped his head along the pier pilings trying to get bait fish.

A quick video taken with my phone as he glided under the pier.

Seeing manatees on my walk

On July 16, 2025August 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Uncategorized10 Comments

The view from my morning walk at the Safety Harbor waterfront in early April.

It was a weekend morning and Main Street was mostly deserted except for the other early walkers that were stopping for coffee at the local favorite coffee spot.

Pretty black-eyed Susan flowers in front of the hotel next to the fishing pier.

On my way back to the car I looped around the sidewalk along the marina. I noticed two snouts coming up out of the water. I was so excited to see manatees right in front of the sea wall at the entrance to the marina. Manatees were regularly spotted at the end of the fishing pier all year but the pier got wiped out from Hurricane Helene in September and they hadn’t been seen since until recently in the marina. I was lucky to catch them this morning close by.

There were two and I’m thinking they may have been mating. You can see my shadow in the bottom picture and see how close I was to them. I took all of these with my phone.

Above is a quick video of them splashing the surface with their backsides.

One quick shot of the pier before heading home. The city is just starting to replace the pier and repair the damaged marina. The marina parking lot and boat ramp will be closed for at least a year to fix everything. The mangrove boardwalk on the other side of the waterfront should remain open so I’ll have to start my walk from there going forward.

Boys and girls in the woods

On May 24, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals3 Comments

It’s not often that I see the “boys” at Chesnut Park. I was there early one morning in February to look for owls but I got distracted by the beautiful bucks that kept crossing the trail. I saw 3 different ones with all different sizes of antlers. They were not shy at all. The park is full of does and the bucks spend most of their time in woods farther north of the park and only come to the park during mating season.

Later on the boardwalk I passed two ladies who had come for a drink in the small pond.

I wondered if they were Mother and daughter since they were having a bonding moment.

A not quite fully grown purple gallinule was feeding close to the dock.

I see an adult flying out on the lake.

A tiny alligator was also close to the dock. It’s rare to not see one here.

It still looked like fall in the woods.

The lake was covered in duckweed but was already turning brown from the few cold nights we had.

Dolphins in the fog

On May 7, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals7 Comments

I love foggy walks in the winter on the Dunedin causeway. In early February I thought the sun was going to break through when I started my walk.

The sun went back into hiding as I walked over to the south side of the causeway.

I was taking pictures of the dowitchers as they fed on the shoreline and I saw the dolphins coming up for air a little farther out.

Even through the fog I could see them. There wasn’t a ripple in the water.

I stood there for a while taking videos, hoping they would come even closer but they stayed pretty far out. It was low tide so they probably couldn’t get much closer to the shoreline.

The egrets were creeping along the shallow edge looking for food.

One last look at the dolphins before finishing my walk. They were heading towards the pass and out into the gulf at this point.

Walking over the bridge in the fog.

A ring billed gull taking a break.

Time to go home.

Big floating things and other Florida animals

On April 7, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals4 Comments

It was a beautiful morning in mid-January when I was at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. The woods were full of fall leaves (we usually go right from fall in early January to summer in mid-March).

It had been really cold for 2 weeks so I was hoping to see some wild manatees near the boardwalk and bridge. As I came around the corner on the trail I saw these big floating potatoes right under the shorter bridge. I took these with my phone since they were so close. They were all huddling together to keep warm. The natural springs here keeps the water warmer than the gulf so in the winter they come in and hang out close to the springs. It’s funny to watch them roll over. Did he want a belly rub?

They were all along the boardwalk as well but some of the areas were tough to get a picture of due to the reflections of the trees.

A Mom and her baby swimming by the dock.

A manatee mosh pit.

Just outside the park you can swim with the manatees. There are volunteer park rangers that patrol the area to make sure the manatees stay safe and no one enters the “manatee only” roped off areas along the river. You can see them from the dock inside the park and this ranger had a manatee come up and inspect his kayak.

You can see the fish in the shallow parts of the river. The water here is so clear.

The park also had some flamingos that are fun to watch, even when they are sleeping.

Red foxes are really shy and this one came out from hiding for just a few seconds.

This is a piebald white tailed deer, a rare genetic mutation causing white patches on otherwise brown fur. They are found mostly in northern Florida and less than 2% of the deer population has this. This one was a baby that was abandoned by his Mom and was brought in here to live safely with other deer. I hated taking a picture through the fence but I’ve never seen one in the wild and she was not moving from the fence even though she had a huge place to roam.

Lu, the former actor in movies and tv shows, turned 65 this month. Yes, Lu is a hippo. He is retired and resides at the park. I couldn’t find any specific named movies or shows he was in but one article noted that he was on the Art Linkletter Show which aired in the early 60’s. You can read about him here.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

A two park morning

On April 5, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

I found Pinky Nose again in early January. She was hanging out at the back boardwalk at Chesnut Park for weeks. She was not shy. I’m assuming people were feeding her.

The bald cypress trees at the end of the lake were still shedding their fall leaves. I pulled over and was on my way to get a shot of the sun coming through them when I saw the deer heading towards me so I backed off.

I was standing right off the trail and they walked right by me. They were so close so I took the above with my phone.

A quick video of them cruising by.

A pileated woodpecker was looking for bugs under the bark.

After my walk at Chesnut Park I stopped at nearby Possum Branch Preserve to look for cedar waxwings. I had heard there were a few there the day before. There was only one there on this morning. They are usually in flocks so it was weird to see just one. He had been feeding on the mulberries and was taking a break.

A palm warbler with a mulberry bite.

I spotted a Wilson’s snipe, a winter visitor, deep in the reeds. He popped his head out for a few seconds and I caught the above.

This big one was taking a nap on the bank. It looked like he was grinning at me.

It was sporting a necklace from the marsh. I was pretty far back and these were taken with my 400mm lens and cropped up. If I got any closer he would have taken a dive into the water. They are pretty shy here and usually jump in the water when someone is coming but I wouldn’t take any risks anyway.

A shot of him from across the pond. He had moved down closer to the water.

Playing in the neighborhood field.

On March 1, 2025February 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

I never know what I’m going to see driving through my neighborhood so I usually keep my camera in the car. I was coming home and as I drove by the utility field I saw some deer in the back of the field. I pulled over and noticed it was the same doe I had seen a few days earlier with that big booboo on her neck. She was running across the field towards two more deer.

She stopped when she reached them and they all started grazing. I sat in my car for a few minutes watching them.

After a while they all started chasing each other around the field. I’m assuming they were playing. One looked smaller than the other two and maybe it was a juvenile that was born this past summer. They played for a while, then grazed for a few minutes and then headed towards the woods. I was so glad I had my camera in the car because they were far away on the other side of the field. What a fun thing to see that morning.

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.