Boys and girls in the woods

It’s not often that I see the “boys” at Chesnut Park. I was there early one morning in February to look for owls but I got distracted by the beautiful bucks that kept crossing the trail. I saw 3 different ones with all different sizes of antlers. They were not shy at all. The park is full of does and the bucks spend most of their time in woods farther north of the park and  only come to the park during mating season.

Later on the boardwalk I passed two ladies who had come for a drink in the small pond.

I wondered if they were Mother and daughter since they were having a bonding moment.

A not quite fully grown purple gallinule was feeding close to the dock.

I see an adult flying out on the lake.

A tiny alligator was also close to the dock. It’s rare to not see one here.

It still looked like fall in the woods.

The lake was covered in duckweed but was already turning brown from the few cold nights we had.

Saturday's Critters

A rainy walk at Chesnut Park

My shoulder was bothering me so I went out for a walk at Chesnut Park in late February with only my phone. It had been raining the night before and had just stopped early in the morning when I headed out. Everything was green and swampy.

I saw some deer along the boardwalk and was able to get a video of her jumping up to get the good leaves.

The resurrection fern only turns green after a rain so the old oak trees looked really pretty with the fern coming to life.

The azalea bushes were blooming and the bright pink popped in the woods.

The dark clouds were still lingering over the lake.

The moorhens were busy chasing each other.

A turtle swims by.

Yes, there are many alligators lurking in there.

an image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom LinkupOpen every Tuesday! Get those posts seen and make others happy! Come join the #happynowlinkup #bloggers

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

 

A two park morning

I found Pinky Nose again in early January. She was hanging out at the back boardwalk at Chesnut Park for weeks. She was not shy. I’m assuming people were feeding her.

The bald cypress trees at the end of the lake were still shedding their fall leaves. I pulled over and was on my way to get a shot of the sun coming through them when I saw the deer heading towards me so I backed off.

I was standing right off the trail and they walked right by me. They were so close so I took the above with my phone.

A quick video of them cruising by.

A pileated woodpecker was looking for bugs under the bark.

After my walk at Chesnut Park I stopped at nearby Possum Branch Preserve to look for cedar waxwings. I had heard there were a few there the day before. There was only one there on this morning. They are usually in flocks so it was weird to see just one. He had been feeding on the mulberries and was taking a break.

A palm warbler with a mulberry bite.

I spotted a Wilson’s snipe, a winter visitor, deep in the reeds. He popped his head out for a few seconds and I caught the above.

This big one was taking a nap on the bank. It looked like he was grinning at me.

It was sporting a necklace from the marsh. I was pretty far back and these were taken with my 400mm lens and cropped up. If I got any closer he would have taken a dive into the water. They are pretty shy here and usually jump in the water when someone is coming but I wouldn’t take any risks anyway.

A shot of him from across the pond. He had moved down closer to the water.

Saturday's Critters

Playing in the neighborhood field.

I never know what I’m going to see driving through my neighborhood so I usually keep my camera in the car. I was coming home and as I drove by the utility field I saw some deer in the back of the field. I pulled over and noticed it was the same doe I had seen a few days earlier with that big booboo on her neck. She was running across the field towards two more deer.

She stopped when she reached them and they all started grazing. I sat in my car for a few minutes watching them.

After a while they all started chasing each other around the field. I’m assuming they were playing. One looked smaller than the other two and maybe it was a juvenile that was born this past summer. They played for a while, then grazed for a few minutes and then headed towards the woods. I was so glad I had my camera in the car because they were far away on the other side of the field. What a fun thing to see that morning.

Around the neighborhood and backyard in October

In late October I saw a lone eagle on the utility tower in my neighborhood. He was calling for someone. I had been seeing one around the area but this was the first time I had seen one on the tower where they nest.

A few days later both eagles were on the tower nest and they were having a conversation. What do you think they were saying???

Coming home I ran into the turkey family again. They were just hanging out on the road.

On my way to the store I stopped by the utility field in our neighborhood and saw two deer hanging out in the far corner. One of them had a big booboo on her neck.

Bluebirds were still coming to the bird bath in the backyard.

Yellow throated warblers were also coming to the bath.

The feeder was busy in October with pine warblers, Carolina wrens (who are here all year long) and house finches.

Palm warblers showed up by the tons and we have so many in the backyard. They come right onto the patio looking for bugs. They are not shy.

I saw the pileated woodpecker flying into our oak tree and ran outside with my camera to get the above. They stay high up in the trees and it’s hard to get them from the window.

Our hibiscus bush was in full bloom.

Chesnut park in November

I was out for a walk at Chesnut Park in late November and easily found Rudolph. Everyone was calling her that because most of her nose was pink (instead of red but close enough) and she had been sighted for several weeks at the same place on the back boardwalk.

I spotted a lot of ladies that morning on the back trail.

As I was walking back to my car I saw 2 bucks that were grazing but when they saw me they took off.

While walking on the middle boardwalk I saw a doe looking underneath the boardwalk. I realized there was another one (that looked younger) on the other side and started videoing as she walked underneath me and greeted the older one. The older one didn’t seem to want her around so she left. There’s plenty of deer here so I hope the younger one finds some friends.

All the usual birds were there including a wintering black and white warbler, a chickadee and a titmouse that were both looking for a handout.

I came upon some other walkers that were watching a barred owl deep in the woods. She sat still for a while and watched something on the ground.

She flew down into the swamp and eventually grabbed something (maybe a lizard?) and flew into the tree. It was so quick I didn’t get a shot of her with it.

Cleaning off her beak after that bite. After this she took off deeper into the woods and we lost sight of her.

The sun coming up through the trees.

Cruising past cow pastures

The Upper Pinellas Trail runs through cow pastures.  It’s usually a nice quiet bike ride and sometimes I get to see something cool like maybe a new bird.  In early November I got there just after the sun was up.

It was peaceful on the trail this weekday morning.

A kildeer was close to the trail. They are plentiful on the cow pastures and most of the time I hear them before I see them. It’s rare for them to get close to the trail.

Far out I could see turkeys and sandhill cranes hanging out together. There must be good bugs in that area.

The eagle couple hadn’t started nesting yet and they were together on one of the utility towers along the trail.

I saw a lot of pine warblers this morning. They were busy catching bugs.

I heard the sandhill crane’s loud chortle from across the pasture as they flew by.

A few deer were scattered along the back fence line.

Gopher tortoises have homes deep in the dirt along the trail. Most are sleeping far down in the hole and are hard to see but this one was half out. I could just barely make out his eye through the grass. Gopher tortoises are protected in Florida and are a threatened species. They are land animals and we lost a lot of them when Hurricane Helene came through and flooded many of the parks so every one of these are important.

I had heard there was a rare alder flycatcher at the beginning of the trail. I have never heard of one in Florida. They migrate through the central part of the states so this one was a little too far east. There were several other people there looking for him so he was easy to spot.

There was a large flock of cattle egrets flying back and forth across the pasture. I’m not sure what kept causing them to get spooked and fly away. Maybe the eagles were cruising by.

SkyWatch Friday

Around the yard in late September

It was late September and I was taking the trash bin to the end of the driveway and I heard whistling over at the pond. I ran in and grabbed by camera and went over to the pond across the street and there they were, black bellied whistling ducks. Both adults and juveniles were there (juveniles born this summer would not have pink bills yet). I snapped a bunch of pictures and then left them. They were gone later that afternoon.

A few days later I looked out the back window and saw a lone bird in the bath. At first glance I thought it was a northern parula but I decided to look closer. It was a female chestnut-sided warbler. She was really pretty with that lime green on her head but I kind of wished it was a male. They have the orange/chestnut sides. I’ve only seen him once last year at Fort Desoto and only got a blurry shot of it.

The turkeys were coming through the backyard and I caught them scratching around in the yard debris that was still piled up.

The day after Hurricane Milton came through a prairie warbler was in my tree. This is the first time I’ve had one in the yard.

A lone buck was grazing around the debris in the backyard.

Early that morning I was out front cleaning the yard and had my phone in my pocket. These 2 red shoulder hawks landed in the tree across the street and started mating.

It was a little late for nesting season so maybe they were just glad to see each other after the storm.

Right after the hawks came by a bald eagle flew high overhead.

The little froggies were still coming around and were hanging out on my Christmas cactus.

In the spring I planted a handful of sunflower seeds in a sunny spot and had tons of big sunflowers bloom. Late in the summer I planted some more hoping they would bloom for fall. This is the only one that bloomed. It survived the storm with only one petal missing.

The yard was covered with not yet ripe acorns.

Driving along the neighborhood we could see a lot of trees down. Some had pulled up sidewalks with it. Luckily none around us hit any houses or cars.

One morning I was coming back into the neighborhood from the grocery store and saw the turkeys up ahead. I pulled out my camera to get a shot but they had already started running so I started videoing them as I drove by. They were moving pretty fast. I’m not sure why they started running but they all of a sudden stopped.

The view across the street after the storm.

an image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup

#AnythingGoes Linky BadgeOpen every Tuesday! Get those posts seen and make others happy! Come join the #happynowlinkup #bloggers

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

 

 

A ride around the neighborhood

I went for a bike ride in the neighborhood the day before Hurricane Milton came. A lot of people had evacuated the area and there wasn’t a lot of traffic early in the morning. The golf course behind our house was closed so I started out there.

Mushrooms were growing everywhere from all of the recent rain.

The ponds along the golf course behind our homes were already full and we were due to get a ton of rain when Milton hit. I noticed the neighbor down the street had a hurricane flag out.

A great egret and female anhinga down the street.

This goldenrain tree was blooming.

On the other side of the neighborhood I found some fun birds in a ditch. The water was high so wood storks, a snowy egret and a spoonbill were feeding along the ditch.

These ladies gave me a quick glance as I slowed down to snap the above.

The sun came out for a short while as I was making my way home. This pond down the street from our house was full of egrets and snowy egrets.

Late September in the yard

In mid-September I bought a new bird feeder. I had white millet and black sunflower seeds in it. For the first two weeks only the usual birds were around. We had a lot of rain and the feeder was full of water soaked seeds and fell apart. Some of the metal pieces broke apart and we couldn’t fix it. So, I put the old one back up. Still looking for a new one.

I noticed this lizard sitting on the patio chair was just starting to shed his skin.

A female redstart showed up and spent an few hours in and out of the bird bath. She didn’t mind when the yellow throated warbler stopped by. These were taken through the window.

The yellow throated warbler is a winter regular visitor.

The frogs were still showing up after afternoon storms and I realized they were sleeping in my cactus plant near the window.

Late in the day after a storm I looked out the window and saw this beautiful guy.

I grabbed my camera and went outside to snap these from the patio. They were on the other side of the fairway and he saw me. I was afraid they would take off but he looked at me for a second and then continued to graze with his girlfriend.

They only stayed for a few minutes and then continued down the fairway.