Birds at Bok Tower Gardens

On June 2, 2016June 2, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I don’t think this eastern towhee liked me watching him eat. He was eating bird seed that had fallen to the ground from the feeder.

The blue jays were hogging the feeder.

The carolina wren was checking things out.

The cardinal came and sat down beside me on the bench, waiting for his turn at the feeder.

A bird I don’t see very often, the Great Crested Flycatcher was high up in a tree and of course, I had to take this picture right into the sun.

Squirrels were also eating the fallen seed under the feeder.

The northern flickers had taken over an old pileated woodpecker nest. It was too early for babies when I was here in mid April.

Just a few of the birds I saw at Bok Tower Gardens in central Florida. Last year I had seen a lot of hummingbirds around the fire bushes by the old historic house. This year I headed straight for those bushes and all of this construction was going on in the gardens so no hummingbirds this year.

SkyWatch Friday

Little birds in early March

On April 18, 2016April 19, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

The northern parulas were looking pretty in their bright colors.

There’s always a few yellow-rumped warblers around right before spring.

I found one in the pond.

Carolina Wrens were showing off.

A green heron trying to hide.

Just a few things at Lettuce Lake Park in north Tampa in early March.

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Typical things on a Florida trail.

On March 14, 2016March 15, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

A typical Florida swamp scene (cattle egret looking at a great egret).

A limpkin posing in the moss.

A Carolina wren stops by.

A cormorant flapping his wings.

Another limpkin in the moss. Looks like he was grabbing moss for his nest.

This guy was just cruising down the trail, not caring that he was heading right for me. He kept getting closer and I finally got up and moved back (was sitting on the trail to take his picture). I don’t want this guy to get too close. They are cute but still creepy.

All from Circle B Bar Reserve in early February.

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Random birds and a big baby hawk

On August 17, 2015August 18, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography11 Comments

A carolina wren working on a late nest.

A young cardinal sitting on the boardwalk.

This male cardinal was deep in the bushes. Not a good picture but it was funny to see him with that caterpillar squished in his beak.

A grackle on the boardwalk.

She came over a little closer, checking to see if I had a snack to give her.

A very young cooper’s hawk. Just starting to leave the nest.

The nest was a few trees back in the woods. For the last couple of weeks, we could hear the babies screaming for food but it wasn’t until the babies started hopping around and branching closer to the boardwalk that we could see them.

A great egret flies by the boardwalk with a snack.

Besides all of the little critters and four-legged ones, there were a few birds at Chesnut Park in mid-July. Nothing unusual but it was great to the see the baby cooper’s hawk after hearing them scream for weeks and not being able to see them from the nest.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

All kinds of critters

On August 16, 2015August 16, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Little critters

Bigger critters

Flying critters

Fish eating critters

Sand critter

Chesnut Park and Safety Harbor on a recent Saturday .

Shine the Divine

Critters at Chesnut Park.

On July 25, 2015July 25, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Some of the summer birds at Chesnut Park in mid-June.

I don’t see Cooper’s hawks that often. This one was watching his nest, far into the woods. We couldn’t see the babies but we could hear them crying for food.

Not great shots but I couldn’t resist. The above two shots are of a blue-gray gnatcatcher nest high up in a tree. It looked like a golf ball from the naked eye. I think there were 3 babies on the nest. By the time you could see them, they were outgrowing the nest. These are extremely zoomed in and cropped. Thanks to Joe with his scope that knows every bird that is born at the park.

Even smaller critters have taken over. Grasshoppers and butterflies were everywhere.

This little beauty had deer flies on her face. They are worse than mosquitos.

Taken with my phone, a shot of the swamp from the boardwalk.

Small critters at Lettuce Lake

On May 11, 2015May 12, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography15 Comments

A carolina wren looking guilty with that mouthful of greens. He’s building a nest somewhere close by.

A northern parula deep in the woods was chowing on a worm.

A lot of people were looking for the prothonotary warbler that had been reported there earlier in the week. No one had seen it that morning. Right before I left, I saw this yellow bird in the bushes and snapped a quick picture. When I got home I realized it was the prothonotary warbler everyone had been looking for.

Diana, the park ranger showed me this tiny ball high up in a tree in the woods. I had to look through my 300mm lens to see it. When I got home and cropped it up, I realized you could see the tiny blue-gray gnatcatcher sitting on the nest. It looks bigger in the picture but was smaller than a baseball. I can’t imagine you could see the tiny babies until they were ready to fly off.

Dragonfly season is in full swing.

Hanging around.

This was an early morning walk at Lettuce Lake in north Tampa in late April. I went to see if I could find the barred owl family. I found them and a few other birds along the boardwalk. More on the owls later.

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More people than birds.

On April 2, 2015March 25, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

A common yellowthroat hiding in the bushes.

A Carolina wren singing away in the morning.

A bittern hiding in the swamp. Shout out to Peter and Capt. Jake for finding this guy. Don, where were you? You missed out on this one.

A black vulture and a turkey vulture hanging out together.

One of the many “Osprey” trees along Alligator Alley trail.

The baby great blue heron is almost grown up.

The parent was still watching over him.

The baby was still getting excited when the parents came to visit. He was still getting fed by them.

I’m starting to see dragonflies everywhere.

A quick visit to Circle B Bar Reserve in mid-March. I think there were more people than birds on the trails. It’s that time of the year when big groups of bird watchers descend on the park. They move a lot slower and I’m sure they see a lot more birds than I do. Most of the time they are seeing they with binoculars or scopes so I usually can’t get a shot of what they are looking at. I usually try to keep moving. It all started with getting exercise so I try to get in a good long walk on the weekends.Seeing the wildlife is a bonus.

Skywatch Friday

Little birds being watched by big birds.

On February 2, 2015February 3, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

My first blue headed vireo. From a distance I thought it was a northern parula and wasn’t going to take the picture. I was thinking it was too far away and dark which it was but was glad I took the shot after all.

Keeper of the sign.

Common yellowthroat hiding in the reeds along the lake.

“Sing, sing a song. “

I thought this was an immature yellow rumped warbler but now I’m not sure.

White eyed vireo.

The usual titmouse looking cute.

This red shoulder hawk was on the wooded trail and watching the blue headed vireo. I think he is still a young one since he didn’t have a lot of color in his head.

This one was sitting out over the lake watching all of the little birds flying around. He may have just been soaking up the sun since it was fairly cool that morning.

A few birds on my walk around Chesnut Park in early January. It was a cool morning (45 degrees when I started) but warmed up fast. I didn’t think I was going to see much but the little birds came out as the sun started peeking out of the clouds.

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