Cute baby ducks and the waxwings

On September 19, 2026October 8, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The usual alligator swimming by on yet another trip to Possum Branch Preserve near the end of April. It’s so close to my home and I was hoping to see some migrating birds. I guess I should name these guys. This one isn’t the biggest one here. Maybe Skippy? Or Slider?

I hadn’t seen baby ducks in a while. Mom had her hands full. The babies were staying close to Mom.

The big one was close by, lurking in the shadows. Maybe I’ll call him Brutus.

Mom eventually moved the babies over to the far right side of the pond.

A juvenile great blue heron flew in with Mom but they stayed hidden behind the trees.

Of course the cedar waxwings were still there. They had been hanging around for several weeks now.

They spent weeks filling up on mulberries but the big tree still had a lot of fruit on it. The local birds will continue eating them as well as squirrels.

They were still flying back and forth from the mulberry tree to the cypress trees.

Flying away from a loud bang

On September 9, 2026October 8, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In mid-April I was still hoping for a decent spring migration. The palm warblers were still hanging around in big numbers. They spend the winter here. This guy was already getting into his pretty breeding feathers.

Rabbits were along the trail at Possum Branch Preserve.

Turtles were also along the trail.

I had come to the preserve looking for the cedar waxwings who had been hanging around for a few weeks. They weren’t on the mulberry tree this morning but I found them on the other side of the preserve, close to a busy street.

There were tons of them in the trees on the back side of the preserve and there were several other photographers there. We were quietly waiting to see if they would start feeding on the seeds of the trees they were in.

All of a sudden we heard a loud bang from the construction on the road behind the preserve and the birds took off. The construction has been going on for years and recently they have been very loud. I’m surprised any birds were in the preserve. The waxwings took off across the preserve and far over the trees. After about 30 minutes they still hadn’t come back so I headed home.

The masked birds and a gator

On August 22, 2026September 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

This guy greeted me when I started to walk down the trail at Possum Branch Preserve in mid-April. He was in the middle of the pond and looked like he was trying to take a nap in the water.

Blooming along the trail.

As he hovered over the pond, an osprey was doing his angel pose while he looked for something to eat

I made it to the big mulberry tree and I got lucky this trip. The tree was already full of cedar waxwings feasting on the berries. Sometimes I get here and there isn’t anything on the tree and it can be a long wait before they fly in. They fed for about 10 minutes before flying across the trail to the cypress trees.

They rest for 20-30 minutes and then fly back to the mulberry tree to continue eating. The waxwings are migrating birds and are here anywhere from January through April. Some years I will see them several times and some years I won’t see them at all. This year they hung out at this preserve for several weeks.

More berry eating.

As I was leaving the alligator had come up to the bank of the pond to take a nap. I walked on the far edge of the trail and kept an eye on him as I walked by. If they see anyone on the trail here they usually slip back into the water but you just never know.

Around the yard in early March

On July 13, 2026August 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Bluebirds were working on a nest in the nest box in early March like they have done the past few years but they haven’t actually nested in it. Next spring I’m going to move it much higher and to the other side of the tree.

A juvenile red shoulder hawk was sitting right outside the window.

I slowly opened the back door to get a shot with my camera and he flew off and landed on the cart path. He quickly ate what looked like a cricket and then took off again, flying so close that I cut him off.

I heard cedar waxwings in the trees in the front yard and ran inside to grab my camera. I saw some birds flying across the street (next to the pond) and when I walked over I realized they were brown-headed cowbirds. We don’t see them often here.

After snapping the cowbirds I heard the waxwings again. I turned around and saw them flying towards me.

They landed in a tree right over my head and stayed for a while. It was such a treat to see these beautiful birds right on my street. They only come through in the spring and some springs we don’t see them at all.

Things blooming in the yard in early March.

I bought a small basil plant thinking I would be cooking more but I forgot about it and it grew quickly and started blooming. I’ve heard that once they bloom the leaves become bitter so I haven’t used them. It smells good when I walked outside though.

Green lacewings are highly beneficial feeding heavily on aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mites. I usually don’t see them until the middle of summer so this one was early.

Inside flowers from Valentine’s Day.

I was still spending quite a bit of time at the pond across the street watching the black bellied whistling ducks. It was fun to watch them all fly in at the end of the day.

Swallow tail kites had arrived.

The clouds in the back turn bright orange when the sun sets.

Along a Florida river

On April 16, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park has 2 entrances. The back entrance which puts you at the main park was closed due to flooding and damage to the main entrance building from the hurricanes so when I went to visit in January I stopped at the tourist entrance on the main road. From there you have to take a ride on a tram or a boat to get to the park area. I decided to take the boat since I hadn’t done that it many years. It’s a 12 minute ride through a typical Florida river. The guide talked about the different wildlife and plants you see along the way. This river runs through the park.

There are wood duck nesting boxes along the river and although it was too early for nesting we did see some of the wood ducks hanging out on the boxes.

After my initial fun of seeing the wild manatees I started looking around the park for any birds. I found some pileated woodpeckers right along the boardwalk where the manatees hang out in the winter. The top one was eating those berries. The two on the bottom were eating bugs around the bottom of the trees.

As I was taking pictures of the woodpeckers I could hear wheezing above me. I realized there were cedar waxwings eating the small dark berries in the tree over my head. At first they were high up in the trees but a few came down closer.

They are beautiful birds that look very distinguished with that black mask and yellow tipped tails. They only pass through here in the late winter into spring.

The resident injured white morph great blue heron was close to the boardwalk. It’s rare to see the white morph version of this gray and blue bird. I’ve only seen one in the wild at Fort Desoto many years ago.

A typical Florida sight, a great blue heron sitting on a sideways growing palm tree.

As I walked along the boardwalk that runs along the river I could see many of the trees were uprooted during the hurricanes.

The water was calm and clear on this chilly morning.

Feasting on mulberries

On July 6, 2023July 3, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

I was standing on the trail at Possum Branch Preserve in April and I saw the above. I wasn’t surprised to see hundreds of cedar waxwings flying across the pond there. They’ve come for a visit at this preserve for several spring seasons. They usually stay for several weeks. The trick to see them up close is to catch them feeding at the big mulberry tree on the trail.

I brought a chair and waited for them to land on the tree. They are very skittish and sometimes only land for a few minutes before taking off across the preserve again. There were several of us sitting quietly on the other side of the trail as they landed in a tree near the mulberry tree.

After a few minutes they all headed over to the mulberry tree and started feasting on the berries. Most of the time they land on the back of the tree that backs up to the pond but sometimes a few might land on the front of the tree. Since this is a short walk from the parking area I spent some time this spring sitting in my chair near the tree.

Across the pond I could see the local residents.

Pedaling around the neighborhood

On May 11, 2023April 29, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals7 Comments

I was heading out on my bike for a ride through the neighborhood when I saw a swallow tailed kite cruising by. I snapped the above and then he was long gone over the trees. I’ve been seeing them flying high over the neighborhood for several weeks but they don’t hang around long. One or two circles around the area and they fly fast and high.

I keep stopping by the great blue heron nest but I haven’t seen any babies. One of the neighbors nearby said that last year they didn’t have any babies either.

I was pedaling along the golf course and some birds flying into a tree caught my eye. I stopped and realized there were cedar waxwings were up there. I got my camera out of my backpack and watched them for a while. Luckily I was far enough away from the fairway that I didn’t have to worry about getting hit in the head with a golf ball.

They were feeding on the nearby small pepper tree. They would fly back forth between the pepper tree and the big oak tree. I just sat down on the grass half way behind an oak tree and watched them gorge on those pepper berries.

A juvenile blue heron sitting in the grass along the bank of the pond.

One of the regulars going down for a nap.

Snacking in the swamp

On March 11, 2023March 11, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

We were expecting rain late in the afternoon so I went out for a quick bike ride in the neighborhood hoping to beat the rain. I got down to the end of the street where the woods start and noticed a few robins in the Brazilian pepper bushes. I quickly biked back home and got my camera hoping they would still be there when I got back.

They were still there and pigging out on the peppers. There were a lot of robins popping back and forth into the bushes. They didn’t seem to mind me standing there in front of the bush snapping pictures of them.

Then I realized there were cedar waxwings mixed in with the robins. The waxwings were a bit shy and stayed near the top of the bushes.

They all spent quite a bit of time gorging on the berries. Eventually it started to drizzle and it was time for me to head home. A few days later I rode past the bushes and all of the berries were gone.

The swamp near the berry bushes was full of water. The robins and waxwings would fly into the swamp when they were finished feeding and others would fly from the swamp to the bushes. Back and forth they went.

Beautiful flying things

On July 5, 2022July 5, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

I was at Possum Branch Preserve in late April and caught the cedar waxwings filling up on mullberries. This was the last time I saw them so I’m assuming they were fueling up for their trip north for the summer. They are beautiful even covered in berry juice.

I saw this pair of swallow tail kites soaring high over the preserve. I think it may be the first time I’ve seen two flying together.

I stopped at nearby Folly Farms next to quickly walk through the butterfly garden.

A two park morning

On June 16, 2022March 22, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I stopped at nearby Folly Farms to see if I could find some hummingbirds in the butterfly garden. I only found butterflies but there were lots of yellow ones which I don’t see often.

I caught this downy woodpecker with something in his beak. It looks like a cocoon. He pulled it out of a hole in the fence.

I stopped at Possum Branch Preserve on the way home. As I headed out on the trail I caught a limpkin flying by and an osprey overhead looking for fish.

The bunnies were still around long after Easter. This one was snacking in the mimosa groundcover which blankets the preserve in the spring.

This goes under “the one that got away”. This was the only shot I got of the boblonk. It was a female. I saw the pair several times from far away as they were flying off. I had seen them here several years ago but was bummed I couldn’t get a decent shot. Hopefully they will stop by next year.