Early December walks

On April 6, 2026March 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Love locks on the Safety Harbor waterfront boardwalk. This trend that started in Paris has made it’s way here. The problem here is that too many locks weigh the wires down and cause them to bend and pull out of the wood so unfortunately they get cut off and thrown out periodically.

I stopped by Kapok Park in mid-December and almost missed the fall colors on the bald cypress trees. The small lake is surrounded by them and it’s pretty when the leaves change.

One of my favorite trees at this park is a large oak tree that was pulled up during a bad storm many years ago. The tree still thrives and has adapted it’s shape to grow along the ground.

I was out at the Dunedin marina on a foggy morning. Kingfishers are common here in the winter and this was my first sighting this season of one. He was hovering for a long time looking for fish to catch.

Another foggy morning I walked on the causeway. Above is the view from the top of the bridge.

An osprey was watching me.

On a sunny morning on the causeway I saw a fisherman trying to keep the birds away from his bait fish that he had just pulled up. I noticed the snowy egret (in the bottom shot) was missing a foot. He could still fly so he was getting around well.

Willets and dowitchers were feeding along the shoreline.

A herring gull with a tasty snack.

Fall and spring at the same time

On March 23, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants2 Comments

Thanksgiving weekend was a perfect time to go for a walk in my neighborhood. It had finally cooled off and the leaves were turning those fun fall colors.

There was still a lot of things blooming in the ground and bushes along the utility field and it looked like spring in some spots.

The yellow flowers had turned to seed pods.

The invasive brazilian peppertree bushes were covered in berries. I can usually find a few bugs on them including what I think are leaf footed bugs above.

I could hear a peeping noise deep in the reeds and keep looking for what was making that noise. Finally a sedge wren popped out. I don’t see them often.

Plants along my walk.

All of the usual winter critters

On March 21, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I wasn’t expecting to find anything new at the Largo Nature Preserve in early December. I did find some usual wintering birds including a blue-gray gnatcatcher and a yellow rumped warbler.

Yellow crowned night herons hang out along the boardwalk that circles the small lake. Years ago they nested here but I haven’t seen any nests in a long time.

A female blue winged teal is common here in the winter.

Northern shovelers are occasionally seen here in the winter. There were several males and females on this morning.

A pied grebe was running away.

I found some tiny critters trying to hide on the leaves.

The bald cypress trees were starting to show their fall colors.

A cold morning at Morningside Nature Preserve

On March 11, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta5 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta before Christmas we had a few hours to kill before meeting up with my sister and her husband so we went back to a preserve that we had found during our trip last year. Morningside Nature Preserve is located in an older intown neighborhood and backs up to a busy street.

This creek area is known as Atlanta’s “dog beach” but it doesn’t look like much in the winter. Dogs are allowed off-leash here and in the summer it’s a busy place.

We walked after lunch and it was a balmy 38 degrees but there were shallow spots along the edge of the creek that were in the shade and still frozen as well as frost on the leaves on the ground.

The leaves weren’t as pretty as last year’s visit but we still managed to find a little bit of fall color along the trail.

I could see a hawk high up in the tree.

The sun was on the other side of the trees as we climbed back up the stairs to get to our car.

The holly bushes in the parking lot were full of red berries. It made the lot look like it was decorated for the holidays.

Limpkins were kung fu fighting.

On May 31, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I was out at Largo Nature Preserve in mid-March just as the sun was up over the trees. It was a little chilly and you could see the reflection of the trees and sun over the mist on the small lake.

Yellow crowned night herons are common along the boardwalk and they nest in the trees on the lake. This one kept getting spooked by people walking by.

A green heron with beautiful pink legs was calling out to it’s mate.

After my lap on the boardwalk I walked out on the paved trail. As I came around the corner I saw 2 limpkins on the ground. At first I thought they were hurt or were they mating? They seemed to be fighting. Maybe it was a territorial dispute. They kept poking each other in the chest with their feet. It went on for a few minutes and then someone was walking towards them from the other side and they broke up.

They fought a few more times as they broke up and walked over to the water. Then one flew off down the canal. I guess the remaining one was the winner. They both looked uninjured.

A mirror image of a snowy egret getting a snack.

A soft shell turtle coming up for air.

Was it fall or spring in central Florida? The maple tree was turning red in March.

Sunrise over old Florida

On April 28, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

I love coming up to Chinsegut Wildlife Area early in the morning to catch the sun coming up over the trees.

Sunrise here is what I think old Florida looks like. Lots of tall old trees and fog.

There were lots of birds behind the nature center including the female painted buntings that were in the platform feeder.

There’s a large red headed woodpecker population here but I’ve never seen them come to the feeder area until this morning. This one posed nicely for me.

Then he flew down to the suet feeder and snacked for a few minutes. This is the closest I’ve seen one and there were a lot of people standing on the deck behind the center so he wasn’t shy.

After spending an hour at the nature center feeders looking for the Scott’s oriole (see previous post), I headed out for a walk on the trails.

I made my way down to the lake which is mostly choked up on this side and there isn’t much water here. It’s all grown in and I would have to walk much farther down to the end of the preserve to find the real lake.

The sun coming up over the wild stuff growing in the water.

The sweetgum trees were finally turning to fall colors in late January.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Big floating things and other Florida animals

On April 7, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals4 Comments

It was a beautiful morning in mid-January when I was at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park. The woods were full of fall leaves (we usually go right from fall in early January to summer in mid-March).

It had been really cold for 2 weeks so I was hoping to see some wild manatees near the boardwalk and bridge. As I came around the corner on the trail I saw these big floating potatoes right under the shorter bridge. I took these with my phone since they were so close. They were all huddling together to keep warm. The natural springs here keeps the water warmer than the gulf so in the winter they come in and hang out close to the springs. It’s funny to watch them roll over. Did he want a belly rub?

They were all along the boardwalk as well but some of the areas were tough to get a picture of due to the reflections of the trees.

A Mom and her baby swimming by the dock.

A manatee mosh pit.

Just outside the park you can swim with the manatees. There are volunteer park rangers that patrol the area to make sure the manatees stay safe and no one enters the “manatee only” roped off areas along the river. You can see them from the dock inside the park and this ranger had a manatee come up and inspect his kayak.

You can see the fish in the shallow parts of the river. The water here is so clear.

The park also had some flamingos that are fun to watch, even when they are sleeping.

Red foxes are really shy and this one came out from hiding for just a few seconds.

This is a piebald white tailed deer, a rare genetic mutation causing white patches on otherwise brown fur. They are found mostly in northern Florida and less than 2% of the deer population has this. This one was a baby that was abandoned by his Mom and was brought in here to live safely with other deer. I hated taking a picture through the fence but I’ve never seen one in the wild and she was not moving from the fence even though she had a huge place to roam.

Lu, the former actor in movies and tv shows, turned 65 this month. Yes, Lu is a hippo. He is retired and resides at the park. I couldn’t find any specific named movies or shows he was in but one article noted that he was on the Art Linkletter Show which aired in the early 60’s. You can read about him here.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Our last few days in Atlanta

On March 5, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta8 Comments

Lullwater Preserve sits in the middle of Emery University in Atlanta. We had been there in 2010 with Brett’s family for a walk and finally made it back when we were there this past December. The preserve has a small lake and a river that runs through it. There are hidden entrances and it’s a quiet place to walk although I’m sure it’s busy on the weekends with students hanging out on the big lawn.

We followed the trail along the water and found the dam that spills water down the river. The old powerhouse tower, built in the 20’s, still stands. It provided electricity to the mansion that still stands on the property. The 1926 mansion was build for Waltor Candler, the son of the Coca Cola founder. Since 1963 the house has been occupied by the Emery University president and his family.

Looking down on the water as we crossed the suspension bridge.

There wasn’t a lot of color here in the trees although I did find a few orange ones. It looked more like winter here than the other parks we had walked at earlier on our visit.

As we were leaving the dark clouds moved in and it really felt like winter.

The next day my sister and her husband drove over from Birmingham and we did a little shopping and had lunch at the famous Atlanta Fish Market. We had planned to do a little outdoor sightseeing but it drizzled most of the day and was cold.

It was foggy when we left Atlanta early on Monday morning. It was a quick fun trip to enjoy a little colder weather than we have in central Florida but I was ready to get home and not have to bundle up in heavy layers to go for a walk.

Two parks in Atlanta

On February 24, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta3 Comments

While Brett and I were in Atlanta in December we spent an early morning at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are attached to Piedmont Park and since we were there we decided to walk around the lake at the Park before leaving. I spent a lot of time in this park in the late 80’s through the 90’s. Art festivals, concerts, the Dogwood festival and just hanging out were many of the reasons to spend time here. It was beautiful the morning we were there. The weather was mild and many of the trees were still changing colors even though it was mid-December.

There’s usually a lot of ducks here but we also saw 2 Canadian geese swimming close to the edge.

The Midtown skyline and trees were reflecting on the lake.

Admiring the beautiful leaves as we walked around the lake.

We crossed the soccer fields to get back to our car at the Gardens.

More orange trees as we drove around the area.

We had an hour to kill before an early dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. I found a new (to us) small park to explore. Morningside Nature Preserve is an intown small park in between homes and a busy Cheshire Bridge Road. It starts off climbing down a lot of stairs through woods, then walking along a long boardwalk.

The trail then runs along South Fork Peachtree Creek. This park is popular on the weekends during the summer with dogs and their owners since this is an off leash park. The river was low when we were there but had record flooding when Hurricane Helene came through. We could see how high the water rose by the trash hanging high in the trees. It also changed the landscape of the river. The area along the water didn’t look nice since the trees were all damaged and stripped. It was still a nice quick walk and we did see one deer (which is strange to see in a heavily populated area of the city).

We walked over 20,000 steps this day so the next day we slept in and had lunch with friends before another walk that afternoon.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Winter in the Gardens

On February 17, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta6 Comments

More from the Atlanta Botanical Gardens during our trip to Atlanta in December. Those white lawn ornaments light up at night. We didn’t go for the holiday night lights since we had dinner plans with friends and it was going to be 30 degrees when the sun went down. It was still fun to see the Christmas decorations during the day.

Even in winter there was a lot of color in the gardens although the orchids were inside the heated orchid house.

Roots hanging from the ceiling were interesting to walk under.

It was a chilly morning but nice to be out.

Waterfalls were everywhere including the one next to the earth goddess topiary. In June her hair was beautiful with lots of colors blooming on it but now it was just dead leaves (but still cool).