A hot quiet walk at Roosevelt Wetlands

On September 3, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

In early May I made my last trip out to the Roosevelt Wetlands for the summer. There is no shade here and not many critters during the dead of summer. I was standing near the parking area and could see across the lake to the waste plant mountain. All of a sudden tons of birds took off across the open mound. I’m not sure what scared them, mostly gulls and terns. There’s a lot of hawks in the area and I think most of the eagles are gone for the summer.

Cattails along the trail.

After staring into the reeds for a while I saw a bittern’s head pop up. He stayed hidden after he saw me.

Little critters along the trail.

A bunny hops across the trail, trying to hide fast before I pass him.

Color along the trail in the form of tickseed.

I saw a purple gallinule heading into the reeds and noticed a baby was right behind her. I was able to get a quick shot before the baby disappeared.

A female grackle posing. When I cropped this up I noticed the ladybug on the bottom right.

Standing near the waste plant, looking across the lake to the parking area. It’s a long walk back when it gets hot and the wind blows from the waste plant area.

A little blue heron flies by.

The northern harriers and winter ducks have all gone north for the summer. There was no sign of baby black necked stilts which is the highlight of late spring. Critter traffic comes to a halt through August so I took a long break from visiting.

A quiet cold walk in January

On February 22, 2021March 5, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The cattails and the spider webs were showing up in the early morning sun at Possum Branch Preserve.

Bright pops of red in early January. It was finally starting to look like fall (only in central Florida does it look like fall right before spring).

Birds were scarce this Saturday morning. Other than the usual birds, I only saw a house wren and a thrasher.

Pelican fly by along the canal.

Two coots have taken up residents for the winter in the main pond.

This guy didn’t look that big (taken with my zoom lens).

When I got around the other side of the pond and saw him spread out, he looked much bigger.

Parks close to home

On June 22, 2020June 9, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

A quick early walk at Chesnut Park in early May. The park started to get crowded pretty quickly so I left and headed out to another park close by.

Possum Branch Preserve was void of people but not many birds there either. At least it was a nice walk outside.

A few birds there included a juvenile night heron and a red bellied woodpecker.

I caught this common snapping turtle cruising down the back trail. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a snapper out in the wild. This one was pretty small.

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A very quiet early September

On October 14, 2019October 15, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

Little titmouse looking for snacks. I get there at 8am and someone has already been there and left birdseed on the boardwalk. These guys are not shy.

I’ve never seen a prothonotary warbler at Chesnut park. Both were very skittish.

Other usual birds were parulas and cardinals. The cardinal was a juvenile that was just getting his red feathers. He looked rough.

It was very quiet at Chesnut Park so I left and stopped by Possum Branch Preserve before heading home. It was even more quiet at the preserve. I couldn’t even find a gator in all that muck.

Quiet walk in early August

On October 1, 2018October 1, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Plants and critters at Chesnut Park and Possum Brand Preserve.

Not many birds around in early August. It was so hot I wasn’t getting out much for a few weeks. A 2 hour walk early on Saturday mornings was all I could handle in the heat and humidity before heading home for a nap.

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Walking down the trail.

On July 18, 2015July 18, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, flowers and plants6 Comments

The usual gators.

He looks so cute and innocent.

Summer plants at the park.

Mid-June at Circle B Bar Reserve. Very few birds but there are other things there.

A walk after work in early July.

On July 28, 2014July 29, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography10 Comments

Green heron on the shoreline of the lake.

I’m assuming this cardinal can see himself in the window? He kept banging on it. Maybe he could see food inside.

Tricolored heron posing for me.

A very young grackle.

A red winged blackbird.

The black neck stilt couple were still there.

So were the babies. All three were there and just a little bit bigger than the few weeks before I saw them. They were pretty far out in the reeds.

Baby duck taking a bath.

Drying off with his siblings close by.

I saw 4 baby ducks all together without any parent around. They stayed pretty close to each other. They climbed up on the bank and settled in for the night. Hopefully, a parent found them later.