Splish splash in the bath

Posted on February 27, 2023 by dinajohnston

The little hermit thrush has been stopping by the bird bath most days. He always shows up late in the day, sometimes right before dark. A quick drink and dunk and he’s gone.

Even though the weather was cold in mid-January, all of the usuals stopped by for a bath.

My first robin in the backyard. He was all alone and at first he hung out at the bottom of the oak tree.

A little while later I caught on the bath. He has stopped by several times now for a bath.

This red/yellow finch has been a regular for a while.

I’ve been seeing this young little blue heron often. Sneaking around looking for bugs.

My Christmas cactus finally started blooming around mid-January. A little late but still pretty.

Scenes from Fort Desoto

Posted on July 18, 2022 by dinajohnston

The dolphin show at Fort Desoto Park in mid-May. The water was clear so you could see them before they were coming up for air and they were swimming close to the fishing pier.

I found this calico crab on the beach early that morning. It was low tide but the water was starting to come up. At first I though maybe he was dead but then I saw bubbles coming out of his face. I was going to nudge him close to the deeper water but he stood up and started heading that way on his own. It looks like he has a critter in a shell living on top of him.

A juvenile little blue heron dunking for fish.

Scenes from the fishing pier.

I walked up to the top of the fort hoping to find some migrating birds up at the top but all I found was a cardinal on a dead snag. He had a great view.

View from the beach.

Standing near the northern end of the beach you can see the hotels on St. Pete beach, about a 20 minute drive north.

Fun Feathered Friends

Posted on July 21, 2018 by dinajohnston

Getting up close with some fun feathered friends at the Tampa zoo.

A wild blue heron was sitting on a nest. I was checking to see if any babies were hatched yet in early April in the rookery at the alligator exhibit at the zoo but all of the moms were still sitting on eggs.

Birds at the downtown Tampa coastline

Posted on September 6, 2017 by dinajohnston

Willet, laughing gull, oystercatcher, young blue heron and cormorants can all be found along the water at Davis Islands, a small island next to downtown Tampa.

Loggerhead shrikes are most prevalent there. They were in the bushes next to the boat ramp, in the trees that lined the yacht basin and on the fence that lined the airport. The ones on the fence were a parent and young one that was still being feed.

Mangroves line the yacht basin and the sea grapes in were in full bloom.

At first glance, there aren’t a lot of birds at the south end of Davis Islands where the small private airport and yacht basin meet up. There are lots of bicycles, joggers, walkers, and dog walkers along the road, most are not paying attention to the birds. People look at me like “Why is that girl staring up in the tree?” When you look along the shore line and up in the trees you see lots of things.

Linking to Wednesday Around The World.

Saturday morning at Chesnut Park

Posted on August 28, 2017 by dinajohnston

Carolina wrens were singing all over the park.

My favorite little titmouses.

Chickadee checking me out.

A juvenile little blue heron looking for gators!

There was one close by.

Fall in the summer.

Someone had been feeding the squirrels right before I got there.

Fun flying faces

Posted on August 10, 2017 by dinajohnston

Red bellied woodpecker

Carolina chickadees

Yellow crowned night heron

My favorite little titmouses.

A young mockingbird

Northern parula

Osprey flyby

Juvenile little blue heron in a sea of green and purple.

Curious baby great horned owls from high up in a pine tree.

A few birds in June at Chesnut Park.

Wild and resident animals at the zoo

Posted on May 10, 2017 by dinajohnston

The trees are full of wild ibis all over the zoo.

The wild blue herons and tricolored herons were just starting to build their nests over the alligator exhibit.

A zoo resident stork was sitting on a nest. By nature, she’s covered in flies. When she moved, they would buzz around.

A resident flamingo splashing around.

Two “head banger” birds in the aviary.

Up close with manatees at the manatee hospital pool there. These are all injured manatees that are in rehab at the zoo. Most of them get released when they recover. (taken through the glass with my phone).

Fun at the Lowry Park Zoo in late March.

“They paved paradise and put a parking lot”

Posted on December 19, 2016 by dinajohnston

Late in the afternoon, all of the deer were napping deep in the woods. I could see a few of them from the boardwalk but they were trying to hide.

A little blue heron walking around near the boardwalk.

A lone ring neck duck in one of the smaller ponds.

I was looking around the boardwalk for gators and saw the above instead.

Furry faces in the trees.

The cypress trees are starting to turn.

A hawk on the way home.

I stopped by the horse farm on the way home to see if the eagles were back. They abandoned the nest in the old tree last year and did not have babies. Some say the old dead tree was rotting and about to fall over and that’s why they left. Most think it was due to new houses that were going up around the horse farm. The farm was surrounded by trees and last winter a developer came in and wiped out all of the tree and started a new neighborhood. I didn’t expect to find them and was thinking they were gone forever. As I was driving out a different way, I saw the above on a utility tower. There’s an old osprey nest in the tower. Only time will tell if they take over the osprey nest and have babies here. It’s sad to think they are out of that great tree but at least they would still be having families.

“There’s no place like home”

Posted on September 26, 2016 by dinajohnston

I’ve been seeing a little blue heron around the channel behind our house lately. One day he’s on the fence, the next day he is on our neighbor’s mast.