Fighting bucks

On March 28, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

I have only gotten a few fleeting glimpses of this big guy at Chesnut Park recently. I was there early one morning in early December and saw him running through the woods off the back boardwalk.

I came off the boardwalk and was on the dirt trail when I heard a commotion in the woods. I went in a little ways and hid behind a tree and caught him and a slightly younger buck going at it. I couldn’t get any closer (not that I would have wanted to) so all I got are a few blurry shots of them locking antlers. They fought for just a minute and then the younger buck ran off and the older one went deeper into the woods.

A lady standing in front of the boardwalk.

The usual birds were a titmouse and a chickadee.

Spatterdock in the lake.

This cute pied grebe would flap her wings when coming up after a dive to get the excess water off.

I passed another lady on the trail.

This guy was not shy. I think this is the one fighting the bigger buck.

We were still in drought mode and the swamp was dry and full of the dead cypress leaves.

Around the yard in early September

On January 10, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The juvenile bluebirds were still coming to the feeder and bath in early September. They still had their cute spots and acted like toddlers. One was eating the berries off the ferns that bloom in late summer.

House finches were migrating through and stopped at the bath as well.

The bunnies were still coming to backyard.

I caught this one looking at me through the window. I’m always yelling at them “Stop being cute and stop eating my flowers”.

Fred was flirting with me in front of the window.

Mushrooms growing in the yard from the summer rains.

Sunsets across the street.

I went out to get the mail right before dark and the bats had just come out and were buzzing around. Florida is home to 13 different types of bats and I have no idea which ones these are (not going to get that close and we only see them at dark). They are beneficial and one can eat thousands of mosquitos in one night.

I spotted these two bucks in the utility field down the street coming home from the grocery store.

More fawns in the park.

On October 25, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

I was back at Chesnut Park in early August hoping to see more baby deer. This time of year there isn’t much in the parks except mosquitoes and deer flies so it’s a good reason to load up on bug spray and get out for a walk. I got there early and first stopped at the baseball field. Across the field I could see some adults including one male.

Close to the woods I saw a Mom and her baby. They were looking at something from the other direction of the woods.

Here comes another Mom and baby. They seemed to know each other and greeted each other with sniffs.

All of a sudden many adults appeared from the woods and started to feed and ignored the babies.

The babies were playing and chasing each other. It was such a treat to sit on the sidelines and watch them having fun together across the field. I had my 400mm lens and these are all cropped up.

This lopsided young guy walked right up to me and I kept backing up. I’m sure someone is feeding them which is highly discouraged and there are signs saying it is illegal to do so.

I walked over to the other side of the ball field and could see another baby near the maintenance area.

This handsome guy stopped to glance at me for a few minutes in between eating. More people were starting to show up and the deer started to make their way into the woods so I left to walk the back boardwalk.

Boys and girls in the woods

On May 24, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals3 Comments

It’s not often that I see the “boys” at Chesnut Park. I was there early one morning in February to look for owls but I got distracted by the beautiful bucks that kept crossing the trail. I saw 3 different ones with all different sizes of antlers. They were not shy at all. The park is full of does and the bucks spend most of their time in woods farther north of the park and only come to the park during mating season.

Later on the boardwalk I passed two ladies who had come for a drink in the small pond.

I wondered if they were Mother and daughter since they were having a bonding moment.

A not quite fully grown purple gallinule was feeding close to the dock.

I see an adult flying out on the lake.

A tiny alligator was also close to the dock. It’s rare to not see one here.

It still looked like fall in the woods.

The lake was covered in duckweed but was already turning brown from the few cold nights we had.

“Oh deer, don’t come any closer”

On November 16, 2024December 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals2 Comments

This lady was already molting at the end of July. They shed their fur twice a year, in spring and fall. Maybe she was just shedding from spring? I took this through the back window.

A little blue heron came walking by the back window.

I wasn’t getting a lot of birds in the backyard in late July. Mostly the usuals including blue jays (above), cardinals, titmouse and chickadees. With all of the rain we had been getting they weren’t coming to bath as much but this blue jay couldn’t pass up a good clean bath.

Fungus growing on fallen branches and in the hanging baskets. They dry up pretty fast once the sun comes out for the afternoon.

I took the above with my phone through the back door. It had just stopped pouring and the squirrel had found the few sunflower seeds that had fallen out when I brought the bird feeder in before the storm.

I kept my camera in the car hoping I would see some baby deer as I was going in and out of the neighborhood. One morning I saw a young buck on the way out and quickly pulled over and snapped the above.

The next morning I was leaving much earlier and took the long way out of the neighborhood. I saw a fawn and Mom heading into the woods. I was able to catch them leaving and the baby stopped for a few seconds and looked back at me. I wonder if the people in the nearby homes feed them.

A few days later I stopped at the utility field on my way out and saw the above. I wasn’t in a hurry and parked the car and got out. I was across the street and trying to hide behind a big bottlebrush tree but they knew I was there. I don’t often see the males in the neighborhood and it was cool to see two big racks together 😉.

They spent a few minutes feeding along the sidewalk on their side of the street.

All of a sudden this guy crosses the street and starts walking right towards me. I walked back to my car in the grass and away from them. I was not going to test his friendly manner and let him get any closer.

He walked around the tree I had been standing behind and looked at me as if to say “This is my tree.”. I took these from behind my car. They both eventually headed towards the nearby woods.

Summer sky in the front yard.

Seeing the big boys

On September 3, 2019September 3, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I stopped by Chesnut Park on the way home from work in late July just after it had stopped raining. I was hoping to see baby deer. It’s rare to see them on a Saturday morning when the park is busy but they usually come out from hiding and play in the rain during the week. I didn’t see any babies on this trip.

A very young buck with some pine straw hanging out of his mouth.

I did get to see 2 bucks with bigger antlers which is a rare thing to see at the park. A park ranger once told me the park is mostly full of does and the bucks come down from Brooker Creek Preserve in the spring and summer to mate but don’t hang around Chesnut Park long. These 2 were hanging out on the baseball field by themselves. When I walked up to the edge of the field they stopped and glanced at me for a few seconds then ignored me. This guy was trying to be cool but little did he know that he had some grass stuck between his ear and antler.

I saw this red shoulder hawk on the ground with a lizard. He was still soaked from the rain. He took off after he saw me.

Oh Deer, Christmas is over!

On December 26, 2015December 26, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

Why did the deer cross the road?!?!

So little Junior could get a snack.

The boys were hanging out together.

I sat down on the side of the road and this one comes walking right towards me.

This one has something funny hanging off her knee. Is that some sort of growth? I’ll have to keep an eye out for her.

I got to Chesnut park before 8am on a cloudy Saturday morning in early December. It looked like it was going to rain so there wasn’t a lot of people there. The deer were all along the road throughout the park. They were just wandering around enjoying the quiet. I noticed when I left 3 hours later, more people had come in to walk and jog and the deer had all retreated to the back of the park.

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