Dancing cranes on the bike trail

On April 22, 2026April 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I had another sighting of the elusive fox squirrel on the Pinellas County bike trail near Brooker Creek Preserve at the end of December. There were two but one stayed hidden high up in the tree.

I don’t see deer often on this trail so this was a treat to see her looking at me.

Three sandhill cranes walking along the trail.

A kildeer flies by.

This mockingbird had an overgrown beak. This was the first time I had seen this.

A pair of kestrels were in the cow pasture. One was on the utility wire and one took off from a dead snag right when I saw him.

On my way back to the car I saw the three sandhill cranes again. This time they were starting to dance around. They usually do this to flirt but there was three of them and they seemed to be agitated over something on the ground.

One kept picking up what looked like a hollow dead branch and danced around with it. Maybe it was two males trying to impress the female? They did this for quite a while then just stopped and started walking away. What a funny thing to watch.

Grazing near the trail. Is this a miniature horse or a pony?

Heading home I took a less traveled back road and slowed down when I saw a doe on the shoulder. She crossed right in front of me.

Sandhill cranes everywhere

On June 21, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In early April I was out biking on the northern part of the Pinellas County bike trail (the part that runs through cow pastures and a horse farm). Sandhill cranes are common here and I usually see several pairs. The first pair I saw was far out in a horse pasture right at the beginning of the trail. I stopped for a few minutes and noticed they had 2 tiny babies. They looked to be under a week old. Unfortunately they were on the sunny side of the trail.

A horse started walking towards them (really heading to the pond) and the parents started yelling. The horse stayed on the far side of the pond and then wandered back towards the stables. The little babies stayed close to the parent, right under his legs.

Turkeys were far across the cow pasture.

Farther down the trail I passed by another sandhill crane couple. They did not have any little ones.

While I was taking pictures of the cranes I noticed the bushes around the area were covered with these small snails. There were tons of them all over the bushes and sticks. I don’t remember seeing these here before.

Towards the end of the trail I found another crane couple. They were standing in the shade right along the trail. I stopped my bike and started taking shots of them.

They started flirting and dancing around. I stood there for about 10 minutes hoping they would mate but then some people walked up behind me with dogs and got too close so the cranes so they took off flying across the pasture and over the trees. I was crushed but not surprised. There’s a lot of foot traffic here as well.

Cattle egrets along the fence.

As I was leaving I saw the crane family again and they were a little closer to the trail but I figured they wouldn’t leave that pasture and get on the trail until those babies were bigger.

A March bike ride

On May 16, 2024May 8, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments

I was out in the northern tip of the Pinellas Trail for a bike ride in early March. I saw a bald eagle sitting on the first utility tower I passed. Then a few towers down there were 2 sitting on a nest. I didn’t see any babies here. I have recently heard they didn’t have any this year. The eagle watchers didn’t see any signs of any babies so no one is sure what happened.

The eastern meadowlarks were out being visible this morning. One was on the cow pasture fence and several were in the brush along the trail.

There were a lot of sandhill cranes but it was too early for babies.

Why did the crane cross the road??? I’m glad I stopped cause he just walked right in front of me.

This is a castor oil plant. It was all along the trail. It’s an invasive plant so I wonder why it’s here.

Other things growing along the trail.

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.

Riding through the cow pastures.

On December 30, 2023December 27, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The weather was too nice to be indoors in early October so I grabbed my camera and backpack and threw my bike in the car and headed north to ride along the cow pastures. I didn’t see a lot of cows on this morning. Most of them were on the other side of the pastures and behinds trees.

Eastern bluebirds are common along this bike trail. I caught one with a nice juicy worm.

A sandhill crane couple were heading into the pond for a drink. Or maybe to look for bugs along the grass.

The purple tievine was blooming.

Some tiny critters along the trail.

There is a big barn at the beginning of the bike trail with horses far out in a pasture. It backs up to another barn with horses. As I was heading back to my car I noticed two horses across the pasture that seemed to be having a conversation over the fence. I couldn’t tell if they were showing off to each other or flirting. The one on the other side of the fence was really showing off the teeth.

Two sandhill cranes were right up against the fence near the parking area. I stopped and took the above with my phone.

A summer bike ride

On October 7, 2023September 28, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was too hot to be walking around and my foot was still bothering me so I was taking a lot of bike rides at a nearby trail this summer. I wasn’t expecting to find much but I immediately spotted 2 bunnies right off the trail. Both were cottontails but one had cute notches on his ears.

The sandhill crane family was out in the cow pasture. Mom was digging for bugs in the cow poop. I don’t think Junior cared because he ate whatever Mom dug up.

This doe looked really pregnant. There were several other deer nearby hiding in the woods.

A lone skimmer came cruising the pond along the trail. The light was not in my favor but I did manage a shot of it scooping up some fish.

I took a break and was watching the cows. An almost grown calf stopped eating and was staring at me. Probably wondering what I was doing out here.

The dark clouds were moving in so I headed back to my car.

Another bike ride past the cows

On July 13, 2023July 11, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

AAnother bike ride in mid-April on my favorite trail that runs through the cow pastures. The sun had just come up when I got out there.

I stopped when I saw 2 sandhill cranes walking across the pasture. As I stood there they both went under the fence and onto the trail right in front of me. I had to quickly back up to fit the first one in the shot. I was trying to keep my distance but they kept walking closer. I hope people aren’t feeding them here.

Some of the usual birds along the trail. A great crested flycatcher and a meadowlark. Both with distinct calls so I heard them before I saw them.

When I first got to the eagle’s nest the almost grown babies were eating and a parent was sitting up there with them. Then the parent took off.

Cruising right past me.

As I was standing there watching the eagle flying around I saw the juvenile eagle fly down to the almost dry pond just under the nest. It seemed to be trying to catch something small but I don’t think he succeeded. It might have been a lizard.

The above is not a good shot and I almost didn’t take it thinking it was a red shoulder hawk but when I got home and cropped it up I realized it was a merlin. I have not seen one of those in a long time.