Where wild Moms raise their kids

On May 9, 2026April 22, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

Moms raising their kids on the ground. A brown thrasher feeding her almost grown baby and starlings babies begging for that worm.

A tiny Mom, the ruby throated hummingbird, raising her baby in a tiny nest the size of a golf ball high up in a tree.

Moms raising babies up in trees include the pileated woodpecker and great horned owls.

These Moms raise their babies in rookeries, often high in trees or bushes over ponds with alligators to keep the babies safe from snakes and raccoons. These are roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, great egrets and little blue herons.

Raising babies near water and often with many kids to keep up with include mute swans, limpkins, wood ducks and geese.

Skimmers and oystercatchers raise their babies on the beach.

This is one tough Mom. Since Pinellas county is so overpopulated most eagles nest in utility towers or cell towers. There are only a few out of 40+ couples that are in trees. This single parent Mom, in my neighborhood, lost her mate this winter when her babies were just starting to grow up. She raised these babies alone, getting food for them non-stop all day. She did get a boyfriend later on to keep her company. I’ll have more on this eagle soap opera later.

Big critters raising their babies in the woods.

Cute critters and a rainbow

On February 16, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In mid-October we were still getting some late day summer type storms. Right before sunset the storm left and I could see part of the rainbow from the back window so I grabbed my phone and went out the back to catch the above.

I had recently put out a suet block and the downy woodpeckers started showing up non-stop to feed.

A catbird getting a drink from the bird bath.

A house finch was waiting his turn for the feeder or the bath.

We got lots of pine warblers that come in during fall migration and hang around until early spring.

It’s funny to watch the squirrels actually playing in the backyard. They think the philodendron plants are their own playground.

My first time seeing a mole cricket and it was on the driveway.

An almost perfect snake skin that a black racer had molted on our trellis. If I collect these than maybe someday I can make snakeskin boots!?!?

Fred was still hanging around the window and had caught a wasp to eat. I almost thought he was showing it to me before he ate it.

The eagle couple in our neighborhood was adding nest material to the nest.

Dark skies from the backyard before sunset near the end of October.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

Visiting birds in November

On March 15, 2025March 8, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In early November I was taking the long way out of my neighborhood and checking on the eagle’s nest. Both eagles were hanging around the nest pretty regularly but it was still too early for any action.

Pine warblers are regulars at the suet feeder in the backyard during winter.

Downy woodpeckers are usually lined up to get at the suet and only one comes at a time but sometimes they will let another smaller bird feed as well.

I had a “first time in the backyard” yellow bellied sapsucker in late November. It was hard to get a shot of him through the window but I was afraid he would get spooked if I walked outside. He didn’t stay long.

Every couple of weeks I get a pileated woodpecker come to the big oak trees in the backyard. I can usually go outside to get a shot since they stay high in the trees and aren’t shy.

House finches paid a visit in the middle of November. The males are pretty with red feathers (females are drab brown).

Tufted titmouse are usual visitors and they are not shy. I was outside taking pictures of the pileated woodpecker and they landed right in front of me and on the bird bath.

All of the usuals were here including chickadees, Carolina wrens and doves.

Squirrels being cute. He was eating a wild mushroom in the first shot.

Cruising past cow pastures

On January 29, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The Upper Pinellas Trail runs through cow pastures. It’s usually a nice quiet bike ride and sometimes I get to see something cool like maybe a new bird. In early November I got there just after the sun was up.

It was peaceful on the trail this weekday morning.

A kildeer was close to the trail. They are plentiful on the cow pastures and most of the time I hear them before I see them. It’s rare for them to get close to the trail.

Far out I could see turkeys and sandhill cranes hanging out together. There must be good bugs in that area.

The eagle couple hadn’t started nesting yet and they were together on one of the utility towers along the trail.

I saw a lot of pine warblers this morning. They were busy catching bugs.

I heard the sandhill crane’s loud chortle from across the pasture as they flew by.

A few deer were scattered along the back fence line.

Gopher tortoises have homes deep in the dirt along the trail. Most are sleeping far down in the hole and are hard to see but this one was half out. I could just barely make out his eye through the grass. Gopher tortoises are protected in Florida and are a threatened species. They are land animals and we lost a lot of them when Hurricane Helene came through and flooded many of the parks so every one of these are important.

I had heard there was a rare alder flycatcher at the beginning of the trail. I have never heard of one in Florida. They migrate through the central part of the states so this one was a little too far east. There were several other people there looking for him so he was easy to spot.

There was a large flock of cattle egrets flying back and forth across the pasture. I’m not sure what kept causing them to get spooked and fly away. Maybe the eagles were cruising by.

A cold Tarpon Springs walk

On April 4, 2024March 24, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights6 Comments

You know it’s winter here when you see the water plant in Tarpon Springs full of ducks. There are mostly redheads but also a few scaup and ring necked ducks mixed in.

The few times I stopped by in the morning they were all sleeping but I caught a few bathing and shaking off one morning.

I saw one female bufflehead in the mix.

Heading farther north to Craig Park I saw 2 eagles sitting on a tower. I pulled over and took the above. When I was heading home later they were still sitting there. I’m assuming they don’t have a nest since both are spending the morning on the tower.

When it’s cold the bayou in Craig Park fills up with manatees staying warm.

All was quiet and calm the morning I was there in early January. The boats were still in the water from the Epiphany celebration a few days earlier where the high school boys dive in and try to be the one to retrieve a cross thrown in the bayou. The celebration (in remembrance of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordon river) is over 100 years old. I attended it back in 2022 and you can read about it in my post here.

A wildlife boat tour

On March 18, 2024April 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals, Vacation2 Comments

While Brett and I were on our staycation on Manasota Key we took a boat ride/dolphin tour one morning. The boat wasn’t full since it was a little chilly so it was nice to have room to move around. We went down the intercoastal and out to Stump Pass to get out in the open water.

We passed several boats that were still stranded from Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Idalia. Ian (in 2022) did a lot of damage in the area. They still hadn’t fully recovered and Idalia came by (in 2023).

We passed an adult and a juvenile bald eagle that were sitting on a spit in the middle of the water. Looks like Junior followed Dad down to see how to get a drink of water (or catch a fish?). A little farther down we passed the nest. One adult was sitting in the tree. Thinking this is Mom.

As we made our way out of Stump Pass we could see dolphins swimming around nearby and lots of pelicans diving for fish.

This one had a big fish in his pouch.

We saw so many dolphins. Some were swimming right up against the boat and I couldn’t fit them all in and some were far out. It was a fun morning just floating around watching them come up for air.

On our way back we saw a handful of white pelicans napping on a spit.

We went in a few channels and this was a common sight. Many of the docks were still waiting to be fixed. The cormorants were taking advantage of the dock pilings not being used. Eighteen months after Hurricane Ian hit there were still a lot of roofs still covered and a lot of construction going on. One of the restaurants we ate at on the water had just recently opened back up after being closed for over a year. The waitress said everything in the restaurant was brand new.

A crushing blow to the eagle world

On March 9, 2024May 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

In early January the eagles in my neighborhood were sticking close to the nest. Louise (the Project Eagle Watch coordinator for Pinellas County) and I were both keeping close tabs on the nest. We were thinking the eggs had hatched at this point but the babies were too small to see yet.

Mom was always on the nest while Dad was flying back and forth. I still hadn’t been able to catch him with food but I hadn’t made it over to the nest early in the mornings. It looks like Mom is looking down at something.

By mid-January I could just make out some fuzz between the sticks. Louise could see 2 babies through her scope from across the field.

A week later I could make out one big baby from far down the field. Louise had seen 2 babies a few days earlier but we could only find one this morning. We were hoping the other one was sleeping.

A few days later I got a good sighting of one of the babies. His all black head was just sticking up over the sticks. Still no sign of the other one.

The next day I found both parents on top of the nest tower.

For several days after this was all we saw. Only the Mom was now on the nest tower and spent all day crying for her mate. Dad was missing and we could not see any sign of life from the babies. We found out that someone in the area was spreading rat poison pellets all over the condos. I spent several days walking around picking up dead squirrels and talking to all of the people living in the area, asking if they knew about the poison pellets and talking to them about what happens if a raptor eats a squirrel (or rat) that has died from rat poison.

It has taken me a while to write this. I am crushed. Both babies and the Dad are missing, presumed dead from rat poison. Their main diet here in the area are squirrels. The Dad had been nesting here since 2007. The original Mom died in 2015 from rat poison and the Dad got a new mate the next year. He would not just abandon the nest. The Mom stayed on the nest tower for a week crying out. It was so sad.

A week later I was heading to the grocery store not expecting to see the Mom still up on the nest tower but she was still there. I saw another eagle on a light post nearby. At first I got excited thinking the Dad had come back but when I got my camera out I realized this was a sub-adult eagle (maybe a 4th year based on the brown still in his head and tail). Eagles don’t get their all white head until their 5th year. We think this was a new young male that heard the Mom crying and came to see what was going on. I hope next year he doesn’t come back to nest with her. The stakes are too high with all of the residents nearby using rat poison pellets and boxes. Guess what he’s eating. Yep, a squirrel. I am heading up a campaign in the neighborhood and areas nearby to stop the use of rat poison. There are other options.

Cranes and eagles on the bike trail

On February 19, 2024April 19, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In early November I went out for a bike ride on the north part of the Pinellas Trail, along the cow pastures. It was still warm and the sun was coming up later in the morning.

I passed the usual sandhill crane couple (at least I thought it was). There’s always a couple in this part of the cow pasture but there’s another couple that hangs out farther down the trail so it could be either couple.

Pretty colors along the trail including the beauty berry in the bottom shot. It was all over parts of the trail. The only birds I’ve ever seen eating them are catbirds, mockingbirds, blue jays and cardinals. They should have been feasting on them this morning but I didn’t see a single bird on any of it.

A swamp sparrow was checking me out while I was taking pictures of the plants.

I rode up on the back of this utility tower that sits on the trail and saw the eagle couple sitting high up in the tower. I stopped and pulled out my camera and started taking pictures and it looked like they were having a conversation.

It looks like the male had been flirting but not very successfully. He put his foot on her but stopped. Maybe he was asking her why she had another headache?? I rode to the front of the tower.

I stood there for at least half an hour hoping they would actually mate. They nest in the towers farther down the cow pasture. You can really see the difference in the size when they are together with the smaller male on the left. Female eagles (and most raptors) are larger in size. Some think it’s due to carrying eggs as well as being able to defend the nest and babies. I finally gave up and rode farther down where I saw a juvenile eagle alone on a tower.

The juvenile eagle sat on the tower for a few minutes and then took off over the trees.

There are several gopher tortoise nests (or sandy holes in the ground) along the trail but I don’t often see them outside of them. This big one was cruising around in the cow pasture.

Shots with my phone along the trail. It was a quiet morning and the trail was almost empty so I felt like I had the whole place to myself.

Cows and eagles

On June 24, 2023June 15, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

The usual critters on my bike ride on the Pinellas Trail north of Brooker Creek. Cows and cattle egrets. The calves were getting big by early April.

I passed the eagle’s nest that sits far away in the cow pasture. The 2 young ones were flapping away and close to flying.

I could see a gopher tortoise walking around right under the eagle’s nest. He must have a burrow nearby.

As I was pedaling back to my car I heard an eagle yelling overhead. She was sitting on a utility tower and making a lot of noise. I stopped and pulled my camera out of my backpack.

I saw another eagle flying overhead. He landed on the same utility tower. After a few seconds of yelling back and forth, the below happened.

They started mating while a crow bothered them. At this point there was a small crowd watching from below. It’s not often you see eagles mating out in the wild (although this was my 2nd time this month with the first being in my neighborhood).

They sat together for a while on the same nest. I finally headed back to my car.

And then there was one

On June 10, 2023June 4, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? It was the end of March and I was sitting under a big tree at the eagle’s nest in my neighborhood when I thought I saw movement in the reeds under the nest. At first I thought I was crazy but then I saw her move again and realized a deer was watching me. She stood there frozen for about 30 seconds and then moved farther into the reeds.

The kestrel couple were still hanging around and stopped on the wire above me to enjoy a snack.

A few days later I was sitting on the other side of the nest since the babies seemed more visible from this angle. I only saw one baby sitting up but the other one could be sleeping.

Both parents were sitting high up on the other tower. A man walked over to me (I was sitting close to the pool and people stop and ask me about the eagles) and said there was a baby eagle down on the ground by the other condo building. I packed up my camera and chair and ran over.

There it was, sitting under a big tree. Several people were keeping an eye on it. They had tried called several agencies but couldn’t get anyone to respond. I called Raptor Center of Tampa Bay and Louise came out pretty quicky. Louise is our nearby resident raptor rescue expert.

She had her caught in no time and was checking her out to see what her injuries were. There were no injuries that she could see. Louise was thinking she was flapping her wings a little too hard and got some air and ended up landing down near the condos and couldn’t get back up to that nest in the tower. The eagle didn’t fight her at all but just watched Louise.

I helped hold the eagle while Louise put the hood on her (it keeps her calm and quiet) and put her into the crate. Off she went, to the raptor center to be checked out. Since the nest is in a Duke energy tower the eagle could not be placed back up there. Duke would have to cut the power to half of Oldsmar for a while to get her back up and they won’t do that. She spent a few weeks at the center until she was fully flighted and then released in central Florida.

And then there was one. I was glad I was there when the other baby got rescued because otherwise I would be going crazy wondering what happened to it. Now the younger baby will get the full attention from the parents. Louise said that 2 years ago both babies fell off the nest so I hope this last one stays put.