Two parks in Atlanta

On February 24, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta3 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta in December we spent an early morning at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are attached to Piedmont Park and since we were there we decided to walk around the lake at the Park before leaving. I spent a lot of time in this park in the late 80’s through the 90’s. Art festivals, concerts, the Dogwood festival and just hanging out were many of the reasons to spend time here. It was beautiful the morning we were there. The weather was mild and many of the trees were still changing colors even though it was mid-December.

There’s usually a lot of ducks here but we also saw 2 Canadian geese swimming close to the edge.

The Midtown skyline and trees were reflecting on the lake.

Admiring the beautiful leaves as we walked around the lake.

We crossed the soccer fields to get back to our car at the Gardens.

More orange trees as we drove around the area.

We had an hour to kill before an early dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. I found a new (to us) small park to explore. Morningside Nature Preserve is an intown small park in between homes and a busy Cheshire Bridge Road. It starts off climbing down a lot of stairs through woods, then walking along a long boardwalk.

The trail then runs along South Fork Peachtree Creek. This park is popular on the weekends during the summer with dogs and their owners since this is an off leash park. The river was low when we were there but had record flooding when Hurricane Helene came through. We could see how high the water rose by the trash hanging high in the trees. It also changed the landscape of the river. The area along the water didn’t look nice since the trees were all damaged and stripped. It was still a nice quick walk and we did see one deer (which is strange to see in a heavily populated area of the city).

We walked over 20,000 steps this day so the next day we slept in and had lunch with friends before another walk that afternoon.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Walking around Midtown Atlanta

On September 9, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta2 Comments

On the first morning we were in Atlanta I got out early for a long walk. I headed down to Colony Square near Piedmont Park. The big complex is a mixed use area with offices, condos, restaurants and shops. Many years ago we used to cut through here on our way to the park for the Dogwood Festival. It was weird being back after so many years. The park is just down the block but I was saving that walk for later.

On my way back I stopped and walked around the old IMB tower (now called One Atlantic Center). They have a pretty garden in the back and had lots of hydrangeas. Many years ago it was the tallest building in Midtown and you could see it from the interstate.

A lot of the streets in Midtown look like this, all lined with trees. Walking back around 8am I expected to see lots of people pouring into the office buildings but it felt like a Saturday morning instead of a Monday. I guess a lot of people still work from home even though all I hear is “back to the office”.

For lunch we went to one of our favorite local taco places and the parking lot was full of Canadian geese. The lot was next to a small river which might be why they hang out here (and hoping for a handout). People must be feeding them here because a few walked right up to us when we got out of the car.

We got our food and was sitting outside when more geese showed up. Of course I had to stop eating and take a quick video.

After lunch Brett had to head back to the condo to do some quick work so he dropped me off at the other side of Piedmont Park and I walked back through the park to get to our condo. This is my favorite spot to get shots of Midtown across the lake.

I found some baby ducks hanging out with some turtles as I walked across the bridge over the lake.

Walking by the soccer fields, it took me about an hour to get back.

A two park morning

On May 13, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I was out at Largo Nature Preserve on a foggy morning in early March. I didn’t expect to see anything new but you never know. I saw a mallard across the golf course that sits next to the preserve.

There were also 2 Canadian geese on the course. I haven’t seen any since last year.

The limpkins were looking for breakfast. After a quick walk I left and stopped at the Roosevelt Wetlands to see if there was anything there.

As soon as I got out of the car at the wetlands I saw 2 northern flickers on a utility pole. I looked around for a nest but they stayed on the pole or wire for a while. These may have been 2 females.

The blanket flower was coming back from the cold spell and starting to fill out along the trail.

A pair of northern shovelers were sitting on the bank.

The usual birds were there including a limpkin and great egret.

As I walk down the trail I could see tons of birds hovering over the nearby waste plant. I think the bigger one in the top was an eagle.

Towards the end of the trail I could a lot of turkey vultures. It didn’t look like they had something to eat so they may have just been resting.

A young juvenile eagle flew right over (I took this into the sun) and headed past the trees.

I saw something moving around on the side of the landfill. I realized it was a coyote. This was the first time I have seen a coyote in Florida. I know there are tons of them here and people have seen them in my neighborhood (mostly at night) but I have not seen one here. I have seen them in Utah and Colorado but this was my first Florida one. He was far away and ran along the ridge for a few minutes before disappearing.

A spring morning out

On May 15, 2023April 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals8 Comments

The water around the Safety Harbor fishing pier was really low the morning I was there in mid-March. There were a lot of shorebirds far out on a tiny spit. A few black bellied plovers, red knots and dowitchers were mixed in with tons of willets, gulls and terns.

Heading around the edge of some mangroves I could just make out 3 Canadian geese.

Several manatees were coming up for air.

A red-winged blackbird posing on the mangroves.

I stopped by Folly Farms on the way home. Lots of little critters there.

I rarely see butterflies mating.

Fun morning at the farm.

On February 26, 2022February 17, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals4 Comments

I hadn’t been to Horsepower For Kids (sanctuary/farm) in a long time so I stopped by for a visit at the end of December. All of the baby geese that had grown up in early 2020 were still there making the duck pond a busy place.

They had 2 new canadian geese at the pond. They swam close to the dock and I noticed they both had angel wings. Angel wings is a nutritional deficiency caused by improper diet. It means someone was feeding these geese too much bread when they were young and their wings didn’t grow properly. It can keep them from flying well and that’s probably why they are living here now. At least they have a great home to live in now. That’s why it’s so important not to feed the wildlife bread.

It’s fun seeing all of the different crazy “fowl” running around here.

Some of the other residents.

I was admiring this salad. These guys eat better than I do.

Butterflies are seen all year long here.

Growing up at work

On August 10, 2019July 29, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

For several years an osprey couple have raised a family in a nest on top of a light post in the parking lot at work. The nest is fairly high up so we don’t see the babies until they are pretty big. I kept my camera in my car and in April I caught Mom feeding them when I was leaving. One night Dad was right over my car feeding himself.

Later I realized there were 3 babies. This was the first year we’ve had triplets. Now I know why Dad was eating alone across the parking lot.

Another week goes by and boy was that nest crowded. At this point the babies are as big as the parents.

All 3 grew up and eventually left the nest. Now in early July, the babies are still visiting the nest. I’ve been seeing one or two sitting on the nest in the morning but they are gone when I leave.

We had some Canadian geese hanging around the parking lot as well in late spring.

A quick look at City Park in Denver

On February 28, 2018January 22, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Vacation5 Comments

A few shots from our quick walk around City Park near downtown Denver. It’s always fun to see Canadian geese walking around. We don’t see them often in central Florida. After a sunny morning, the clouds had started to move in. Our last stop on our visit to Colorado was Rocky Mountain National Arsenal Park. More on that later.