A productive bike ride in the neighborhood

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.

September in the yard

I looked out the back window one morning and saw deer on our patio. One was so close. I took these with my camera through the window. I knew they would take off if I opened the door but I think they still saw me.

One walked over to my Christmas cactus (that wasn’t blooming at the time) and started eating it. I took a video of if and above is one of the stills. She demolished it. It was a small one and wasn’t doing very well so I didn’t try and stop her. I replanted the pot with petunias.

Bluebirds taking a bath.

Across the fairway I could see a spoonbill sleeping under a tree. I went outside and snapped the above from our little yard. A little later I saw it feeding in the newly formed pond from the much needed rain we had. I didn’t see anyone on the course so I snuck across to get a little closer.

I sat down under a nearby tree and watched as the spoonbill was feeding. A juvenile little blue heron and a few white ibis were also there.

The young turkey showed up with Mom again. I went outside and took these. They didn’t seem to mind me sitting in the grass nearby. They stayed for a while, pecking around the yard.

I saw another lone turkey taking a nap (or a dirt bath) nearby.

I finally saw the twins in my neighborhood. I was coming home from running errands and had my camera in the car. I pulled over right before my house and snapped them heading into the woods at the end of our street.

The view from across the street in mid-September.

I took these with my phone from the upstairs bathroom window. This was the only night we had a good lightning storm this summer.

SkyWatch Friday

A quick walk at Chesnut Park

It was the end of August and I kept missing all of the fawns this summer. I finally found one with Mom at Chesnut Park. The baby was getting pretty big but still had spots. I only saw them for a minute and they took off deep in the woods.

I found the osprey eating a fish right off the parking lot. I snapped a few pictures and she looked over at me like “I knew I was being watched.”

A scruffy looking female cardinal was eating seed that someone had left on the boardwalk rail.

Reflection of a green heron.

The eagles were back for the winter. I found one hanging out near the restrooms.

The sun was coming up over the trees.

As I was leaving I saw a couple hanging just outside the fence. I pulled over and watched them for a few minutes from the car.

In the yard

In mid-October I had some migrating birds stop by the backyard. Black and white warblers were common here last winter but this was the first time seeing house finches in the backyard.

I saw my first ever worm eating warbler in the backyard. Over the years I had heard of one being reported twice in the Tampa Bay area but I could never find them. I was pretty excited to see him bouncing around near the bird bath. He stayed close under the big palm leaves on the ground and then later disappeared.

Common birds to the backyard are catbirds (I get a lot of them in the winter) and red bellied woodpeckers.

A house finch with just a little red on his head stopped by the feeder.

I’ve had an almost grown baby coming through the backyard alone. When I first saw her in mid October, you could still see the spots on her hind legs.She was all alone. I don’t know what happened to her Mom but I was thinking she was old enough to be on her own.

For several weeks she would come by every afternoon and hang out in the back, feeding and napping. I took all of these through the window because I was afraid I would spook her if I went outside. She saw me in the window though. She would take a quick nap up against my neighbor’s oak tree.

Our hibiscus bush in the front yard has been blooming for a few weeks. I took this with my phone.

Deer in the neighborhood

These 2 bucks were grazing along the golf course in our back yard early one morning. I ran outside to shoot the above.

I was coming home from running errands in mid-August and saw these two along the road in my neighborhood. Luckily I had my camera with me so I pulled over and shot these from the car. At first I just saw the one fawn but then the other one came over quickly to see what was going on.

They were right along the golf course and spent some time running around playing. I was afraid I would spook them into the woods so I stayed in the car watching for a while. I’ve spent so many years looking for fawns in different parks around the area and it’s really cool to see them in my new neighborhood.

Fawn season had begun.

Someone has been feeding the deer at Chesnut Park. More than usual anyway. This is the first time I’ve gotten out of my car and the deer walk right up to me looking for a handout. I took the above with my phone as she was too close to get with my camera. I held out my hands and showed her I didn’t have anything and she started grazing in front of me.

This cardinal had a mangled leg but could still fly. He looked a little rough but he could be molting. He was eating some of the seed someone had left on the boardwalk.

I can’t resist a chickadee.

It was mid-August and this was the first migrating bird I had seen. I have not seen prothonotary warblers here at this park before so this was a treat. I know we call this “fall” migration but it won’t feel like fall here for several more months.

I briefly saw a Mom with her baby. They were heading into the woods as more people were coming into the park.

Leaving the park, I took a detour through a nearby neighborhood. I saw some deer in someone’s front yard. They were staring at the door. I’m assuming they are being fed there.

Twins in the woods

The welcoming committee greeted me as I drove into Chesnut Park in late August. Actually, they barely looked up from their feeding to see who had stopped their car. I snapped the above from the car and then headed to the back of the park to park and walk around.

I found the twins in the back of the park. They were pretty big at this point but still cute with those spots. They stayed close to Mom as they crossed the road and then eventually headed into the back woods. Until next year for the babies!

Seeing spots

Back in late August I headed to a park nearby to see if there were any baby deer. I hadn’t been in a while but had heard there were a few there including twins. It’s theraputic to walk around in the quiet woods after a stressful day but seeing baby deer is an added bonus. I found this family right along the parking lot and leaned on my car for a while watching them eat dinner. The baby would briefly nurse and Mom would just keep eating.

I’m not sure what Mom was doing here. After looking it up, the Mom keeps the baby’s bottom clean to help them poop and to keep the scent off the baby. They say you can tell if a baby has been orphaned if it has a dirty bottom. Now that’s a mother’s love.

The adults started heading into the woods for the night and the baby was running to catch up. I did finally find the twins but more on those later.

A babe in the woods.

The welcoming committee at Chesnut Park. Driving into the entrance I saw these ladies and quickly snapped this with my phone since I hadn’t pulled my camera out yet.

Some of the ladies were already taking their early morning break, resting right along the parking lots.

They always have itches.

I leaned on my car and just watched them for a while, going about their day. It was a treat to see a stag. They usually only show up briefly for mating season here in this park. Most of the older males stay at preserves farther away from town so I rarely see them.

As I was walking down the back trail, I saw this lady cautiously peeking out from the bushes. I stepped back down the trail and saw that she had a baby behind her. They crossed the trail and headed back into the woods.

This was a trip in late August. When it’s crazy hot out and there are few birds around, it’s always fun to see the baby deer.

Sweet interactions

I stopped by Chesnut Park early on a Saturday for a quick walk and saw the deer across the baseball field. They were eating the leaves from the trees.

I found Mom and the baby again and hid in the bushes for a few minutes watching them interact. It was so sweet watching them for a while until the park got busy and they headed into the woods.