Cruising past cow pastures

Posted on February 23, 2023 by dinajohnston

I’ve been out on my bike quite a bit now that the weather is warmer. It’s an easy way to get around with my foot still hurting. There’s not a lot of places to ride with a lot of nature instead of traffic but there’s a bike trail just north of me that goes through cow pastures. As soon as I got on the trail I heard the sandhill cranes. Flying across the pasture. They were pretty far away and I had only brought my shorter lens but it was cool to see them flying by.

A kildeer was far out in the pasture.

And of course lots of cows. And lots of babies! There were a lot of cream colored babies out there and a lot of them were nursing. Next year I need to get out here much sooner when they are tiny.

I saw this sandhill crane by himself standing near the fence.

Another eagle nest up in a utility tower. One of the parents was feeding a little one.

The other parent took off across the trail.

This morning started out sunny but dark clouds started to move in as I got half way down the trail so I didn’t stay too long. Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions on my foot issues. I have seen a podiatrist and gotten a painful shot. Keeping off my feet a few more weeks and hoping for the best (along with the stretches, exercises, icing, etc).

Out and about

Posted on February 16, 2023 by dinajohnston

I found a great blue heron nest in the neighborhood. It sits high up in the pine tree over a small pond. I’ll be keeping an eye for babies but I won’t see them until they are pretty big since the nest sits far back on the branch.

I’ve been stopping by the neighborhood eagle nest almost every day hoping to see a baby head pop up. This was in mid-January and at this point I wasn’t even sure there was a baby although an adult has been sitting here every time I go by. I hadn’t seen anything being fed at this point. It was still early though.

I noticed the kestrel is back. There was one hanging out around the eagle nest all last winter so I wonder if this is the same one.

It’s a few days later and I see an eagle sitting on the nest tower. I couldn’t see another one but the mate might have been laying down on the nest. A turkey vulture flew close by.

I drove by the big open field in front of the utility towers near the back of the neighborhood and I could just barely see movement on a tower far down the clearing. I got my camera out thinking it was probably an osprey on that nest. The top shot was cropped up a little and I can see there’s an eagle on the nest. When I extremely cropped it up I could see a baby big enough to be sitting up on the nest. (There were 2 babies on this nest). I can’t get any closer to this nest since it’s sitting on Duke Energy property.

I could see a red shoulder hawk sitting high up in the tower in front of the eagles.

After seeing the far away nest I turned around and saw white pelicans flying high overhead. I waited a little while hoping they would get closer since they were just circling around. They came a little closer and then took off over the trees.

A few days later I stopped by RE Olds Pier to see if any eagles were fishing along the pier but all I found was a great egret and a spotted sandpiper.

The tide was so low that you could see an old crab trap out in the water. I wonder how long this has been sitting there with all of those barnacles on it.

The vertical oyster garden ropes that are hanging off the pier were exposed and are starting to get covered with barnacles. There may be some small oysters forming on it as well. They placed them here to grow oysters since they help filter and clean the water.

Out in the neighborhood

Posted on November 28, 2022 by dinajohnston

I caught this squirrel sitting on a small palm tree outside our window. He had his cheeks full of fuzz from the tree and I was able to snap the top shot. When he took his paws and folded the fuzz up I was happy to get more shots. He was so cute. He jumped from the palm tree over to the oak tree and took off up the tree. I can see a half built nest up there but it’s really not nesting season since it’s getting colder (I know they nest all year round here in central Florida but it’s rare to see them starting a family in early November.)

In early October I caught one of my neighborhood eagles eating something on top of the light pole. I’ve been seeing the couple often cruising around the neighborhood but I haven’t seen them hanging on the nest that they used last year yet.

Birds near the eagles nest include several loggerhead shrikes and some young starlings.

Looking out the window during Hurrincane Nicole, I could see a lot of ibis feeding in the newly formed pond.

Some of the regulars (wood stork and spoonbill) that hang out in the ditch along the golf course.

Morning walk at Possum Branch Preserve.

Posted on July 14, 2020 by dinajohnston

The fields along the trail was starting to get over-grown in late May at Possum Branch Preserve. Once the grass gets knee high it’s a little creepy to veer off the trail and get close to the marsh.

Baby bluebirds hanging out in a dead tree. Looks like they were just learning to fly.

The usual.

This guy (male lesser scaup) should have already flown north by mid-May. Not sure why he was still hanging around but he wasn’t there the last time I was at the preserve.

The view from the edge of one of the ponds.

I stopped by the local eagles nest on the way home that’s in a utility tower. I was checking to see if I could see any juvenile eagles hanging around but only the adult was sitting on the tower. Any babies could have been gone by then.

Happy 4th of July!

Posted on July 4, 2020 by dinajohnston

Brett and I were leaving the house to go out for a drive on Memorial Day. We were heading to the Bay Pines Veterans National Cemetery where my parents are buried for a walk and then to pick up lunch to bring home. Driving out the back way and past some apartments we saw a juvenile eagle sitting on utility box. Of course I yelled for Brett to stop. I had my camera in the car so he pulled over and I was able to get a few shots before the eagle took off. It’s not every day that you have an eagle pooping in your neighborhood.

He circled around over my head and then took off over the tree.

These babies were swimming around below him so he must have been hoping to get one but ended up leaving empty handed. Unless he came back later. There are a lot less babies in this family now.

Every Memorial Day Boy Scout troops put flags on the graves at the cemetery. It’s really impressive (but sad) to drive through and see all of the flags.

“Fly like an eagle, to the sea”

Posted on May 23, 2019 by dinajohnston

In late April I was walking along a trail near a golf course when I saw an eagle flying over my head. The eagle came flying back but this time he had an osprey chasing him. I’m assuming this is a territorial chase. There are a lot of osprey nests in the area and several had new babies on the nest. It only lasted for a few seconds and the eagle took off.

The next day Brett and I were out on the beach at Fort Desoto just hanging out in our beach chairs when an eagle flew right over us.

A few seconds later an osprey shows up and starts to bother the eagle. They chased each other across the sand dunes then then the osprey took off. There was an eagle nest close by in a utility tower but the babies are already grown and gone. There are also many osprey nests all over the park.

The eagle made a few more passes over our beach chairs and came really close at one point. The above is not cropped although I had my 300mm lens on my camera.

After the eagle left, an osprey also flew by.

A common sight far out in the gulf, an osprey grabbing a fish.

A lost opportunity

Posted on January 12, 2019 by dinajohnston

Above is an eagle’s nest from 2 years ago at the horse farm near my house. Last winter they nested in a high utility tower instead of this nest. They had taken over an old osprey nest in the tower. I had heard that they were back working on this nest in mid-November so I stopped by the day after a nasty storm had come through the area. When I got to the spot at the farm, the tree was completely empty and the nest was gone.

Here it was on the ground next to the tree. The entire nest had come crashing down and broke apart. It broke my heart to see it on the ground in pieces. I was wondering if this old couple would have it in them to rebuild this nest again or just go back to the utility tower. There wasn’t much of the old tree left.

After walking around the farm for a few minutes, an eagle flies over my head with some nesting material in it. I think this must have been his first visit to the nest this morning.

The mate flew in as well. They seemed confused. Where was their nest? What happened to the tree? The eagle dropped the nesting material and they both took off. At this point, they haven’t returned to the nest to rebuild. I’m assuming they are now back up in the high utility tower close by.

Babies and an eagle

Posted on August 3, 2017 by dinajohnston

Wood duck babies are so cute. I found this little family at a hidden pond at the Largo Botanical Gardens in May.

After walking around the gardens, I headed over to Largo Nature Preserve and found this baby limpkin following Mom under the boardwalk.

I was staring at this turtle that was sitting just underneath the below.

A bald eagle was sitting on a utility tower in the park. I don’t think anyone else walking by noticed the eagle just sitting up there.

I was taking pictures of the colors of the high plants across the creek and looked down and saw these guys staring up at me like “Feed us.”

All taken back in late April.

“Fly like an eagle”

Posted on May 18, 2017 by dinajohnston

Boy, those baby eagles grow up fast. I didn’t get to see them for a few weeks and now they are sitting up looking like a grown up.

The oldest one was flapping his wings pretty hard but wasn’t getting too much height yet. I’m sure it won’t be long. I don’t know if I’ll make it back before they fly away.

One of the proud parents in a snag close by.

Same Ole, Same Ole

Posted on April 24, 2017 by dinajohnston

The barred owls have been hanging out next to the parking lot for a while now.

The reserve is full of green herons. They are now a usual suspect.

Along with male anhingas showing off.

And the glossy ibis sparkling in the sun are a dime a dozen.

The cute pied grebes aren’t as skittish as they use to be.

There’s always snowy egrets in a body of water.

Now I see purple gallinules every time I walk Alligator Alley trail.

Even a great blue heron baby in the nest during spring is common here.

Seeing a bald eagle somewhere in the park is pretty common, even if its way up high half hidden in a cypress tree.

But I still love walking the trails at Circle B Bar Reserve and seeing all of the above every time I’m here. Even when it gets crowded on the weekends. I just get there a little earlier and leave before lunch when the crowd starts coming in.