Little critters in early spring

Posted on April 29, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was early March and I was sitting on a bench in the butterfly garden at Folly Farms in Safety Harbor hoping to see hummingbirds (it was probably a little early for them though). No hummingbirds yet but I did see some usual birds. Titmouse are common here and parulas were everywhere in early spring. Both have distinct calls.

The giant milkweed was full of caterpillars.

Little critters in the garden. The yellow butterfly looks like she was laying eggs.

I’m not sure what this plant is but I’ve seen it at several botanical gardens. It’s really cool and the flowering part is huge.

Teeny tiny critters

Posted on February 13, 2023 by dinajohnston

We had a warm morning in early January so I headed out for a quick trip to nearby Folly Farms in Safety Harbor. The neighborhood community garden has a small butterfly garden and if there isn’t any birds around I can usually find some tiny critters. There was still enough blooming to keep the garden full of bees and butterflies. The fun catch was the ladybug. I don’t see them very often.

Color in early December

Posted on January 2, 2023 by dinajohnston

I was out for a walk at Hammock Park in early December. I wasn’t expecting to find any birds so I was just out enjoying the walk with my phone. We hadn’t had much rain so the creeks along the trails had only a trickle of water.

There were small bursts of color if you look closely.

Built in 1888, this small chapel is now used for weddings, memorials and other small ceremonies. It sits at the entrance of the park. It’s a cute little church but I have not had the chance to go inside yet.

Little critters buzzing around

Posted on September 26, 2022 by dinajohnston

It was early August when I visited Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of birds there since fall migration hadn’t started yet but I was ready for a road trip. There were a lot of other flying critters though so I had a fun morning torturing myself trying to get pictures of little things buzzing around.

I found this spiny orb weaver with a bee in his web.

Tiny critters at the botanical gardens

Posted on August 1, 2022 by dinajohnston

I think this lizard was flirting with me at the Botanical Gardens in Largo.

Tiny critters were buzzing around the butterfly garden.

A few of the butterflies in the butterfly garden. I was expecting to see many more than this. I didn’t see any yellow ones. I keep saying I am seeing less and less of them every year. I wonder if it’s all of the spraying that is being done. Spraying for invasive plants, spraying for mosquitoes.

A soft shell turtle swims by under the bridge. I was only able to get his funny shaped head in the shot. He almost blends in with the brown lily pad leaves.

A young moorhen walking around the spatterdock lilies in the pond.

A few of the flowers blooming in early June.

A quick walk

Posted on December 21, 2021 by dinajohnston

So much yellow in November.The little critters were loving the goldenrod when I was at Possum Branch Preserve in mid-November. The pop of yellow was really pretty growing along the canal there.

A few of the birds I found. A white eyed vireo and a great egret hiding from the wind in the muck.

I don’t see these guys very often even though I know there are a ton of them.

The moon was still up in the late morning.

Stopping at the fishing pier nearby, the dark clouds were moving in.

Saturday morning at the botanical gardens

Posted on August 9, 2021 by dinajohnston

Pretty things at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo at the end of May.

Little critters.

Squirrels were busy eating fruit all over the gardens.

The squirrel in the two bottom pictures were eating the above. A lychee tree. My husband grew up eating his Mom’s homemade lychee ice cream but you don’t really see it here in central Florida.

A very young titmouse was following Mom around. She was trying to get him to feed himself but he just kept yelling for her to feed him.

A green heron creeping along a branch in the parking lot.

The sun coming through a papaya tree.

Color and babies

Posted on August 2, 2021 by dinajohnston

Random things at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.

There wasn’t many birds when I was there in late May. You can always find brown thrashers there but the kestral was the first time I had seen one here.

After leaving the botanical gardens, I headed over for a quick stop at Largo Nature Preserve to see how the flickers were doing. I got there right as Mom was feeding the babies. I love that flash of red on the back of Mom’s head.

Mom left and the babies kept poking their heads out of the hole. This was probably right before they fledged.They looked fully grown at this point.

The red bellied woodpecker was still hanging around the hole in the tree next door. They will probably nest later in the summer.

Color explosion!

Posted on July 12, 2021 by dinajohnston

Since I missed the Sunflower festival at Sweetfield Farms last year, I had to go this year. In late May the zinnias at the farm were in full bloom. While the farm is mostly sunflowers (all boring yellow), I think my favorite part is the zinnia field. So many colors growing in one place. After taking tons of pictures, I went to the “You pick” booth and got some clippers. They were $1 per flower and I got as many as I could carry. One in each color.

The butterflies love the zinnias as well. My favorite part was all of the little flying critters that were landing on the flowers. I could have spent all day here but it was getting hot and I was getting hungry so it was time to pack up.

Things blooming in early April

Posted on May 11, 2021 by dinajohnston

The winter months are my favorite time of the year since the weather is so mild here in central Florida. But, when April rolls around I always think it’s my favorite month. It’s still cool in the mornings and everything is blooming everywhere. The flowers look fresh and haven’t been fried by the summer sun yet.