Tag: bird of paradise

A stroll down my street.

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants5 Comments

In late October I was out for a walk in my neighborhood. The sun was just coming up over the trees. I had walked to the utility field hoping to see some critters hanging around.

Taken with my phone, I could see a bald eagle sitting high up on the tower.

Native bladderpod was going dormant for the winter but there was still a few green pods on the plant.

Rattlebox starts out with beautiful yellow flowers, then turns in bean pods that are highly toxic.  Originally they were planted to help with erosion and they grow like crazy but were later found out that the beans were bad for critters to eat.

I’m not sure what these are but they were in the same area.

A red shoulder hawk was sitting on a light post, looking around for a snack.

A crawly critter on the sidewalk.

There are several bird of paradise plants along my walk.

When I got back home I could see a tiny alligator out in the middle of the pond across the street.

Hibiscus blooming in my front yard.

SkyWatch Friday

Seeing turkeys on my bike ride

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Some days in July were just too hot to go for a walk, even in the shade. One hot morning I hopped on my bike and went for a spin around the neighborhood.

I always look around when I stopped for a break at one of the many ponds. This guy was hiding in the duckweed but he was pretty far down from the sidewalk. Most of the ponds (if not all) have an alligator in them so you have to pay attention.

I only saw one deer this morning and I haven’t seen many since then. We used to see them in our backyard every once in a while and it’s been months now.

Mushrooms were popping up everywhere due to the summer rains.

Color along the sidewalks.

The turkeys have been hanging out in the utility field and I hope they are hiding this week. I only saw 2 this morning but occasionally I see 5 or 6 together near here.

They were not skittish as I got off my bike and took the above video with my phone.

This is the first time I’ve seen a gopher tortoise in the neighborhood. I guess they may be hiding their burrows on the far end of the utility field.

This hawk was not skittish either. He let me walk up to this pole he was sitting on and he still didn’t fly off. He gave me this “What do you want?” look.

SkyWatch Friday

Afternoon storm passing by

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights8 Comments

It was mid-July and we were starting to get regular afternoon storms.  I went out for a late afternoon walk at the Safety Harbor fishing pier, hoping to see some lightning or a rainbow. I could see the rain moving across the northern part of the bay.

The sun was trying to peak out as I walked around the park next to the fishing pier.

There are lots of mangrove crabs along the boardwalk but they are usually skittish. This one let me take a picture with my phone.

A night heron blending in with the mangroves.

Color around the marina.

SkyWatch Fridaylinkup partyan image of a camera lens for Wordless Wednesday Photography

 

A busy morning on my bike

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

It was mid-July and I still hadn’t seen the baby turkeys this summer. I had heard they were around from neighbors but I kept missing them. I went out for a bike ride one morning and there they were. Crossing the street and almost grown. I knew they would be in the woods in a second so I hopped off my bike and snapped the above.

As I passed them by I was able to get a quick shot before they went under the wooden fence and disappeared into the woods. They were still in that “cute” stage.

As I got around to the open utility field I saw a deer couple. The male looked young with those tiny antlers.

I saw another turkey family, all grown ups, far off on the other side of the field. They were heading behind someone’s house. When I got around to the other street they were feeding in front of a home, scratching around for bugs.

I stopped by the pond behind the golf center and found some baby mallards on the other side of the pond. I rarely see baby ducks here. In our old neighborhood in Tampa there were always a ton of babies almost all year round, both mallards and muscovy.

I also found some baby moorhens.

A great egret flies by as I was taking pictures of the moorhens.

Across the golf course I could see a doe running into the cover. I’m thinking she looked pregnant.

Flowers blooming around the neighborhood.

Stopping to smell the flowers

On By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants, Tampa bay sights10 Comments

I had been having shoulder pain off and on through the summer but by early September it had really been bothering me. I haven’t been using my heavy camera much so I went for walk near the Safety Harbor pier with only my phone.

The fountain in front of the marina had been vandalized but was recently fixed. They caught the kids who did it.

Flowers around the fountain. I’m so use to looking at birds from far away so it’s harder for me to find things close up to take pictures of. There’s so much out there, especially near the water.

SkyWatch Friday

So many colors

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

So many bright colors at the Florida Botanical Gardens in early September.

Found these leaves on the ground.  While I would like to think it’s fall already, they probably came off in the storms that we had recently had. It’s a tease considering fall won’t be here in central Florida for months. I loved the yellow colors though.

Photographing New Zealand

In the backyard in January

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Birds in our backyard, They are all regular visitor’s. A great blue heron, an anhinga drying his wings with some seaweed on his beak and a red bellied woodpecker.

Arriving home one day I saw a Cooper’s hawk eating something in my neighbor’s yard. Then later we had a red shoulder hawk on my neighbor’s sailboat mast.

We have a hooded merganser couple that hangs our in our channel during the winter. Every so often he comes close to our dock.

Plants in  the backyard.

The sea fog had rolled in one Sunday morning.

One of the big moon events recently. Taken in the driveway.

Our World Tuesday Graphicimage-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

Flowers in the rain

On By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants3 Comments

I headed out to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo in early August around 8am. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky in Tampa. As I got closer to the gardens I could see the dark clouds up ahead. I was thinking it would be a quick rain shower and then it would nice and cool to walk around after the rain. I sat in my car for over 30 minutes in the down pour. It finally slowed down to a drizzle. I got out of the car with my big golf umbrella and walked around the gardens taking pictures in the drizzle. At least it wasn’t hot.

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