Lots of critters at Myakka River State Park

On August 17, 2024August 7, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

I saw lots of critters during my visit to Myakka River State Park in mid-May. The park is so big that I drive through and stop off at different ponds or trails and take short walks. The above limpkin was on the bank under the bridge where a lot of alligators hang out.

I saw these ladies up ahead and pulled over and got out to snap the above. They were grazing right near the road. There was a baby with 2 does.

I parked and walked along an elevated trail that runs along the big tickseed field. I was hoping to see deer farther out in the field but all I saw was an eagle and some vultures on the utility poles. I shot the first 2 from the beginning of the trail. The poles were sitting right on the trail and as I got closer the eagle just looked at me for a second and then ignored me. He was pretty high up.

Cute little pigtails!

There was a family of feral hogs along the road.

I saw another family farther down the road. There were twins here but the 2nd one stayed far in the woods with some does.

I got to the boat ramp and got out and hiked closer to the big lake. Far out I could see a sandhill crane couple with older kids as well as a few limpkins.

This vulture was digging up something in the muck. Probably left over dead fish.

Right before leaving I saw another baby. Mom was already far back in the woods and the baby was taking his time catching up with Mom. It’s weird how the fawns are out in May here but less than 2 hours north in the area where I live we don’t see them until mid to late July.

So many young ones in the spring.

On July 27, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I found juvenile northern parulas on the boardwalk at Chesnut Park at the end of April. These two were awkwardly bouncing around in the bushes and Mom was nearby trying to get them to follow her. It looked like she was trying to teach them to feed themselves.

I also found several female common yellowthroats.

More females. These were blackpoll warblers.

A yellow throated warbler was feeding in the moss.

More juveniles. These are either yellow rumped warblers or yellow throated warblers. I never realized how many warblers nested here. There were lots of young ones learning to fly and eat.

This guy was just too cute to pass up.

A tufted titmouse has a yummy caterpillar.

Another female, the redstart was also along the boardwalk.

Black and white warblers are common here.

A pileated woodpecker landed close by and pecked a few times before leaving.

I only saw one deer this morning.

The cypress trees look like they are dying because they are covered in moss.

Visitors to the yard in April

On July 1, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I was out in the front yard in early April taking a picture of the crazy blooming gardenia bush. The smell was amazing. It was early in the morning and I saw some movement across our driveway and turned around to see the below.

The turkeys were just cruising across the yards. I caught them with my phone as they walked across my neighbor’s driveway.

Hummingbirds started showing up at the end of March. For the last 2 years it was mid-April before they came. I saw one buzzing around the shrimp plant and put the feeder up. The first few days I saw a male with his ruby throat blazing with red. Since then I have only seen females.

A doe was feeding just outside the back door right before dark. I quietly opened the door and took the above standing in the doorway. I was afraid if I walked out I would spook her. I haven’t seen any deer coming through the back in a while since this time.

I was replanting some pots in the back when I saw something on the bird bath out of the corner of my eye. I thought I must have been dreaming. A prothonotary warbler in my back yard? I was sitting on the pavers and looked over at my camera on the chair near the door. I knew if I got up it would leave. So I got up and it did leave but I sat in my chair really still with my camera and about 15 minutes later it showed up again. He spent a few minutes taking a bath and then left. What a beauty!

While I was sitting in the chair a northern parula also stopped by.

As well as a house finch.

The tufted titmouse got a bath right after the prothonotary warbler left.

There wasn’t any rain for weeks and it was so hot. Even the bluebirds were stopping by almost every day for a bath.

One morning I looked out the back window and saw a turtle walking across the golf course. He was heading for a busy street instead of turning right towards the other pond so I ran out with a towel and grabbed him and put him closer to the pond. There wasn’t anywhere for him to go even if he crossed that street without getting hit.

We had some new butterflies in the backyard on the big oak tree. A painted lady and a polygonia.

A lizard showing off for the ladies.

Those creepy spiky caterpillars that were all over the backyard a few weeks earlier turn into the above. A tussock moth.

No clouds for weeks. Sunset from the front yard.

A two park morning

On June 8, 2024June 5, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I hadn’t been to Chesnut Park in north Pinellas county in at least 3 months (even though it’s 10 minutes from my house). I usually see a lot of the same things in my neighborhood so I haven’t been going as much as I used to. I haven’t seen any barred owls in my neighborhood and I heard there was a pair very visible on the boardwalk at the park so I headed over early one morning. I didn’t have to look hard to find it. There was a line of people trying to get pictures of it with their phones since it was sitting so close to the boardwalk. I snapped a few shots with my camera and left. The above are cropped up.

There are purple gallinules that hang around near the dock over the big lake but most of the time they are far away. On this morning there was one feeding on spatterdock right in front of the dock. He was putting on quite a show.

Wood ducks are usually here as well but I didn’t see any around the dock until I saw the above flying across the lake.

I made a stop at the bathroom and ran into some deer.

I made a quick stop at nearby Possum Branch Preserve before going home. It was really quiet here. I could smell the pink/purple weeds all around the preserve that had just started blooming. It has many names: sweetscent, camphorweed, sourbush or saltmarsh fleabane. We just call it the smelly pink weeds.

It was void of birds with the exception of a few usuals including the great blue heron and common grackle (which is really pretty when the sun hits his feathers).

There was a big one napping along the bank of the small pond. I gave him plenty of space so this is super cropped up. But, if you are not paying attention you could be surprised walking around that corner. I had seen him from the other side of the pond so I knew his was there.

Critters in the backyard

On May 27, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

My neighbor’s hibiscus bush has been blooming for months. I’m always sneaking over to her side of our shared courtyard to take pictures of them.

Every once in a while we have a turkey or two cruising by the backyard.

All of the usual birds have been stopping by. Downy woodpeckers, chickadees, red bellied woodpeckers and blue jays. The above were all taken while I was sitting outside one morning. I sat still in the corner and the usual birds don’t mind coming to visit while I’m out there.

There is almost always a downy woodpecker on the suet feeder. The pine warblers don’t mind and would land on it when the woodpeckers were there.

Bluebirds have been stopping by the bird bath. They started to work on a nest in my nest box but didn’t finish it. I’m not sure why they don’t stay. Is it because they can see me in the window? This is the 3rd spring the box has been put up but no nesting.

A pileated woodpecker stopped by and I went outside to get the above. They stay high up in the trees.

A white ibis digging around under the bird bath.

I saw these ladies through the window right before dark and quietly went outside with my camera. . They were on the other side of the fairway so they would have been too far away to take through the window. They glanced at me for a minute but then kept on going down the course.

Saying hello with a sniff

On January 20, 2024January 8, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals5 Comments

I was coming home one afternoon in late October and slowed down as I passed the big utility field in the neighborhood. You never know what you will see there. This day I saw some deer hanging around the back of the field. I pulled my car over and got out with my camera. They were feeding far on the other side and after glancing at me they kept feeding. There were 5 of them staying close together.

A few minutes later they all stood at attention and were looking at something across the street. I glanced over and didn’t see anything but they kept staring over there.

Then I saw them coming up from behind my car. Five more deer went running across the field towards the other deer.

They greeted each other with sniffs.

When they finished sniffing they all started to walk to the other end of the field, towards the side street.

I was able to catch them running towards the street. Then I jumped back in my car and drove around the curve to where they would come out.

I pulled over and watched them all pile up near the side street. They didn’t pay attention to the great egret but a few saw me as I sat in my car.

They all slowly started to cross the street. I was just glad no cars were coming when they crossed.

Some of them went into the woods on the other side of the field and some re-crossed the street again and headed down towards the woods farther down the field. Once they were all out of the street and into the woods I headed home and was so glad I had left my camera in the car.

More of the same

On December 11, 2023April 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

More of the same from my walk in late September. I was heading into Chesnut Park for a quick visit and I saw a fawn walking towards the woods. I snapped the above quickly through the window before it was gone.

When I got to the area to park there were several deer hanging out in the playground. I had just parked and they started walking towards me (I was between them and some woods). They slowly walked by and headed into the woods. They were not in a hurry.

I immediately found several female American redstarts on the boardwalk. They were not shy and came down pretty low in the trees.

Some of the usual birds, a blue jay and a blue gray gnatcatcher.

You would think it was fall by this picture but I think the maple leaves were turning red due to the extreme drought. It was still so hot in late September. They were pretty though.

A squirrel eating some yummy berries.

I ran into some more deer as I was walking the trail through the woods.

It still looked and felt like summer everywhere else in the park but the trees provided some much needed shade. Most of the trails and boardwalks here are shaded which makes it a good spot to walk when it’s sunny and hot.

Most of the small docks over the lake have roofs which also keeps the heat down.

We’re heading into the middle of December and now it’s much cooler here. Even if it warms up to 80 degrees in the late afternoon the mornings are in the 60’s and it’s so nice to be out this time of year. It’s that time of the year when people are posting pictures of snow in their yard and we are just happy to be wearing long sleeves!

A productive bike ride in the neighborhood

On December 9, 2023December 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I was heading out of my street on my bike one morning when I saw a black bellied whistling duck sitting on the side of the lake across the street from our home. This was the first time I’ve seen one in our neighborhood.

I pedaled around to the big open utility field and stopped to take some shots of the above deer. I don’t see bucks often so I had to stop and get a shot of him even if it was across the field.

Yes, more turkey shots. I was cruising around and saw some turkeys up on a roof. They must have had a pretty good view from up there. Eventually they started coming down and pecking around in the grass.

I ran into some nanday parakeets that were feeding on someone’s feeder.

My 2nd neighborhood fawn sighting. This Mom only had 1 baby. They crossed the street and went behind someone’s house that backed up to some woods.

I was waiting at a stop sign for traffic to move (but really just taking a rest) and heard a black bellied whistling duck. I looked over and there were 2 sitting under a tree near the main road into the neighborhood. I started snapping some shots and realized they had babies with them. There was a pond nearby but they were not that close to it.

They headed down into the ditch and made their way towards the pond. Of course they went to the pond that had houses around them so I lost sight of them. I didn’t want to walk into someone’s backyard (as tempting as that was). These were taken across the street and heavily cropped. Those babies stayed close to Mom. A third whistler showed up as they were heading to the pond. I wonder if it was the same one that was in the lake across from our house. I didn’t see it there again.

Heading back home I ran into more turkeys on the other side of the neighborhood.

September in the yard

On December 7, 2023November 25, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals10 Comments

I looked out the back window one morning and saw deer on our patio. One was so close. I took these with my camera through the window. I knew they would take off if I opened the door but I think they still saw me.

One walked over to my Christmas cactus (that wasn’t blooming at the time) and started eating it. I took a video of if and above is one of the stills. She demolished it. It was a small one and wasn’t doing very well so I didn’t try and stop her. I replanted the pot with petunias.

Bluebirds taking a bath.

Across the fairway I could see a spoonbill sleeping under a tree. I went outside and snapped the above from our little yard. A little later I saw it feeding in the newly formed pond from the much needed rain we had. I didn’t see anyone on the course so I snuck across to get a little closer.

I sat down under a nearby tree and watched as the spoonbill was feeding. A juvenile little blue heron and a few white ibis were also there.

The young turkey showed up with Mom again. I went outside and took these. They didn’t seem to mind me sitting in the grass nearby. They stayed for a while, pecking around the yard.

I saw another lone turkey taking a nap (or a dirt bath) nearby.

I finally saw the twins in my neighborhood. I was coming home from running errands and had my camera in the car. I pulled over right before my house and snapped them heading into the woods at the end of our street.

The view from across the street in mid-September.

I took these with my phone from the upstairs bathroom window. This was the only night we had a good lightning storm this summer.

A quick walk at Chesnut Park

On November 25, 2023November 25, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

It was the end of August and I kept missing all of the fawns this summer. I finally found one with Mom at Chesnut Park. The baby was getting pretty big but still had spots. I only saw them for a minute and they took off deep in the woods.