A 2nd look at the western flycatcher.

Posted on April 25, 2024 by dinajohnston

I went back to Sand Key Park (in Clearwater) in early February to see if I could spot the rare western flycatcher that has been hanging around there for several months. I had heard it was still there but finding it wouldn’t be easy. I didn’t get there super early. It was after 8 and just a few minutes after I arrived I saw it in the bushes. On my last trip I briefly saw the back of it and then searched for it for an hour without seeing it again so I was happy to see it so quick this trip.

There were usual birds there as well. A lot of catbirds and blue gray gnatchatchers.

After finding the flycatcher so quickly I decided to leave and stopped on the causeway to get a short walk in over the bridge. Halfway up I stopped and took the above. Sand Key is on the left of the bridge in the distance and Clearwater Beach is on the right.

Since I was in Clearwater I stopped at Lake Bellview. I heard there was a canvasback duck there. It would not have been a lifer but I haven’t seen one in years. All I could find was redheads and ring neck ducks.

I did find a gadwall (the gray one in the middle) floating around with some ring neck ducks. I haven’t seen one of the those in years.

Front and back in late October

Posted on February 8, 2024 by dinajohnston

I have a ton of palm warblers in the backyard but they rarely come to the suet feeder. This one must have decided to be brave and get a bite in between the woodpeckers feeding on it.

Anytime I look out the window I can usually see a red bellied or downy woodpecker feeding on the suet.

Ugh! A squirrel has figured out the tasty snack. All last winter I didn’t see a single squirrel on the suet. This winter I saw one several times. I got a pole baffle and cover for the stand and haven’t seen one on it since.

A house finch stopped by for a drink.

One morning I saw a young indigo bunting through the bushes.

A few days later I saw two more on the ground feeding in front of our patio. They looked like non-breeding males.

Catbirds, eastern phoebes and pine warblers are all regulars in the winter. The phoebe doesn’t come to the feeders since he only eats bugs or flies. He sits on the white stick (which is the marker that separates the golf course grass from our grass) and hops on and off of it chasing flies.

Standing in the backyard one morning I saw this guy sticking out of our gutters and had to take a picture.

Scratching his face on the tree.

I was bringing in the garbage can and saw this family hanging around the entrance wall to our townhomes so I ran in and got my camera and walked over to them. They gave me a quick glance and then ignored me.

The Hunter’s moon from our driveway.

“Red skies at night…” From the front yard and the backyard.

Busy month at the bird bath

Posted on January 8, 2024 by dinajohnston

We had a late baby in the backyard near the end of September. I had just gotten home and Brett says “There was a baby deer in the backyard” What??? I grabbed my camera and ran out the back door just as they were heading down the fairway. I quickly snapped the above but then I didn’t want to chase them so I headed back inside.

As we headed into early October we were just getting the usual birds in the backyard. Carolina chickadees and blue jays are always coming to the bird bath.

In the 2nd week of October I saw a catbird on the bath early in the morning. It was the first one I had seen this fall. We usually have a few hanging around the backyard in the winter.

A few minutes later I looked out the window and saw another bird on the bath with the catbird. What was that bird?????

It was a Swainson’s thrush. The first one I’ve seen in the backyard.

A little later that morning I saw 2 of them on the bath and a yellow bird was with them. What was that???

It’s a female scarlet tanager. She took a long bath.

A bluebird stopped by while she was bathing and she’s like “Why are you interrupting my bath?” The bluebird took a sip and left.

She came back the next day.

Other birds that showed up that morning was a black and white warbler (I see them often in the backyard in the winter) and a red eyed vireo.

I caught the squirrel getting a sip as well. These were all taken through the window.

A few mornings later I looked out the kitchen window and a Cooper’s hawk was on my neighbor’s garage roof.

Blooming in the front yard in October.

I took this during the peak solar eclipse back in October. I was bummed that we didn’t get to see the darkness this year. The last one we had was the summer of 2017.

The backyard in late February

Posted on April 1, 2023 by dinajohnston

Not an April Fools with this couple. I was looking out the front window and caught this squirrel couple getting frisky. I ran upstairs as they crossed the roof and got an eyeful as they were frisky on the peak of the garage roof.

We already have so many squirrels in the backyard and now I saw this Mom with her young one. At least I think it was a young one. The one on the right was half the size of the one on the left.

They have been hanging out on our back porch chair for a while.

White ibis eating around our bushes in late February.

The pine warblers, catbirds and titmouse were still visiting the backyard but now the pine, palms and yellow rumped warblers as well as the catbirds are all gone. The titmouse are here all year long.

The butterflies really like the lantana plant in the backyard.

I can’t believe it’s April 1st. We really didn’t get a good spring although we got a quick cold spell for a few days in mid-March. It’s now in the mid to high 80’s every day until forever (okay at least till November but it will feel like forever) but the humidity isn’t too bad yet. Today is my brother-in-law’s birthday. Debbie, tell Dave I said Happy Birthday!

A new cuisine in the backyard cafe

Posted on March 4, 2023 by dinajohnston

During a cold spell I added a suet feeder to the backyard. I was getting bird seed at the hardware store and saw them on the shelf. They were less than $2 for a block so I thought I would put it out while I had taken the seed feeder down to scrub out. I wasn’t sure what I would get because I’ve never used them before but boy, those pine warblers love it. For 2 days there were tons of them waiting their turn at the suet.

A chickadee also stopped by to check it out.

The cardinal sat on it but I didn’t see him eat it. He was probably wondering where the regular seed was.

The Carolina wrens like it as well.

When I put the seed feeder back out I moved it to the side of the bushes closer to the house. This catbird guarded it and wouldn’t let the little birds on it for a while. The pine warblers would sit on the hanging plant and wait for him to leave. I’m on my third block now which should be gone by the end of March if not much sooner. Then I’ll wait until after the hot summer months are over to put one back up.

The usual visitors in the backyard

Posted on December 19, 2022 by dinajohnston

More shots of the single young doe that’s been hanging around our yard for several weeks. She has lost her spots but still seems so tiny. Several times she takes a break under the big oak tree next door. I even caught her sleeping one afternoon. She usually lays there for about half an hour nibbling on the grass and then moves on.

All of the usual birds stopping by in early November.

This is the first time I’ve seen a bluebird at my feeder. They stop by the bird bath but I’ve never seen them on the feeder. They usually eat at my neighbor’s feeder. He uses mealworms.

Four of the seven turkey family walking across the golf course in the backyard (the other 3 were down in the bushes).

My neighbor’s muhly grass looks beautiful in early November. The native grass blooms pink in the fall. It made me miss the ones we had in our backyard in Tampa. We thought about planting some outside of our new (ish) townhome but there isn’t a good sunny spot to put it.

Sunset in the pond across the street. This was in late October. We haven’t seen orange skies since.

Fall migration in my backyard

Posted on December 17, 2022 by dinajohnston

I was bummed that I would miss fall migration due to my shoulder surgery but it seems that fall migration came to me one afternoon. I came home from physical therapy and looked out the back window and saw some birds hopping around near the bird bath. I was thinking it would be the same birds that visit (titmouse, chickadees, etc) so I barely looked but then I noticed a few that looked different. I still had my camera set up on my tripod so I started snapping. There were a few immature indigo buntings.

There were several flashes of yellow and one was a non-breeding male scarlet tanager that was taking a bath.

Above are female summer tanagers.

A red eyed vireo stopped for a quick drink.

Pine warblers are fairly common in the backyard during the winter.

Catbirds are also common in the winter. He was photobombed by a bluebird.

Chickadees come by almost every day but it’s always hard to get a decent shot. They are very skittish.

There were several house finches this afternoon.

Later in the day the neighborhood red shoulder hawk stopped by and that cleared out all of the birds. I always know when he’s here since Harley (my young cockatiel) has a certain high pitch scream when he sees him. I jumped off the couch when I heard that scream and there he was, low in the tree. I ran outside and shooed him away but not before snapping the above.

I made it home right before lunch and when I saw all of the birds in the backyard I started snapping (all through the window). An hour later I was starving but it was hard to pull myself away from the window. I eventually did but I kept peeking out. I looked up on the BirdCast Migration tool website for Pinellas County. It said that over 5 million birds had passed through that night so I think that explains the fall out on this day in mid-October. We normally get one million passing through on a big fall out day.

In the yard

Posted on December 3, 2022 by dinajohnston

In mid-October I had some migrating birds stop by the backyard. Black and white warblers were common here last winter but this was the first time seeing house finches in the backyard.

I saw my first ever worm eating warbler in the backyard. Over the years I had heard of one being reported twice in the Tampa Bay area but I could never find them. I was pretty excited to see him bouncing around near the bird bath. He stayed close under the big palm leaves on the ground and then later disappeared.

Common birds to the backyard are catbirds (I get a lot of them in the winter) and red bellied woodpeckers.

A house finch with just a little red on his head stopped by the feeder.

I’ve had an almost grown baby coming through the backyard alone. When I first saw her in mid October, you could still see the spots on her hind legs.She was all alone. I don’t know what happened to her Mom but I was thinking she was old enough to be on her own.

For several weeks she would come by every afternoon and hang out in the back, feeding and napping. I took all of these through the window because I was afraid I would spook her if I went outside. She saw me in the window though. She would take a quick nap up against my neighbor’s oak tree.

Our hibiscus bush in the front yard has been blooming for a few weeks. I took this with my phone.

More backyard birds in January

Posted on April 23, 2022 by dinajohnston

Goldfinches in my backyard! Several came to the bird bath for a couple of days. They were in their non-breeding winter colors so not a lot of yellow but they were still beautiful.

Other birds at the bird bath were not so unusual. All of these hanging out include a pine warbler, a yellow throated warbler, a black and white warbler and a catbird.

There are at least 2 Carolina wrens in our backyard most days. They spend a lot of time scratching around in the leaves.

Recent visitors to the feeder are pine warblers and titmouse.

These 2 doves have been sitting on the bird bath right before dark for several weeks now. It’s hard to get shots of them in the almost dark.

All pictures taken through the window.

A quick stop in the backyard

Posted on January 15, 2022 by dinajohnston

I’ve had so many birds stopping by in the backyard for a quick bath or drink in early December. Titmouse are regulars. Mockingbirds, cardinals, catbirds and pine warblers have all stopped by. I’ve only had one chickadee stop by (that I’ve seen),