Two native things – yellow flowers and gators

On October 5, 2023October 4, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, flowers and plants5 Comments

When you first drive into Myakka River State Park you come to a small bridge. Most people pull off and park and walk over the bridge to look for alligators. I did the same. I saw all of the above from the bridge. Fourteen alligators in the first few minutes of driving into the park (all from a far away safe distance). That limpkin in the last shot was a little too close though.

After the bridge I pulled over at the big field to get some shots of the tickseed in full bloom.

Out in the field I noticed an eagle sitting high up in a utility tower.

There’s something magical about standing in a field of yellow flowers, especially one this big. I was only standing right off the road.

After taking in the flowers I headed over to the edge of lake to see what I could find. Walking down the path from the parking lot I had to keep my eyes open. This guy was just off the path so I stayed far away.

Looking across a small creek I could see the river bank full of them. I counted 32 alligators this morning. I’m sure it’s the most I’ve seen in one day.

🎵 “Fly like an eagle” 🎵

On July 15, 2023July 7, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

And he’s off, flying like the eagle that he is. 48 days from the first time I saw the baby eagle sitting up in the nest to the day I saw him flying. He was probably flying a few days before and I just missed it but it was great to see him taking those first flights.

He flew down the field to the next set of utility towers. One of the parents was sitting in the tower next to him. He landed on a the tower briefly and then flew over to the parent.

I could hear him screaming and I think he was telling his parent to go get him some food. The parent may have been trying to get him to follow him to hunt but I don’t think Junior was ready at this point. When the parent took off Junior flew back to the nest tower.

He came back and landed on the top of the tower.

I saw one of the parents flying by through the trees.

Junior landed back on the nest and waiting for his breakfast. He must have been hungry because it looked like he was chewing on a stick or maybe playing with it.

Someone was watching me from the field.

There are always a lot of red bellied woodpeckers in the trees at the eagle’s nest and this morning I got a brief glimpse of a great crested flycatcher.

I was looking for little critters while I waited for the eagle parent to bring Junior his breakfast but it got late and I had to run some errands so I left.

Another bike ride past the cows

On July 13, 2023July 11, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

AAnother bike ride in mid-April on my favorite trail that runs through the cow pastures. The sun had just come up when I got out there.

I stopped when I saw 2 sandhill cranes walking across the pasture. As I stood there they both went under the fence and onto the trail right in front of me. I had to quickly back up to fit the first one in the shot. I was trying to keep my distance but they kept walking closer. I hope people aren’t feeding them here.

Some of the usual birds along the trail. A great crested flycatcher and a meadowlark. Both with distinct calls so I heard them before I saw them.

When I first got to the eagle’s nest the almost grown babies were eating and a parent was sitting up there with them. Then the parent took off.

Cruising right past me.

As I was standing there watching the eagle flying around I saw the juvenile eagle fly down to the almost dry pond just under the nest. It seemed to be trying to catch something small but I don’t think he succeeded. It might have been a lizard.

The above is not a good shot and I almost didn’t take it thinking it was a red shoulder hawk but when I got home and cropped it up I realized it was a merlin. I have not seen one of those in a long time.

I think this calf now has his own personal cattle egret to follow him around and eat his bugs. They were staring at each other for a while.

This cow had his cattle egret close by but the colors on the cattle egret’s face looks like he was ready to start nesting.

Taken with my phone on the trail, the utility tower on the right is where the eagles have their nest.

A short walk at the “turtle park”

On July 8, 2023July 3, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

I decided to visit the small McGough Park to see if there were any migrating birds in the trees behind the turtle pond. Of course I had no luck on the birds but the pond is always full of turtles. Many were already coming out on the bank to soak up the sun early this morning.

It’s easy to see how the park got it’s nickname “The turtle park”.

There are also gopher tortoise hidden along the trail and if you look on the ground through the trees you might find one wandering around.

A green heron posing for me.

I was sitting on a bench under a tree and this Carolina wren came down next to me and started singing. I didn’t even have to crop this shot.

The park is also home to some permanently injured birds. They are well cared for here and I was able to see this screech owl (missing an eye) on his daily walk with his care taker.

This barred owl is Eugene and was also out for a walk with his care taker. He’s missing an eye as well.

Feasting on mulberries

On July 6, 2023July 3, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

I was standing on the trail at Possum Branch Preserve in April and I saw the above. I wasn’t surprised to see hundreds of cedar waxwings flying across the pond there. They’ve come for a visit at this preserve for several spring seasons. They usually stay for several weeks. The trick to see them up close is to catch them feeding at the big mulberry tree on the trail.

I brought a chair and waited for them to land on the tree. They are very skittish and sometimes only land for a few minutes before taking off across the preserve again. There were several of us sitting quietly on the other side of the trail as they landed in a tree near the mulberry tree.

After a few minutes they all headed over to the mulberry tree and started feasting on the berries. Most of the time they land on the back of the tree that backs up to the pond but sometimes a few might land on the front of the tree. Since this is a short walk from the parking area I spent some time this spring sitting in my chair near the tree.

Across the pond I could see the local residents.

More from my early April bike ride

On June 26, 2023June 17, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

Pedaling by the stables on the bike trail.

I found a pair of kildeer far out in the cow pasture.

A Savannah sparrow posed for me on the fence.

I spotted some turkeys on the far side of the cow pasture.

Critters taking a nap along the pond (these were both cropped up).

This is the first time I have seen a snapping turtle on this trail.

My first ever sighting of a Sherman’s fox squirrel. They are only found in Florida and south Georgia. I have heard of sightings of them farther north of Tampa and had heard there were some seen along this trail but I hadn’t seen them until this morning. There were 2 and they stayed far on the other side of the cow pasture so these are heavily cropped. They are bigger than the abundant gray squirrels we have in our backyard.

A red shoulder hawk had something furry in his talons and when I stopped to get my camera out he turned around to hide his prey. I quickly snapped the above and then left him to his meal.

A spring morning in late March

On June 12, 2023April 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals, flowers and plants5 Comments

I don’t remember ever seeing this green caterpillar. I found it in the butterfly garden at Folly Farms in Safety Harbor in late March. I usually only see monarch or gulf fritillary caterpillars. I had to look through tons of green caterpillar pictures to find it. This is a orange barred sulphur butterfly. I do see them here but have never seen the caterpillar.

So many little things flying around late in March. It had already been warm for a while so everything was blooming and the garden was full of butterflies, bees and other little critters.

There wasn’t many birds around though. A dove and a few bluebirds were all I could find on this morning.

I caught a swallow tail kite diving down behind the trees.

This was interesting. They have installed a wind phone at the farm. Originated in Japan, the phone is not connected but allows a one way conversation with deceased love ones. There’s a chalk board and you can leave notes. I did pick up the phone to make sure there wasn’t a dial tone (or maybe someone else on the other end?).

And then there was one

On June 10, 2023June 4, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? It was the end of March and I was sitting under a big tree at the eagle’s nest in my neighborhood when I thought I saw movement in the reeds under the nest. At first I thought I was crazy but then I saw her move again and realized a deer was watching me. She stood there frozen for about 30 seconds and then moved farther into the reeds.

The kestrel couple were still hanging around and stopped on the wire above me to enjoy a snack.

A few days later I was sitting on the other side of the nest since the babies seemed more visible from this angle. I only saw one baby sitting up but the other one could be sleeping.

Both parents were sitting high up on the other tower. A man walked over to me (I was sitting close to the pool and people stop and ask me about the eagles) and said there was a baby eagle down on the ground by the other condo building. I packed up my camera and chair and ran over.

There it was, sitting under a big tree. Several people were keeping an eye on it. They had tried called several agencies but couldn’t get anyone to respond. I called Raptor Center of Tampa Bay and Louise came out pretty quicky. Louise is our nearby resident raptor rescue expert.

She had her caught in no time and was checking her out to see what her injuries were. There were no injuries that she could see. Louise was thinking she was flapping her wings a little too hard and got some air and ended up landing down near the condos and couldn’t get back up to that nest in the tower. The eagle didn’t fight her at all but just watched Louise.

I helped hold the eagle while Louise put the hood on her (it keeps her calm and quiet) and put her into the crate. Off she went, to the raptor center to be checked out. Since the nest is in a Duke energy tower the eagle could not be placed back up there. Duke would have to cut the power to half of Oldsmar for a while to get her back up and they won’t do that. She spent a few weeks at the center until she was fully flighted and then released in central Florida.

And then there was one. I was glad I was there when the other baby got rescued because otherwise I would be going crazy wondering what happened to it. Now the younger baby will get the full attention from the parents. Louise said that 2 years ago both babies fell off the nest so I hope this last one stays put.

The next morning the monk parakeets were back on bottle brush tree.

A soft shell turtle was at the pond across the street from the nest. It looked like she was laying eggs.

A spring morning out

On May 15, 2023April 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals8 Comments

The water around the Safety Harbor fishing pier was really low the morning I was there in mid-March. There were a lot of shorebirds far out on a tiny spit. A few black bellied plovers, red knots and dowitchers were mixed in with tons of willets, gulls and terns.

Heading around the edge of some mangroves I could just make out 3 Canadian geese.

Several manatees were coming up for air.

A red-winged blackbird posing on the mangroves.

I stopped by Folly Farms on the way home. Lots of little critters there.

I rarely see butterflies mating.

Pedaling around the neighborhood

On May 11, 2023April 29, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals7 Comments

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.