Rescues transports in late March and early April

On June 13, 2024June 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants9 Comments

It was near the end of March and I was heading to Penny’s (the rehabber) house in south St. Pete to pick up some osprey. I got into a little traffic jam waiting for peacocks to cross the street before her house. These birds are everywhere now.

Heading back to Tampa, it looked like I was going to be driving through a storm.

I made it to the Raptor Center with 2 osprey that were going to be released. They had come in injured and both were going home. I didn’t even open the boxes to get a pic. Someone else was picking them up from the Raptor Center and taking them to central Florida (near Lakeland) to be released.

A few days later I got the text that there was a baby duck that had been brought into the emergency vet office. I picked it up along with the screech owl below that had been brought in and drove them to the Raptor Center in Brandon.

Nancy was checking the owl’s crop to see how skinny it was. It was pretty malnourished but should be okay once she got it eating again.

April started off with me picking up a tiny baby blue jay at the emergency vet and taking it to the Raptor Center. What a mouth!

Later that week I took a barred owl with an injured eye and a screech owl with an injured nose from the Raptor Center to Moccasin Lake Nature Park where another rehabber works out of. Barbara was going to take the barred owl to a vet that works with wildlife the next day. They wanted to make sure his eye would be okay long term. The screech owl was going to rehab at the park where other injured screech owls were living.

Moccasin Lake Park has a raptor sanctuary where permanently injured birds reside. While I was there I was able to spend some time in the hospital room. This little screech owl had the cutest little hum.

This red shoulder hawk had an injured eye and feet. He had just come back from the vet. He was going to be getting well here at the hospital.

The park also has some great hiking trails and a turtle pond. It’s a little bit of nature in the middle of Clearwater and right off of a busy road.

Wild peacocks roam the park here as well and this guy was admiring himself in someone’s bumper.

Some of the permanently injured birds here include a kestral and a swallow tail kite.

The above eagle is missing any eye so he’s always looking to one side.

These two live here. One is blind in one eye and the other is missing a wing. You can hear them having a conversation with the volunteer.

I stopped by the nearby Safety Harbor fishing pier before heading home. It was a beautiful afternoon and not hot yet.

A few days later the barred owl with the injured eye made the trip back to the Raptor Center. The vet had cleared his eye and after a few more days of Nancy putting drops in it the owl will be released.

So many boxes of baby squirrels.

On November 11, 2023November 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

We didn’t get much rain in mid-August but it poured the afternoon I needed to get some injured wildlife to a rehabber. This trip I stopped at the emergency vet office and picked up some lost baby squirrels to add to the box of baby squirrels I was taking to Penny (the crazy busy rehabber in south St. Pete). After the vet office I stopped at the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay in Brandon and picked up more baby squirrels, a tiny baby opossum, a juvenile opossum and a juvenile red bellied woodpecker. They all made the trip to Penny’s so they could finish growing up before being released. And yes, that box of squirrels also had the tiny opossum. We put him in the squirrel box to keep warm since it had a warming gel pad under the towels.

A few days later I made a quick trip to the vet office to pick a lost baby squirrel and a pigeon with an injured wing and take them both to the Raptor Center.

The next day I made another trip to take the above from the Raptor Center to Penny in south St. Pete. That little baby opossum was just too cute when Nancy picked him up to put him in the box to make the trip. More baby squirrels and an injured black vulture (my first vulture passenger). A laughing gull also made this trip.

The next week I brought more lost baby squirrels and an opossum to Penny. The tiny bird was an Island canary that was found sick and exhausted. It was banded and Penny was going to try and find the owner. It was either an escapee or was released.

The day after Hurricane Idalia skirted by the Tampa bay area was a busy rescue day. People had brought Nancy baby squirrels that had fallen out of trees the day of the hurricane and a juvenile osprey had fallen off the nest. I picked them up in the morning and took them down to Penny. She took the osprey out of the crate while I was there and checked her out. She didn’t look injured so she should be released as soon as she’s eating and flying.

Later that afternoon I got a request to pick up some more lost critters that had come in from the emergency vet office. I picked up more baby squirrels and the cutest baby duck. I drove them right down to Penny’s.

In early September I got my first turtle passenger. A soft shell turtle had swallowed a fishing hook. I drove it over to Swamp Girl Adventures in Kissimmee, just outside of Orlando. Kim took the turtle and said they shouldn’t have a problem getting that hook out. I have to say that turtle was the stinkiest passenger I have had. It does live in a swamp after all. I hosed out the blue tub and left my windows rolled down for a day and the smell was gone.

Fun at the Lowry Park Zoo.

On August 21, 2017August 22, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, zoo animals5 Comments

I was looking in the spoonbill exhibit and noticed a wild spoonbill on top of the exhibit looking in. I think he wanted to join the party inside for some treats.

Some wild birds at the zoo: a Carolina wren, 2 black vultures preening each other, a house sparrow working on a nest in the gift shop sign and a baby duck in one of the ponds.

Elephants playing in the first picture with the 3 legged impala watching.

Grumpy old bird (that was just born this spring). Marabou stork.

Making faces with Mom.

Showing off on a tree branch.

I was tempted to join these ladies who looked like they were having too much fun but I didn’t have the right color shirt or hat on.

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Duck action at Lake Morton

On January 18, 2016January 19, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

An unusual looking hybrid. Looks like a cross between a mallard and a muscovy duck.

A baby mallard in December!

A coot and a gull fighting over bread that someone threw in the lake.

Duck butts!

A lone female bufflehead. Not a common duck here.

A ring neck duck taking a bath.

Drying off.

~~I cannot figure out what kind of duck this is. Is it a hybrid of some sort? I’ve only seen one at the lake. That pink beak and the pink legs are amazing as well as the eyes.~~

I found out today that this is a Coscoroba swan. It is the smallest of all swans and comes from South America. The city of Lakeland bought a pair for the lake last January. At this point there is only one at the lake.

There are so many different ducks at Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland. They are known for having swans on the lake but there are a lot more ducks there and so many different ones. It’s fun just to walk around and look at all the duck action going on.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing