Intruder alert

Posted on June 19, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was the beginning of April and I was checking on the lone eaglet in my neighborhood almost every day. At least driving by the nest to see if it was still up there. He was busy flapping every morning and I was hoping he didn’t end up falling off the nest too early like his sibling.

I stopped by right before sunset one afternoon and saw a juvenile on the other tower. At first I thought the baby had flown over but I saw him sitting on the nest so I called Louise to check if the baby that had fallen off the nest the week before had been returned to the area and she said it was still in Orlando at the eagle rehab. I think this was a juvenile from the nest on the other side of the neighborhood. He had flown by a few days before but one of the parents chased him off before he landed.

Mom flew overhead several times and landed on the other side of the nest tower. She didn’t seem to mind the new juvenile on the other tower and didn’t chase him away this time.

After a while the intruder flew over to the nest tower and landed near the nest.

Baby was yelling and flapping. I don’t think Baby wanted this intruder to come near the nest. Eventually the intruder flew off and headed back to his side of the neighborhood.

A few other birds stopping by before sunset. I could see a roseate spoonbill flying far across the utility field. There are always a lot of woodpeckers around and these two doves were keeping an eye on me.

A quick shot of the sun going down at the eagle nest.

More backyard birds in January

Posted on April 23, 2022 by dinajohnston

Goldfinches in my backyard! Several came to the bird bath for a couple of days. They were in their non-breeding winter colors so not a lot of yellow but they were still beautiful.

Other birds at the bird bath were not so unusual. All of these hanging out include a pine warbler, a yellow throated warbler, a black and white warbler and a catbird.

There are at least 2 Carolina wrens in our backyard most days. They spend a lot of time scratching around in the leaves.

Recent visitors to the feeder are pine warblers and titmouse.

These 2 doves have been sitting on the bird bath right before dark for several weeks now. It’s hard to get shots of them in the almost dark.

All pictures taken through the window.

Yard birds in May

Posted on June 29, 2021 by dinajohnston

Doves sleeping on our fence. Taken through the kitchen window.

This night heron was hanging out on our dock, staying busy preening.

An ibis flew in and landed on the same dock.

The night heron was not happy with the ibis near his spot and chased him off. I just happened to be walking out of the side of the house to sneak around to the back to take pictures of the heron when I caught the ibis landing.

A few minutes later the night heron flew down to the water. It was an extreme low tide and you could see some of the rocks exposed. He was looking for tiny crabs on the rocks.

A mockingbird was eating something off my neighbor’s bottle brush tree.

A red bellied woodpecker in the tree.

Not an exciting bird but the house sparrows nest nearby and I always get a lot of them at my feeder so I consider them “my” birds. They are not skittish at all.

I was hosing down the front porch early one Sunday morning when I looked down the driveway and saw a duck couple drinking the runoff water. I know they want a handout but we don’t feed the ducks here. On one side it would be fun if they nested in our bushes but on the other side, our driveway would be covered in piles of duck poop.

Drab little birds in late December

Posted on April 3, 2021 by dinajohnston

There were a lot of non-breeding male indigo buntings at Felts Preserve the morning I was there in late December. It was cold that morning as I sat in the bushes waiting for them to come to the feeders (just under 40 degrees is cold for us central Florida folks). They were all fighting over the best feeding spots. Occasionally a painting bunting would pop out of the bushes but most of the birds there that morning were indigo buntings.

Either a very young bunting or a female.

There were a few other birds as well including doves and a cardinal.

Splattered blue on the leaves. This guy had a little more blue on his head.

A non-breeding male goldfinch also made an appearance. I never see goldfinches in the parks near my house. The only time I’ve seen bright yellow breeding ones are during my visits to Atlanta in the spring.

Critters in the backyard in early April.

Posted on May 19, 2020 by dinajohnston

Taken through the bedroom window, the doves were eating seed on the ground and taking baths.

The house sparrows are back in the yard, eating from the feeder.

That squirrel thinks I can’t see him through the window.

I grabbed my camera and ran outside for the above green heron that was on our dock.

A rare spotted oleander moth was on our side fence and then flew to the plant. In 16 years of living in our house this is only the 2nd one I’ve seen.

After work walk at Sawgrass Lake Park

Posted on July 10, 2017 by dinajohnston

Little critters.

Swimming critters.

A scarlet tanager high up in a tree with a snack and a pair of doves that were flirting.

A squirrel eating a branch.

Stopped by Sawgrass Lake park after work in late May for a quick walk before heading home. I didn’t expect to find too much but the scarlet tanager was nice.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing