Riding through the cow pastures.

Posted on December 30, 2023 by dinajohnston

The weather was too nice to be indoors in early October so I grabbed my camera and backpack and threw my bike in the car and headed north to ride along the cow pastures. I didn’t see a lot of cows on this morning. Most of them were on the other side of the pastures and behinds trees.

Eastern bluebirds are common along this bike trail. I caught one with a nice juicy worm.

A sandhill crane couple were heading into the pond for a drink. Or maybe to look for bugs along the grass.

The purple tievine was blooming.

Some tiny critters along the trail.

There is a big barn at the beginning of the bike trail with horses far out in a pasture. It backs up to another barn with horses. As I was heading back to my car I noticed two horses across the pasture that seemed to be having a conversation over the fence. I couldn’t tell if they were showing off to each other or flirting. The one on the other side of the fence was really showing off the teeth.

Two sandhill cranes were right up against the fence near the parking area. I stopped and took the above with my phone.

Standing out in the field

Posted on October 9, 2023 by dinajohnston

I found a new sunflower farm closer to my home (still almost an hour away though). Up in Spring Hill, an hour north of Tampa, Jimmy MC’s farm has U-pick sunflowers during the spring. I headed up there on the final weekend of the season almost at the end of May. This is not a big farm with activities for little kids. This is just a farm that you can go and pick your own sunflowers. It’s free to get in and $5 for two handfuls of sunflowers. I parked near the barn and walked out to the sunflower field.

They do have a picturesque tub that you can climb in and take pictures.

It was the last weekend of their season but the field was still full of sunflowers. It was hard deciding which ones to pick. So many! I looked for new buds that weren’t drooping yet and covered in bees. I didn’t want to disturb the much needed honey bees.

I was inspecting each one that I was thinking of picking and found this green spider on the back of one. I didn’t want to take him home (last year I brought home a small creme colored spider and put him in the backyard).

They had a lot of cows next to the sunflower field and I was envious of the ones in the back going for a swim. It was a hot morning. Their pond had really shrunk from the drought. Once most of the good flowers were picked they let the cows in the field and eat the remaining sunflowers.

As I walked back to my car I saw this sandhill crane family in the grassy parking area. I had my camera in the car so I pulled it out and snapped a few shots of them feeding. Junior was almost fully grown but still getting food from his parents.

I loved seeing the windmill out in the cow pasture so I stopped and snapped the above with my phone.

A small part of my stash that I brought home.

A summer bike ride

Posted on October 7, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was too hot to be walking around and my foot was still bothering me so I was taking a lot of bike rides at a nearby trail this summer. I wasn’t expecting to find much but I immediately spotted 2 bunnies right off the trail. Both were cottontails but one had cute notches on his ears.

The sandhill crane family was out in the cow pasture. Mom was digging for bugs in the cow poop. I don’t think Junior cared because he ate whatever Mom dug up.

This doe looked really pregnant. There were several other deer nearby hiding in the woods.

A lone skimmer came cruising the pond along the trail. The light was not in my favor but I did manage a shot of it scooping up some fish.

I took a break and was watching the cows. An almost grown calf stopped eating and was staring at me. Probably wondering what I was doing out here.

The dark clouds were moving in so I headed back to my car.

Another bike ride past the cows

Posted on July 13, 2023 by dinajohnston

AAnother bike ride in mid-April on my favorite trail that runs through the cow pastures. The sun had just come up when I got out there.

I stopped when I saw 2 sandhill cranes walking across the pasture. As I stood there they both went under the fence and onto the trail right in front of me. I had to quickly back up to fit the first one in the shot. I was trying to keep my distance but they kept walking closer. I hope people aren’t feeding them here.

Some of the usual birds along the trail. A great crested flycatcher and a meadowlark. Both with distinct calls so I heard them before I saw them.

When I first got to the eagle’s nest the almost grown babies were eating and a parent was sitting up there with them. Then the parent took off.

Cruising right past me.

As I was standing there watching the eagle flying around I saw the juvenile eagle fly down to the almost dry pond just under the nest. It seemed to be trying to catch something small but I don’t think he succeeded. It might have been a lizard.

The above is not a good shot and I almost didn’t take it thinking it was a red shoulder hawk but when I got home and cropped it up I realized it was a merlin. I have not seen one of those in a long time.

I think this calf now has his own personal cattle egret to follow him around and eat his bugs. They were staring at each other for a while.

This cow had his cattle egret close by but the colors on the cattle egret’s face looks like he was ready to start nesting.

Taken with my phone on the trail, the utility tower on the right is where the eagles have their nest.

Cows and eagles

Posted on June 24, 2023 by dinajohnston

The usual critters on my bike ride on the Pinellas Trail north of Brooker Creek. Cows and cattle egrets. The calves were getting big by early April.

I passed the eagle’s nest that sits far away in the cow pasture. The 2 young ones were flapping away and close to flying.

I could see a gopher tortoise walking around right under the eagle’s nest. He must have a burrow nearby.

As I was pedaling back to my car I heard an eagle yelling overhead. She was sitting on a utility tower and making a lot of noise. I stopped and pulled my camera out of my backpack.

I saw another eagle flying overhead. He landed on the same utility tower. After a few seconds of yelling back and forth, the below happened.

They started mating while a crow bothered them. At this point there was a small crowd watching from below. It’s not often you see eagles mating out in the wild (although this was my 2nd time this month with the first being in my neighborhood).

They sat together for a while on the same nest. I finally headed back to my car.

Chilly bike ride

Posted on May 4, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was a little chilly in early March (meaning 60 degrees) and I decided to bundle up and go out for a bike ride on my favorite cow pasture trail. There were a few cows near the trail but the almost grown calves were far back.

This time the turkeys were fairly close to the fence. Tom was really showing off for the ladies. The ladies were ignoring him.

A kildeer was cruising along one of the ponds.

This was an interesting grasshopper. Not the usual lubber but I’m not sure what kind.

Blooming along the trail.

I found a big invasive rosary pea plant near the beginning of the trail. Most of the pods had opened up and revealed the bright red seeds. These seeds are highly toxic to humans and many domestic animals but birds can eat them without any problems. I’ve read that one seed can kill a horse or cow and this plant was right along the cow pasture with a horse barn on the other side. I’m surprised they haven’t pulled this out.

A bunch of quick stops north of me.

Posted on April 10, 2023 by dinajohnston

My first stop of the morning was at the water treatment plant in Tarpon Springs in late February. I knew the ducks that hang out there in the winter would be heading north before too long. The majority of the ducks were redhead ducks but you never know what you can find mixed in.

There were a handful of lesser scaup floating together away from the redheads.

Far away there were two female buffleheads.

I stopped by the eagle’s nest just north of Tarpon Springs. I pulled over and got out and quickly shot the above before hopping back in the car. There’s no parking along this road and the parking lot at the nearby park was too far away for me to walk so I didn’t stay. These twin babies were much older than the ones in my neighborhood. I didn’t see any adults in my quick stop but I’m sure they were nearby hunting for food.

Another stop was nearby Anclote Gulf Park. The fishing pier is right in the parking lot so I took a quick walk onto the pier. It was a quiet morning here but I managed to see an osprey taking a bath farther down the shore. (Notice the blurry kingfisher sitting on a log in the upper right corner of the 2 middle pictures. I was wishing I was closer to get him as well)

One more stop as I circled back towards home was the Starkey Market just north of me. I had never been before and it was fun to check out the cows next door before going in and getting some vegetables to cook for dinner that night.

Looking for sparrows

Posted on April 3, 2023 by dinajohnston

I was out on my bike cruising my new favorite trail through the cow pastures in late February. I had to wait until the sun was up a little since it was a little chilly this morning.

This time the cows were on the far end of the first pasture.

This meadowlark didn’t move from the fence as I rode by so I stopped and got a quick shot of him.

This sandhill couple were right on the trail. By now they should be having babies so hopefully I can catch some little crane colts.

The eagle’s nest far across the pasture was busy with 2 babies almost fully grown. They are way ahead of the ones in my neighborhood.

There are holes along the fence that I usually don’t pay attention to but this one caught my eye. The gopher tortoise had come out of his hole and was sitting close to the trail. They are state-listed as Threatened in Florida so we have to keep our distance.

It was a busy sparrow day along the trail. I found three all feeding nearby. The first is a Savannah with that bit of yellow above the eye. The second is a Swamp (he was hiding in the bushes so it was hard to get him) with that dark brown streak over his head and orange tinted wings. The last two are grasshopper sparrows. There is a Florida subspecies which I thought this one was based on the white tips on the feathers and darker back feathers but after researching their habitat I don’t think it is. They are only found in the middle of the state and are very rare and endangered.

This one is the reason I was taking so many pictures of sparrows. It’s a vesper sparrow and my first one. It’s not rare for him to be here in central Florida but this was the first I’ve heard of one being in the Tampa bay area and he’s been hanging out at the cow pasture for a few weeks.

A phone shot of the cow pasture and one of the many ponds. These are the perfect Florida winter days, sunny and 70 degrees.

Cruising past cow pastures

Posted on February 23, 2023 by dinajohnston

I’ve been out on my bike quite a bit now that the weather is warmer. It’s an easy way to get around with my foot still hurting. There’s not a lot of places to ride with a lot of nature instead of traffic but there’s a bike trail just north of me that goes through cow pastures. As soon as I got on the trail I heard the sandhill cranes. Flying across the pasture. They were pretty far away and I had only brought my shorter lens but it was cool to see them flying by.

A kildeer was far out in the pasture.

And of course lots of cows. And lots of babies! There were a lot of cream colored babies out there and a lot of them were nursing. Next year I need to get out here much sooner when they are tiny.

I saw this sandhill crane by himself standing near the fence.

Another eagle nest up in a utility tower. One of the parents was feeding a little one.

The other parent took off across the trail.

This morning started out sunny but dark clouds started to move in as I got half way down the trail so I didn’t stay too long. Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions on my foot issues. I have seen a podiatrist and gotten a painful shot. Keeping off my feet a few more weeks and hoping for the best (along with the stretches, exercises, icing, etc).

Riding by the cows

Posted on July 26, 2022 by dinajohnston

Scenes from my bike ride in late May. Pedaling past cow pastures.

I had my camera in my backpack and had to stop for a shot of the cattle egret with the cow. This is where they get their name. Egrets hanging out with the cattle, trying to eat the bugs that the cows stir up as they eat the grass.

I found the meadowlarks again.

~~I found several juvenile tree swallows sitting on the fence. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen them actually sitting down. They spend most of their time cruising around catching bugs.~~ EDIT: Thanks to Lea’s Menagerie for a correct ID. The above is an eastern kingbird. I’m still learning a lot of the migrating birds. This was late May so it makes sense he could still be hanging around. I think that Florida sun is starting to get to me.

A pond along the cow pasture fence was a busy watering hole.

There are several gopher tortoise holes along the fences but this was the first time I have seen one out of his hole. They are listed as Threatened in Florida and both the tortoise and their burrows are protected by law.

Dina's Wildlife Adventures

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