Neighborhood critters in late September

On February 7, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The summer rains were continuing through September. We had a constant small puddle in between our yard and the golf course. The ibis spent a lot of time taking baths in the puddles. One afternoon I slipped outside to get some shots of them that were not through the window.

The doves preferred to take their baths in the bird bath.

Another bluebird shot with a worm in his beak.

Migrating house finches were passing through and stopping by the feeder.

I was coming into the neighborhood one morning and saw a black bellied whistling duck family in the pond at the entrance. I luckily had my camera in the car and pulled over to catch the babies napping.

I sat in my car for a while watching and after a few minutes they got up and waddled over closer to the water. I thought they were going in for a swim but they took another break. This was the last time I saw them until recently and now they are all grown up.

Summer storms moving through the area. I walked out on the golf course across the street to get that last shot. The sun was just peeking out and turned the sky pink.

Not one but two baby duck families!

On February 24, 2024February 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I got to Lettuce Lake Park right when they opened at 8am. The moon was still up and I could see vultures circling near the moon. I hadn’t been to this park in a long time since I moved farther away. It was mid-November and I wasn’t expecting to find anything new but I had heard there were black bellied whistling ducks babies and thought that would be fun to see them if I could find them in this big park.

I didn’t see a lot of birds when I first started walking but then I found this great blue heron in one corner of the boardwalk. As I was taking his picture I saw something floating farther behind him that looked like ducks.

I found a black bellied whistling duck family with older babies. They were dabbling around in the water and one of the young babies was trying to nap but eventually he joined his siblings.

I walked a little farther down the boardwalk and found some younger babies. These guys were young enough to still look a little like floating bumble bees. They were all sitting on a big stump in the water but looked like they were going in for a swim.

Once the other parent got in the water they all started jumping in after her. They were pretty far back in the swamp and looked like they were heading farther back so I walked back to the other family.

The older babies were closer to the boardwalk and they were so busy feeding.

And I was back to the little babies. They were climbing back up on the stump but didn’t stay there long. I spent quite a while running back and forth between the two families. The younger babies eventually swam farther back in the swamp so it was time to head home.

Across the swamp I could see a tall cypress tree that had turned into an ibis tree. I guess they were going to take a mid-morning nap up there.

A productive bike ride in the neighborhood

On December 9, 2023December 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I was heading out of my street on my bike one morning when I saw a black bellied whistling duck sitting on the side of the lake across the street from our home. This was the first time I’ve seen one in our neighborhood.

I pedaled around to the big open utility field and stopped to take some shots of the above deer. I don’t see bucks often so I had to stop and get a shot of him even if it was across the field.

Yes, more turkey shots. I was cruising around and saw some turkeys up on a roof. They must have had a pretty good view from up there. Eventually they started coming down and pecking around in the grass.

I ran into some nanday parakeets that were feeding on someone’s feeder.

My 2nd neighborhood fawn sighting. This Mom only had 1 baby. They crossed the street and went behind someone’s house that backed up to some woods.

I was waiting at a stop sign for traffic to move (but really just taking a rest) and heard a black bellied whistling duck. I looked over and there were 2 sitting under a tree near the main road into the neighborhood. I started snapping some shots and realized they had babies with them. There was a pond nearby but they were not that close to it.

They headed down into the ditch and made their way towards the pond. Of course they went to the pond that had houses around them so I lost sight of them. I didn’t want to walk into someone’s backyard (as tempting as that was). These were taken across the street and heavily cropped. Those babies stayed close to Mom. A third whistler showed up as they were heading to the pond. I wonder if it was the same one that was in the lake across from our house. I didn’t see it there again.

Heading back home I ran into more turkeys on the other side of the neighborhood.

Flappers at Circle B Bar Reserve

On December 11, 2021November 12, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Some of the little birds that are often seen at Circle B Bar Reserve are the house wren and common yellowthroat.

We were looking for the yellow billed cuckoo along the trail and someone spotted this summer tanager from across the marsh. It’s the first time I’ve seen one here.

We found the pair of cuckoos but they were doing their best to hide high up in the trees.

The usual birds to find in the water here. A common moorhen taking a bath and the grebes have returned for the winter.

“Mom, pay attention. That lady is watching us.”

“She’s not going to bother us unless she’s willing to wade through alligator infested marsh”

“Okay, so we can relax. It’s been a busy morning eating bugs.”

Later I passed the black bellied whistling duck family (looks like the other parent is here) and the babies were all napping. It’s such a treat to see these babies here since the main trails are closed in the summer. This is a late family for late October.

My version of “Quack” Friday.

On January 16, 2017April 10, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

White ibis coming in for a landing.

A great blue heron posing for me.

Since there is an abundance of green herons this year, you’ll be seeing a lot of these.

I had heard there were black bellied whistling duck babies at the reserve but I didn’t think I would actually find them. I found them but they were in a weird spot in the marsh and the family was not going to move for a while. The babies were already half grown so they were easier to see hiding in the reeds and muck.

I was not going to go shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It was too nice to be indoors. So instead of a “Black” Friday, I headed out for a long walk at Circle B Bar Reserve. Sunny and 70 degrees with no crowds.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing