Birds an hour north

On July 30, 2025August 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

In mid-April I was at Chinsegut Wildlife area just north of Brooksville. They open at 8am and they sun was already up. Besides the great trails here they also have bird feeders behind the nature center so if I don’t see many birds on the trails I can take a break behind the center and see some usual birds.

I could still see the moon up high between the burnt branches. There was a recent prescribed burn in some of the areas.

One of the fun things about this wildlife area is that you can usually see lots of red-headed woodpeckers. They are rare in the Tampa Bay area (just an hour south) but here they are easy to find. I usually see them high up in the trees along the trails but this time several were close to the nature center and came to the feeders.

Eastern towhees are common here during migration and both a female (top shot) and a male (bottom shot) were hanging out near the feeders. It looks like they were eating fallen sunflower seeds.

Bluebirds were working on their nest in the nearby nest box.

The green lizard and common buckeye butterfly were fun finds.

Passionflowers were blooming along the trail.

A great crested flycatcher couple were hanging out together high up in the trees.

I was sitting on the bench behind the nature center and a bobwhite popped out from the bushes. He was pecking around in the grass below the feeders. He didn’t stay long and headed back into the bushes and disappeared. I don’t see these guys in the Tampa Bay area. Even though I didn’t see any new birds I did see a few that I don’t see near my home.

Flying things at Bok Tower Gardens

On May 6, 2019May 7, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Little critters in the flowers.

Nothing new but not too common with the exception of the cardinal. The others are a prairie warbler, yellow bellied sapsucker (woodpecker) and the yellow throated warbler. I was hoping to find some other birds but I was a little too early for spring migration.

The best find of the morning was the bobwhite. I never see them where I live so this was a treat. He peaked out behind the bushes for a few minutes as I was walking down the trail and then ran back after a few seconds.

I drove over to Bok Tower Gardens in central Florida early in April for a long walk.

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Redheads and a new bird

On August 27, 2012August 28, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography18 Comments

“Hey Bob, come look at all of these people down here staring at me.” says the redheaded woodpecker.

“Why are they all standing around on our dirt road? There shouldn’t be anything here but us and the cows.”

“Maybe there’s something in this hole that’s caught their attention.”

“They’re looking at you two, silly.” says the kestrel that was watching us from another pole.

“I thought they were looking for me.” says the bobwhite from behind the fence.

I went up to Hernando county, north of Tampa, to find the swallow tail kites. I also found a few other cool things. I finally got a decent sighting of a redheaded woodpecker in Florida. I saw one from far away in St. Petersburg earlier this spring. I’ve seen them several times in Atlanta. There were two on the dirt road hanging out on a utility pole. I heard they had nested earlier in the spring in another pole but we did not see any juveniles anywhere around. Several people were standing around watching the woodpeckers when we all noticed the kestrel watching us. Most of the kestrels on the wires were pretty skittish. They would take off flying if you stopped the car but this one just sat there for a few minutes watching.

I finally saw my first bobwhite in the wild. I’ve heard them several times at Circle B Bar Reserve calling but could never find them. This one was sitting back on an inside fence. I took the above shot from the car. I was afraid if I got out he would take off.

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