Around the yard in early July

On November 8, 2025October 28, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The little hummy was still visiting the backyard in early July.

The bunny too. It’s always fun to catch him with a mouthful.

I looked out the back and saw 2 black bellied whistling ducks walking around. I’ve seen them many times on the other side of the lake across the street but this was the first time seeing them in the backyard.

They started taking a bath in the small newly formed pond that appears after a heavy storm.

One afternoon I looked out the back and saw a turkey lurking around near the bird feeder and bath. I shot this through the window. Later I didn’t see her and walked outside with my camera.

Looking around I saw her standing in between 2 trees in back of my neighbor’s. I sat down on my patio chair and watched her for a few minutes.

She plopped down and fell asleep while I was sitting there. After a while I quietly got up and went back instead. She was gone a little later after her quick nap.

A brown thrasher showed up while I was watching the turkey sleep.

Sunsets in July from the pond across the street. Note the alligator in the middle of the pond in the first shot. He’s a small one and I don’t see him often.

The backyard in late june

On October 18, 2025September 20, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The bluebird families were continuing to come to the mealworm feeder in the backyard throughout the summer.

I saw a pileated woodpecker in the oak tree in the back and ran out with my camera. I realized there were two of them and they were pretty high up in the tree. Dad (with the red stripe under his beak) quickly fed the juvenile and then went scooting up the tree with the young one screaming behind him.

Other birds at the mealworm feeder included a Carolina wren family and the thrasher that’s been hanging out here for a month.

We’ve had several bunnies stopping by and it’s fun to see 2 at the same time. One was much bigger than the other so I’m thinking the little one is an offspring of the bigger one.

A ruby throated hummingbird feeding on the shrimp plants.

The young squirrels spent so much time playing.

A juvenile Carolina wren was spreading his wings out in sun on our patio chair.

Watching the moon going down in the early morning from the driveway.

Summer skies in late June at the pond across the street.

The backyard in late May into early June

On October 6, 2025November 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

We’ve had 2 bunnies in the backyard since May. They both still come every few late afternoons, although not always at the same time. The first shot is the smaller bunny which I think may be offspring of the bigger one.

We had several juvenile tufted titmouse visit. They still have a little bit of cream in the corner of their beaks and don’t look so scruffy as the adults. I’m assuming they nest somewhere nearby.

We had a lot of juvenile cardinals as well.

Bluebirds have become regulars to the dried mealworm feeder and I can’t stop taking pictures of them.

We had a pair of brown thrashers in the backyard for a few weeks.

I saw the Carolina wrens hopping around and watched them go into my neighbor’s patio as the juvenile was still following the parent with the bug. The parent was teaching the young one to look for bugs but the young one just wanted to be fed.

My hanging shrimp plants were doing well. The hummingbirds get the nectar from inside the white part of the bloom.

I found some lacewing eggs on my jade plant that is up against the sunroom window. Those tiny white dots turn into something that looks like a moth but are a pretty green. I had the dots along the window as well but still haven’t seen any of the actual lacewings in the yard.

This is the first time I’ve seen one of these. A green coneheaded planthopper.

Taken through the window, a squirrel looking at me with an acorn in his mouth. I think he was afraid I was going to watch where he hid it.

I saw the turkeys through the window but since they were across the fairway I snuck out the back door and was able to get the above from the patio.

Later I looked out the back window and this one was right in front of our patio. I took the above through the window as she stared at me for a few seconds and then left with her friends.

Sunset going down behind the pond across the street.

Around the yard in early March

On June 2, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants5 Comments

Things blooming in the front yard in March.

I was taking pictures of the flowers in the front yard and saw this ibis over by the pond across the street. I walked over and realized he had a snack (frog). He flew off with it in his beak.

The great crested flycatchers were back for the summer. I heard them calling when I was taking the garbage can out early one morning and ran in and got my camera. They stayed high up in the trees.

A brown thrasher was also in the trees in the front yard.

Swallow tail kites cruise along the golf course and they don’t hang around for long. I saw this one across the fairway from the window and ran outside with my camera. He flew close and quick right over my head and then flew off over the trees and was gone.

I don’t see snakes often in the yard so I was excited to see this harmless black racer cut across the yard. The first shot was through the window and then I crept outside and was able to get a shot of his face before he slithered under the neighbor’s bushes.

The bunnies have been coming by the back yard since January. They usually come right before dark and don’t stay long.

Nanday parakeets feeding on the bottle brush tree down the street.

Sunset from the front yard and across the street.

The full moon from the backyard in March.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

No babies yet.

On September 2, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

It was the end of May and I was out at the Roosevelt Wetlands looking for black necked stilts. I found a few of them here. They are known to nest here in the summer and I was hoping to see some babies but it was a little early for that. There were several nests on the other side of of the lake but none up close to the trail even though there were a lot of stilts along the trail.

There were already older baby moorhens. The juveniles are all gray before they get their black adult feathers.

I thought the above was a boat tailed grackle couple flirting but since the females are all brown I think it was 2 males fighting over territory. Or, both showing off for a nearby female.

A juvenile little blue heron was shedding his white baby feathers for his adult blue feathers. They are really pretty when they have mixed colors like this.

I stopped by Folly Farm on my way home to check on the baby red shoulder hawk. The baby was fully grown and was still hanging around the tall palm tree that the nest was in. I was hoping he would fly off while I was there but after an hour I was ready to head home.

A squirrel was sitting a few branches over from the young hawk. Either he didn’t see the hawk sitting nearby or he was tempting fate.

Another butterfly shot.

A young brown thrasher was hopping around in the bushes.

Things blooming in the butterfly garden.

Buzzing in the butterfly garden

On October 16, 2023April 9, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

We were heading into the hot summer so I went for a quick walk at Folly Farms in Safety Harbor. I can sometimes find good shade and a bench to sit on in front of the flowers in the butterfly garden.

I saw a bluebird who had some kind of bee in his beak. He was so cute, posing for me.

I noticed later that there was a bluebird nest box under some small trees in the middle of the butterfly garden. Dad was bringing bugs into the babies. I could hear them peeping inside but couldn’t see them. Dad was going all the way into the box to feed them.

Then I saw a tufted titmouse with something in his beak. It looked like a leaf at first but I think it was a caterpillar that was crunched up.

I saw an adult brown thrasher on a pole near the parking area and when I walked over I also saw a young juvenile on the ground below the adult.

A minute later the adult hopped down on the ground, grabbed a bug and fed his young one while I was standing there. They were not skittish at all.

There’s a lot of eclectic artwork around the gardens and someone had drawn a face on a Mr. Potato Head and stuck it in the ground(I didn’t say it was fine art). A lizard was lounging on his head.

The new 17 foot tall gnome that was being built at the farm. He’s almost finished. It’s hard to get a good shot of him since he sits in the shade.

A park and a bike ride

On August 26, 2023August 17, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In late April I made a quick stop at Chesnut Park to see if there were any migrating birds hanging around. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of warblers come through here during migration but the only thing I found was the usual titmouse. They come really close because people feed them here. They come down close to the boardwalk to see if you have snacks. Once they realize you aren’t carrying they head back up to the tops of the trees.

The squirrels are also being fed here so they check you out as well.

I came home and it was still to early for lunch so I hopped on my bike and went for a quick pedal around the neighborhood. The first thing I saw was a bunny. A brown thrasher flew in front of me as I was taking a picture of the bunny. Was he posing for me?

I found a limpkin in the pond down the street from our house in the same spot the limpkin babies were last year. The water was much lower this year and at first I only saw the adult. He was calling to another limpkin that was farther down the creek.

I left my bike in the bushes and followed the creek along the golf course (no one was playing at the time) and saw another adult limpkin far in the woods. I could just barely make out a baby in the sticks. They stayed pretty hidden and eventually worked their way down behind the houses so I couldn’t follow them any farther. I’m assuming they were farther back since the water was a little higher there.

And, a random alligator that I saw in the neighborhood. This was taken with my 300mm lens and cropped so he was pretty far away.

The flapping has started

On April 20, 2023April 20, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography10 Comments

It was late February and I was stopping by the neighborhood eagle’s nest every couple of days. One morning I caught the parent bringing in a fish for breakfast. Now they were just dropping off the food and letting the babies eat on their own.

At least one parent was still hanging close to the nest.

At one point an osprey flew close to the nest and the eagle was yelling at him to leave.

One of the babies was flapping his new wings and you could still see the pin feathers.

Finally, I could get a decent shot of both of the babies sitting up. The younger one seemed to sleep a lot and wasn’t flapping yet.

The kestrel couple landed on the wire nearby.

A few other birds that came by the nest was a phoebe and a brown thrasher.

I could see a red shoulder hawk far away on the other side of the field.

A great egret flies right over my head.

Things in the yard in early May

On July 11, 2022June 30, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Flowers blooming in the yard in early May.

We had a bad storm one night that formed a small pond on the other side of the golf course. Early the next morning I saw a turkey hanging around the newly formed pond. I grabbed my camera and ran out before the golfers came through. These were taken with my 400mm lens and are cropped up a little but she didn’t seem to mind me standing there. She just went about her preening and strutting around.

A limpkin stopped by while I was shooting the turkey.

The usual birds were coming through the backyard in early May. I’ve been seeing the brown thrashers pretty regularly now.

The baby bluebirds were old enough to cruise around the area. They nest in my neighbor’s nest boxes (several doors down, the neighbors have been living there for years so I think the birds are use to using their boxes). This young one was sitting on the feeder pole in the rain.

Another visit from an armadillo and I always take a shot of the squirrels if they are doing something cute. This time he was just sitting back and relaxing.

The full moon from the driveway.

Late April in the backyard.

On June 27, 2022March 22, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals1 Comment

I looked outside the back window one morning in late April and saw these beauties walking around so I had to run out and get some shots. They were heading off the golf course and into the woods before the golfers come through.

Early one morning I saw this guy and went outside to take this. His face was all muddy. He was in the shade and didn’t stay still so it was hard to get a good shot of him.

I took these outside as well. He was napping on the hanging basket.

Squirrels being cute in the backyard. Taken through the window.

A wasp on the bird bath when I was cleaning it out.

A swallow tail kite cruising along the golf course. I took this through the window as well. I knew he’d be gone by the time I got outside and on the course.

We always have white ibis feeding through.

Several brown thrashers were feeding on the ground for several days. They must be nesting somewhere nearby.

These crows are very annoying. There are several that hang out in the backyard. They usually stay high up in the oak trees but recently they have been coming to the bird bath. They must have found some trash or someone was leaving food out because they were bringing food to the bird bath to soak before eating it. It looked like mostly bread but one day I ran out and chased one off the bath and he had an open pack of cheese crackers that he left as he flew off. I finally dumped the water out for a few days until they left.

We’ve been getting a lot of woodpeckers at the feeder lately. They grab a sunflower seed and take off. The other little birds usually leave when they are on it.