Yellow flowers and birds

Posted on October 2, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was mid-May and I was hoping the yellow flowers were out at Myakka River State Park. Tickseed is the official Florida state wildflower and blooms naturally in central Florida during May. The park is one of the best places to see it blooming. Huge fields of yellow as far as you can see. I was hoping to see some birds as well since migration was still going on.

I ran into some other birders when I first got there and they were heading into the swamp just off the main road to see some barred owls (you could actually see the owls from the road if you knew where to look through the trees). We couldn’t find the adults but the 2 juveniles were easy to spot. They both still had a little baby fuzz on their heads. The oldest was trying to take an early morning nap until the sun hit his face. The younger one in the bottom shot was wide awake and looking around.

We then found one of the adults. She took off quickly farther into the woods.

The thistle was also blooming.

Some black bellied whistling ducks flew overhead.

There were several limpkins feeding along the bank of the river.

I watched this great blue heron play with his food for 15 minutes before leaving.

I saw a record number for me of alligators on this trip to the park. More on them and the tickseed later.

A park and a bike ride

Posted on August 26, 2023 by dinajohnston

In late April I made a quick stop at Chesnut Park to see if there were any migrating birds hanging around. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of warblers come through here during migration but the only thing I found was the usual titmouse. They come really close because people feed them here. They come down close to the boardwalk to see if you have snacks. Once they realize you aren’t carrying they head back up to the tops of the trees.

The squirrels are also being fed here so they check you out as well.

I came home and it was still to early for lunch so I hopped on my bike and went for a quick pedal around the neighborhood. The first thing I saw was a bunny. A brown thrasher flew in front of me as I was taking a picture of the bunny. Was he posing for me?

I found a limpkin in the pond down the street from our house in the same spot the limpkin babies were last year. The water was much lower this year and at first I only saw the adult. He was calling to another limpkin that was farther down the creek.

I left my bike in the bushes and followed the creek along the golf course (no one was playing at the time) and saw another adult limpkin far in the woods. I could just barely make out a baby in the sticks. They stayed pretty hidden and eventually worked their way down behind the houses so I couldn’t follow them any farther. I’m assuming they were farther back since the water was a little higher there.

And, a random alligator that I saw in the neighborhood. This was taken with my 300mm lens and cropped so he was pretty far away.

A bike ride through the neighborhood

Posted on August 3, 2023 by dinajohnston

In mid-April I headed out for a quick bike ride around the neighborhood. I wasn’t expecting to find much but I still put my camera in my backpack. As soon as I got down the street I saw the above swallow tailed kite flying around in circles and followed him farther down the street to the utility field. I was thinking he was going to head past the trees and disappear but I stopped and pulled my camera out and waited anyway. He did come back around and for once I was ready. He was still far away but I was able to get one shot of him eating something while flying, assuming it’s a dragonfly.

The swallow tailed kite flew away and as I was putting my camera back in the backpack I saw something fly into the bushes out of the corner of my eye. It was an eastern kingbird. A first sighting in my neighborhood. He flew over to the sign and posed for a while.

I stopped by the only osprey nest in the neighborhood that’s actually in a tree. There are tons of them here but the rest are on a platform or utility pole. I still haven’t seen a baby in this nest but it’s up high and they could be sleeping.

Other usual neighborhood birds include a yellow crowned night heron, an anhinga sunning himself and a juvenile little blue heron that is just starting to turn blue.

I saw an adult eagle flying from the other end of the neighborhood and land on a utility tower with another eagle.

Of course the tower was right into the sun but I could see them out in the field sitting on the tower. I’m thinking this is the other couple that has a nest farther down the field.

Of course a bike ride wouldn’t be complete without an alligator sighting or several. This was a tiny one sitting on the bank of a small pond, almost blending in.

Pedaling around the neighborhood

Posted on May 11, 2023 by dinajohnston

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.

A juvenile blue heron sitting in the grass along the bank of the pond.

One of the regulars going down for a nap.

Around the yard

Posted on February 11, 2023 by dinajohnston

Usual birds at the backyard feeder in early January. It’s rare to see another bird on the feeder when a woodpecker is on there. Most of the little birds scatter when a woodpecker flies towards it.

The bluebirds are now regular visitors and keep checking out the nest box.

Goldfinches show up about once a week.

A dove and a black and white warbler hiding in the bushes.

My husband asks why the hanging plant isn’t blooming. It’s because the squirrels keep eating the blooms. I’ll never buy another purslane plant again. They have stripped this one clean.

One of the many alligators in the neighborhood. I caught this guy on my bike ride.

Ibis were sleeping in the trees over the alligator.

This wood stork was sitting along the lake across the street from our house.

A walk through the swamp

Posted on December 8, 2022 by dinajohnston

The sun was just coming up over the trees at Chesnut Park in late October. I was out for a walk with just my phone and the weather was perfect. It was all blue sky out on Lake Tarpon.

The rest of the walk was through the swamp (although I was on a boardwalk for most of it). The back boardwalk area was flooding after all of the rain we got from Hurricane Nicole coming through.

There were also some dry areas along the trail as well. The sun was making weird shadows through the trees and my phone picked up some alien looking light forms in one of the shots. Was it just tricks with the lens or was I not alone???

It was a beautiful morning to be out.

You can always find alligators along the ponds and lakes here. This morning I only found this tiny one.

Riding around the neighborhood.

Posted on August 22, 2022 by dinajohnston

Out for a bike ride this summer, I always stop at this small pond in the neighborhood. I’m sure it’s just a mosquito pit but I always hope to find some critters getting water. Maybe a deer or raccon but no, just mosquitos. I do hear pileated woodpeckers deep in the woods but I have yet to hike through there.

Just down from the pond the ditches are covered in these purple flowers. The frogs were really loud this morning since it had rained most of the night.

I need to get a bumper sticker for my bike that says “I brake for critters”. I’m not sure what those black vultures were eating. They wouldn’t let me get too close.

Back at home a bad storm was coming so I took the almost empty bird feeder down and left it just outside the back door. Later that day I look out the window and realized the squirrel had knocked it down and was eating the scraps. When he was done he hopped up on the chair and was giving me the eye to come add more food.

Our backyard camera picked up this bobcat creeping around at 2:30am. This was our first bobcat sighting in the neighborhood.

Color on the trees in late July.

All was calm before sunset at the lake across the street.

I have to watch where I stand when I’m taking shots of the sunset. The alligator above was on the shore just below me. He’s relatively small but I see him here often.

The return of the waxwings.

Posted on May 23, 2022 by dinajohnston

I always love seeing cedar waxwings. They looks so magestic,. This is the 2nd spring I’ve seen them at Possum Branch Preserve. They are usually hidden deep in the trees but if you are really quiet you can hear them wheezing up there.

A few minutes later they all took off and moved over to tree on the other side of the pond. I noticed the yellow tips on the bottom of his feathers in this shot.

There’s always a lot of alligators and bunnies here.

One of the ponds here is fenced in. It’s used as a watershed but I’m not sure why this one is fenced and the others are not. I found a family of limpkins moving along the fence in early April. The parents had 4 babies. They stayed hidden in the brush along the fence but I could see them looking for a way into the fenced pond. One of the parents flew in and two of the babies were able to get through the fence holes. The other parent stayed on the outside with the other 2 but eventually they also made it through the fence. If they stay in the fenced area another day or two those babies won’t make it back through until they can fly out.

It was a warm sunny morning and this great blue heron was panting.

Possum Branch Preserve

Posted on May 9, 2022 by dinajohnston

Since Possum Branch Preserve is close to my house now I’ve been stopping by there for a quick walk pretty regularly before it gets to hot. Most of the time I only see the usual birds and the red winged blackbirds are the most common. Above is a female.

There was an American bittern that spent the winter here. Most of the time he was hidden in the reeds but I managed to catch him coming out to feed one morning.

There was a blue winged teal here for a short time.

Little blue herons are everywhere but I thought he looked pretty against the green.

A sora rail also spent the winter here but I only caught hime once. He also hides in the reeds most of the time and blends in well.

I saw this big guy napping from across the pond.

By the time I got around to the other side he had turned around. These are super cropped up.

This one is also cropped up. This guy was a little smaller.

Around the neighborhood.

Posted on January 4, 2022 by dinajohnston

I went for a quick walk early one morning in early December. I was heading for a pond down from my home and caught this guy flying right in front of me. He was so close I couldn’t get his legs in the shot.

The small pond down from my home was quiet. I only found a mallard couple and a small alligator.

Birds from my window include bluebirds and a pileated woodpecker.

Walking around in my small backyard I could see that my neighborhor’s feeder had lots of bluebirds. It looks like he had changed out the mealworms for a suet. He was also getting woodpeckers and pine warblers.

On another morning walk I found the deer in the open field down the street.

The small camellia bush in front of our garage started blooming. I didn’t realize they bloom in the fall here and it was a nice pop of color in the front yard.

I made some fun nature art with a few of the fall leaves on our patio. Yes we do have seasons here in central Florida. Fall doesn’t really start until early December. The leaves were changing but I had on shorts and a tshirt and was sweating making my fall leaf circle.

Dina's Wildlife Adventures

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