Around the yard in early September

On January 10, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The juvenile bluebirds were still coming to the feeder and bath in early September. They still had their cute spots and acted like toddlers. One was eating the berries off the ferns that bloom in late summer.

House finches were migrating through and stopped at the bath as well.

The bunnies were still coming to backyard.

I caught this one looking at me through the window. I’m always yelling at them “Stop being cute and stop eating my flowers”.

Fred was flirting with me in front of the window.

Mushrooms growing in the yard from the summer rains.

Sunsets across the street.

I went out to get the mail right before dark and the bats had just come out and were buzzing around. Florida is home to 13 different types of bats and I have no idea which ones these are (not going to get that close and we only see them at dark). They are beneficial and one can eat thousands of mosquitos in one night.

I spotted these two bucks in the utility field down the street coming home from the grocery store.

So many spots

On November 29, 2025November 14, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals3 Comments

At the end of August I made another late afternoon drive through at Chesnut Park, hoping to see more of those cute spots. There were a lot of deer along the back wooded line of the ball field including the guy above.

Then I saw 4 fawns playing together at the farthest end of the field. I think this was a big year for baby deer.

After a few minutes they all headed into the woods so I continued my drive through the park.

At the other end of the park I found a Mom and baby.

I sat in my car and watched them feed on a beauty berry bush.

Then I found 2 more at the far corner of the park. These two were also playing and then one crossed in front of my car.

This lady was alone and I waited for her to cross the bridge and go onto the trail before passing by as I headed home. This was a fun afternoon.

Seeing turkeys on my bike ride

On November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Some days in July were just too hot to go for a walk, even in the shade. One hot morning I hopped on my bike and went for a spin around the neighborhood.

I always look around when I stopped for a break at one of the many ponds. This guy was hiding in the duckweed but he was pretty far down from the sidewalk. Most of the ponds (if not all) have an alligator in them so you have to pay attention.

I only saw one deer this morning and I haven’t seen many since then. We used to see them in our backyard every once in a while and it’s been months now.

Mushrooms were popping up everywhere due to the summer rains.

Color along the sidewalks.

The turkeys have been hanging out in the utility field and I hope they are hiding this week. I only saw 2 this morning but occasionally I see 5 or 6 together near here.

They were not skittish as I got off my bike and took the above video with my phone.

This is the first time I’ve seen a gopher tortoise in the neighborhood. I guess they may be hiding their burrows on the far end of the utility field.

This hawk was not skittish either. He let me walk up to this pole he was sitting on and he still didn’t fly off. He gave me this “What do you want?” look.

This never gets old.

On November 15, 2025October 31, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals3 Comments

I was making many trips to Chesnut Park in late August. There isn’t much else to get excited about since it’s so hot here and birds are scarce. The fawns here are such a treat to see and they grow up so fast. I stopped in late one afternoon and the park was almost deserted (way too hot and I drove through instead of walking) so the deer were out along the street through the park.

This little one was old enough now to hang out with the whole herd including a buck.

After leaving the park I drove through a nearby neighborhood and saw this couple feeding in someone’s yard. For some reason the deer sightings in my neighborhood have been very scarce and this is the first summer in 4 years I haven’t seen any babies in our neighborhood.

These two ladies were taking a break.

A hot summer walk in the park

On November 1, 2025October 31, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals1 Comment

Another early morning walk at Chesnut Park in early August to look for baby deer.

I didn’t see any out on the ball field but when I drove to the back to park my car I came across this family right in front of my parking spot.

I saw this cutie once I got on the boardwalk. I had heard people were feeding the baby raccoons earlier this summer and now it’s evident with this guy walking up to the boardwalk to see if I have a snack for him instead of scurrying away. There are signs all over the park to not feed the wildlife and people are keeping an eye out for anyone that does.

I got a quick peek at a baby that gave me a parting glance as she followed Mom deeper in the woods.

Only the usual year-round birds are here in the summer including little tufted titmouse. They also come up close to see if you have some seed for them.

The water on the lake was still and quiet.

While on the dock an osprey flew by with a half eaten fish being chased by a red shoulder hawk.

A tiny critter taking a break in the shade.

Color along the boardwalk. I think the bottom shot is poison oak.

More fawns in the park.

On October 25, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

I was back at Chesnut Park in early August hoping to see more baby deer. This time of year there isn’t much in the parks except mosquitoes and deer flies so it’s a good reason to load up on bug spray and get out for a walk. I got there early and first stopped at the baseball field. Across the field I could see some adults including one male.

Close to the woods I saw a Mom and her baby. They were looking at something from the other direction of the woods.

Here comes another Mom and baby. They seemed to know each other and greeted each other with sniffs.

All of a sudden many adults appeared from the woods and started to feed and ignored the babies.

The babies were playing and chasing each other. It was such a treat to sit on the sidelines and watch them having fun together across the field. I had my 400mm lens and these are all cropped up.

This lopsided young guy walked right up to me and I kept backing up. I’m sure someone is feeding them which is highly discouraged and there are signs saying it is illegal to do so.

I walked over to the other side of the ball field and could see another baby near the maintenance area.

This handsome guy stopped to glance at me for a few minutes in between eating. More people were starting to show up and the deer started to make their way into the woods so I left to walk the back boardwalk.

A neighborhood spin on my bike

On September 10, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals5 Comments

I was out on my bike early one morning in May with just my phone, hoping not to get rained on but the skies cleared up quickly. As I turned the corner off our street I could see deer running across the golf course.

The goldenrod was blooming along the street.

A limpkin crossing the dam on one of the ponds.

A quick video of a big alligator going into hiding.

A swallow tail kite cruising high over the trees.

There were lots of turtles on the banks once the sun was out.

A juvenile little blue heron creeping around the pickerelweed along the edge.

A yellow crowned night heron out in the day.

One of the smaller alligators that hangs out behind the club house parking lot. He got a little too close and I kept backing up in the grass. This shot was cropped up.

One of the other bigger ones heading into the water. This one seems to live in this spot where there aren’t any houses on both sides of the pond. There’s a small bridge so I was up high.

There are a lot of alligators in the neighborhood since there are so many ponds. Most are pretty small and the 2 big ones aren’t near the golf course. I’m sure if they start hanging out on the course they end up “gone” or “disappear”.

Baby critter season was in full swing.

On September 6, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

I made it back to the ruby throated hummingbird nest at Chesnut Park just in time to catch Mom feeding the little babies in early May. Zooming in with my 600mm lens I could see 2 tiny beaks peeking out over the top of the nest. Mom was feeding the one on the left in the 2nd shot.

This is an uncropped shot with my camera. The nest is across the river and up in a tree. I’m not sure who the first person was that found this nest. Talk about a needle in a haystack. I guess the hummingbird buzzed by them on the trail and they followed it with their eyes to the other side and saw it land.

I didn’t stay long at the nest. Walking along the boardwalk I spotted the usual birds, a limpkin and a male anhinga drying off his wings.

There’s always a lot of baby moorhens in the spring.

I was able to find the green frogs again since they were spending time near the small dock. An alligator was close by the frogs.

I ran into some friends on the back boardwalk and we were talking about how the 2nd raccoon family had moved from their original tree. I had not seen them yet and thought I would miss them. As we were looking around for the owl we saw this baby raccoon stick his head out of a hole. I took the above with my phone.

The Mom had moved her 3 babies to a tree farther down the boardwalk. We only got a look at the one baby but could hear some noises coming from the tree. I heard a few weeks later the family was seen moving around the area, the babies all grown up.

A doe was watching us take pictures of the raccoon.

Looking up at the trees I could see the sun was up high and it was time to go home.

When I got back to my car the above were feeding right in front of the parking area.

Biking along the fence

On August 20, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

In early May I went out for a bike ride along the north end of the Pinellas Trail.

My first stop was right before the horse barn on the right. I was looking around to see if the almost grown sandhill cranes were around since that family usually hangs out in the nearby pond. I saw this cute fox squirrel right along the fence. I rarely see them in the Tampa Bay area but they are know to live along this trail area. I’m assuming this is a Sherman’s fox squirrel, one of four subspecies that live in Florida. They are bigger than our common squirrels and have a black face.

Little critters along the fence including the robber fly in the bottom.

A cattle egret was posing for me and he still had his breeding orange feathers.

Farther down the trail I found a pair of sandhill cranes.

A lone Canadian goose was sitting along a pond near the golf course that runs along part of the trial.

I usually see meadowlarks along the fence or at least hear them calling from far away.

There are a lot of gopher tortoise burrows along the fence. I don’t see them out of their holes often but this time I saw two walking around.

On my way back I spotted the crane family far out in the horse pasture. The two babies were getting big fast.

I could see a deer near the crane family and when I cropped up this picture I realized the fox squirrel was in the grass in front of the deer.

A morning walk at Chesnut Park

On July 19, 2025August 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In mid-April I was out for a walk at Chesnut Park early in the morning. I parked my car and was walking towards the trail and these two ladies came cruising over the bridge and onto the trail I was heading for. I followed them to the boardwalk and they went into the woods.

I saw 2 young barred owls sitting in the same tree. The one on the far left kept his back to me the entire time. The one on the right was leaning over, almost upside down. I think that was how he was sleeping. I’m not sure how comfortable that is.

Mom was sleeping in a nearby tree.

A wintering coot that hadn’t left yet was eating some grass from the lake.

Looking out on one of the docks I caught sight of two baby wood ducks. They were swimming quickly towards the reeds.

Then I realized there was a family of wood ducks up against the reeds. They floated just outside the reeds for a while and then headed back into hiding.