Life on the dock.

On October 17, 2026November 4, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I was back out on the dock at Chesnut Park in mid-May looking for the baby purple gallinules. At first I just saw the adults above. Both parents were running around the big spadderdock leaves looking for food.

I finally got a quick glance of the little black fuzzballs but they were far away and kept hiding under the big leaves.

A juvenile little blue heron was also creeping around in the muck looking for food.

A male wood duck flies in.

There are lots of turtle hanging around under the dock.

Becoming friends.

Blooming along the boardwalk.

Yard visitors in April

On September 7, 2026October 8, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

In April I found this lady on my gardenia bush. At first I got excited thinking it was a native ladybug but after doing some searching I found out it was an invasive asian lady beetle. They are known to infest homes but we haven’t seen any inside yet.

A moth on the blooming leopard plant in the backyard.

Squirrels being cute in the backyard. I don’t know if that first one is eating bark or eating the ants off the bark.

A new visitor to the backyard was a yellow throated vireo. He showed up for a few days. He was constantly singing but I never saw a mate.

The first Carolina wren babies of the year. Mom in the top shot and the babies in the bottom with that bit of baby fuzz still on their heads.

The usual visitors included northern parulas and chickadees.

Sunsets across the street. In spring the sun goes down in the far left side of the lake.

A quick video of some black bellied whistling ducks flying over to the other side of the lake at sunset.

This guy hangs out in the lake so I have to keep an eye out when I’m getting sunset shots.

An anhinga drying off.

One night I was able to get a video of her flapping her wings dry on a branch.

The masked birds and a gator

On August 22, 2026September 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

This guy greeted me when I started to walk down the trail at Possum Branch Preserve in mid-April. He was in the middle of the pond and looked like he was trying to take a nap in the water.

Blooming along the trail.

As he hovered over the pond, an osprey was doing his angel pose while he looked for something to eat

I made it to the big mulberry tree and I got lucky this trip. The tree was already full of cedar waxwings feasting on the berries. Sometimes I get here and there isn’t anything on the tree and it can be a long wait before they fly in. They fed for about 10 minutes before flying across the trail to the cypress trees.

They rest for 20-30 minutes and then fly back to the mulberry tree to continue eating. The waxwings are migrating birds and are here anywhere from January through April. Some years I will see them several times and some years I won’t see them at all. This year they hung out at this preserve for several weeks.

More berry eating.

As I was leaving the alligator had come up to the bank of the pond to take a nap. I walked on the far edge of the trail and kept an eye on him as I walked by. If they see anyone on the trail here they usually slip back into the water but you just never know.

Around the neighborhood in early January

On May 18, 2026June 8, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals1 Comment

Another foggy morning in the front yard in early January.

The winter birds were coming to the suet feeder every day including pine warblers and yellow throated warblers.

Annoying blue jays are always around but I don’t see them take a bath often.

At some point I realized that black bellied whistling ducks were hanging around the pond across the street. I would hear them whistling in the morning or near the end of the day. The pond is shaped like a big square and there are houses on two sides (woods on the far back side and the front side runs along the street in front of our house). I think they must have been sleeping here. Some mornings they would take off and come back right before dark. Some days they were here most of the day. I was able to sneak over and hide behind a tree and get some shots of them.

They would spend the morning flying back and forth across the pond and chasing each other around. They would get water and hang out with the ibis. I rarely saw them swimming in the water (aren’t ducks suppose to swim?). Later in the month I counted over 30+ here and I took tons of pictures of them so more on them later.

An anhinga swimming by me wondering why I was hiding behind the tree.

I always keep my eye out for the gators. I’ve seen 2 in this pond.

A snapping turtle came up on the grass while I was watching the ducks.

Flowers blooming around the yard before the cold spell hit.

I saw the neighborhood coyote couple again. They were in the same spot where I saw them last summer. This time I had my camera in the car as I was leaving the neighborhood. It was early on a Sunday and there were no cars behind me so I was able to get some good shots of them as they crossed the street in front of me again.

They are such a handsome couple although I would not want to be walking by myself at night and come across them.

Fun things under water

On May 4, 2026June 8, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals6 Comments

I had such a clear view of the fish that I felt like I was snorkeling without getting wet. Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park has an underwater viewing bowl. It was heavily damaged during the hurricanes in 2024 and was just recently renovated and reopened. The glass was so clean and unscratched and the water here in the springs is also clear as I watched them swim close to the windows.

At one point the fish were parting and a wild manatee came right up to the window.

Up on the dock that is over the river, I could see people kayaking with the manatees. There are roped off areas where the manatees can escape to if there are too many people around. There are also volunteers in kayaks that make sure that everyone is respectful of the manatees.

One with an injured tail goes floating by the dock. The tail was probably hit by boat motors.

A Mom with her young one was also near the dock. The water in the springs stays warmer than out in the open water in the gulf so manatees come here in the winter to stay warm. The Wildlife Park also rehabs injured manatees until they are well enough to be released.

Is he trying to hide under that tiny leaf on his head???

Most of the animals here are injured or displaced wildlife. This beautiful piebald deer was found as a baby without a Mom and was raised here. She was looking up at me as I stood on the raised deck over the huge deer area. I found some information on piebald deer that you can read here. Less than 2% of white tail deer have this and most with extreme white fur don’t survive long. Hopefully she can live out a long life here.

Fun morning at the zoo

On March 14, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

In early December Brett and I made another trip to the zoo. The weather was too nice to be indoors and we had so much fun on our last trip. The gibbons are always a hit at the zoo and the young one was having fun swinging while the parents watched from the ground.

A quick video of the penguins swimming right in front of us.

Brett had never taken the buggy ride and since we were there early we hopped right on. The Marabou storks were walking around and kept stopping in front of the buggy so we were stuck there for a few minutes.

A type of gazelle in the elephant area.

That was one big fat lazy gator. I’m sure he’s popular with kids.

The mallard thought this manatee was just a big floating pillow.

Watching a manatee and mallard eat their breakfast.

The zoo was decorated for the holidays. This certainly said “Florida Christmas”.

The big critters were out playing.

I think I could fall asleep watching these giant tortoises eat their breakfast. It must take them all day.

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.

They both sauntered across the golf course and disappeared behind some bushes.

Not yet “purple” kids

On September 27, 2025September 27, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In late May I was back at Chesnut Park hoping to see the almost grown raccoon families hanging around the boardwalks. All I saw was the above. Someone was sleeping in with his foot hanging out of the hole.

This turtle was laying eggs just off the trail. Unfortunately those eggs are going to be an easy meal for the raccoons to find, if not the crows.

I had heard there were purple gallinule babies along the lake but at first all I saw was one adult just off the dock.

I came off the dock and walked around the lake near the edge and saw the above almost hidden in the shade near some trees. This baby was almost as big as the parent. He was a little skittish so I hid in the bushes for a while.

Mom showed up with a spadderdock bloom and started feeding it to her young one.

She grabbed another bloom and that’s when I realized she had 2 kids to feed. She stayed busy for a while although the older one might have already been feeding himself. He was off by himself looking for food most of the time. Luckily we were off in a hidden corner of the lake and no one came around to scare them off while I was there.

An almost hidden alligator. I could just barely make out his black back through the ferns. I was on the raised boardwalk so I wasn’t too concerned if he woke up.

A neighborhood spin on my bike

On September 10, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals5 Comments

I was out on my bike early one morning in May with just my phone, hoping not to get rained on but the skies cleared up quickly. As I turned the corner off our street I could see deer running across the golf course.

The goldenrod was blooming along the street.

A limpkin crossing the dam on one of the ponds.

A quick video of a big alligator going into hiding.

A swallow tail kite cruising high over the trees.

There were lots of turtles on the banks once the sun was out.

A juvenile little blue heron creeping around the pickerelweed along the edge.

A yellow crowned night heron out in the day.

One of the smaller alligators that hangs out behind the club house parking lot. He got a little too close and I kept backing up in the grass. This shot was cropped up.

One of the other bigger ones heading into the water. This one seems to live in this spot where there aren’t any houses on both sides of the pond. There’s a small bridge so I was up high.

There are a lot of alligators in the neighborhood since there are so many ponds. Most are pretty small and the 2 big ones aren’t near the golf course. I’m sure if they start hanging out on the course they end up “gone” or “disappear”.

Baby critter season was in full swing.

On September 6, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

I made it back to the ruby throated hummingbird nest at Chesnut Park just in time to catch Mom feeding the little babies in early May. Zooming in with my 600mm lens I could see 2 tiny beaks peeking out over the top of the nest. Mom was feeding the one on the left in the 2nd shot.

This is an uncropped shot with my camera. The nest is across the river and up in a tree. I’m not sure who the first person was that found this nest. Talk about a needle in a haystack. I guess the hummingbird buzzed by them on the trail and they followed it with their eyes to the other side and saw it land.

I didn’t stay long at the nest. Walking along the boardwalk I spotted the usual birds, a limpkin and a male anhinga drying off his wings.

There’s always a lot of baby moorhens in the spring.

I was able to find the green frogs again since they were spending time near the small dock. An alligator was close by the frogs.

I ran into some friends on the back boardwalk and we were talking about how the 2nd raccoon family had moved from their original tree. I had not seen them yet and thought I would miss them. As we were looking around for the owl we saw this baby raccoon stick his head out of a hole. I took the above with my phone.

The Mom had moved her 3 babies to a tree farther down the boardwalk. We only got a look at the one baby but could hear some noises coming from the tree. I heard a few weeks later the family was seen moving around the area, the babies all grown up.