Seeing red on a road trip

On February 12, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta7 Comments

Brett and I decided to take a road trip up to Atlanta in December to see friends, eat at our favorite restaurants and get a taste of some cold weather. We went the 2nd week because we didn’t want to be on the road too close to Christmas and deal with holiday traffic. I was thinking it would be too late to see any fall colors but as we got into Georgia I could see lots of yellow and orange.

On our first day there we bundled up and went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (one of my favorite spots to visit when we are there). It was cold when we first arrived but warmed up pretty quickly. There was so much red and orange. I was glad I wasn’t going to miss fall leaves (even though it was December).

The Alice in Wonderland topiary statues that we had seen during our trip in June were still there but they didn’t have any ivy on them so it was a little weird. You can see my post on them in bloom here.

The bright yellow Chihuly glass sculpture really stood out against the fall leaves.

Most of the taller trees had already lost their leaves but the shorter ones were in full color. I was expecting a drab and dreary trip like the ones we had when we would go back for Christmas years ago but the color was still around. We spent a lot of time hiking around town so more on that later.

Fall was finally here.

On March 14, 2024March 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants4 Comments

We know it’s winter in central Florida when the coots show up at our ponds. It looked like they were eating the grass they pulled up from the bottom of the pond.

I was up on the observation tower at Chesnut Park when I saw this osprey in the trees across the boat canal. The spanish moss has taken over these trees.

The spatterdock was blooming under the boardwalk.

The trees around the lake were finally turning colors in late December.

The bald cypress trees and red maples were finally showing off. We do get a fall here in the Tampa Bay area, just not until some time in December. This year it was really late.

The view from the top of the tower.

A new bird on a full moon

On February 10, 2024February 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

At the end of October I heard there was a new bird in town. A Wilson’s warbler had been sighted at the Largo Nature Preserve. I had never heard of this bird being anywhere in the Tampa bay area. For several days there were tons of people posting sightings of it on Ebird so I finally made it to the preserve.

I took a quick trip around the boardwalk and noticed the moon’s reflection in the water so I took a shot before it went all the way down.

I went to the spot where the Wilson’s had been sighted and saw a few birds hopping around in the brush. I noticed the above with some yellow but I realized it was a Nashville warbler which was also a great migrating bird.

I didn’t wait long for the Wilson’s to hop into sight. A new bird for me. He’s almost all yellow with a black cap on his head. He was easy to spot mixed in with the titmouse and blue gray gnatcatchers. After those few minutes of fun seeing the new bird I went for a walk around the park.

A young purple gallinule was in the pond. This was the first time I have seen one here.

It seemed late for ducks to be mating but I guess since it was still so warm that mating season is almost all year round here in central Florida.

Seeing blue with a blue jay and a blue gray gnatcatcher.

Butterflies were still around.

A cutie on the trail.

A tiny bit of fall with the red leaves coming out.

Christmas walk through the gardens

On December 21, 2023December 21, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

A non-birding friend wanted to go for a walk early one morning last week at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. I tagged along without my camera so all of these are taken with my phone. The Gardens does a big Christmas light show at night but it’s also fun to walk around during the day here and it’s not so crazy crowded. The big silk floss trees were nearing the end of their blooming. There were still a few blooms at the top of the tree but most were on the ground.

The bald cypress trees were changing color which made it almost feel like fall if it wasn’t so warm. We were walking around in shorts and t-shirts with the weather being in the high 70’s but at least the humidity was low.

The food stand left bags of popcorn out from the light festival the night before. The squirrel knocked one down and started to have a blast. He was going to have a tummy ache. Eventually his friends showed up and they had a popcorn party. I wasn’t going to stop them.

A small sample of some of the decorations. They had some of the lights still on which made it cool to see in the daylight.

The monarch butterfly let me get really close with my phone. She may have been laying eggs.

The giant milkweed plant in the butterfly garden was full of caterpillars.

I have made it to the light show at night over the years. You can see some of my older posts here and here.

Too early or too late?

On December 29, 2022December 21, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants9 Comments

In mid-November I went looking for some fall color near my home. I wasn’t expecting to find much but the bald cypress trees turn orange during this time so I was hoping I wasn’t too early or late. The trees at Kapok Park were mostly still green or had already lost their leaves. While there was only a hint of orange, the park still looked pretty with the lake surrounded by the cypress trees.

One of the many crooked trees at the park.

I can’t remember what this plant is but when the wind blows it looks like it’s snowing.

Getting ready for Christmas

On December 15, 2022December 4, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, Vacation4 Comments

It was early November and they were already decorating the Atlanta Botanical Gardens for the Christmas light show.

It was putting me in the holiday spirit even though it was warm while we were there.

Walking through the wooded path, the colors were popping. It felt very different from the color in central Florida (which was still the usual green).

Red, pink and orange in November

On December 12, 2022November 29, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, Vacation4 Comments

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens still had a lot of color blooming when I was there in early November. Atlanta hadn’t gotten a lot of cold weather yet and it was warm the morning I was there. We were hoping we would get to wear our jackets on this trip but that wasn’t the case.

Beauty in the gardens including the blooming lady statue behind the waterfall.

The trees also had a lot of color. I took a ton of pictures with my phone so more to come on this visit.

Sightseeing in Atlanta

On December 1, 2022November 20, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, Vacation5 Comments

It was a little weird standing under Georgia 400 during our trip to Atlanta in early November. We found this small park that runs along the Chattahoochee River as we were heading north to have lunch with a friend. After lunch we stopped by the park and got out and walked around. It was loud standing under the major highway that is at least 4-5 lanes going each direction. I have driven on this highway a million times when I lived here but never thought to stand underneath it.

Most of the trees were in bright colored leaves with just a few still with green leaves. If you follow the trail that leads away from the highway it starts to get quieter. We didn’t go too far since we still had a lot to do that afternoon but it was a nice quick stop.

The next morning I headed out early for a walk around Piedmont Park before going to the Botanical Gardens. I love this spot on the lake in the middle of the park where the buildings reflect off the water. The park was busy and there was a movie being filmed in one corner of the park. I couldn’t get close enough to see what was going on though.

The trees here were just starting to turn colors.

Road trip to look for color

On November 17, 2022November 20, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, Vacation4 Comments

It was time for a road trip. We headed up to Atlanta for a long weekend to visit friends. I was also hoping to see some fall leaves but we may have just missed the peak season.

Along the way we passed miles of cotton fields that were ready to be picked. It almost looked like the ground was covered in snow as we whizzed by.

As we got closer to Atlanta I could see lots of color. There was still a lot of yellow, orange and red in the trees so we didn’t miss the season completely.

Passing by the iconic Olympic torch tower. This replica was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics that was held here. At the time you were able to climb the stairs and see all around Atlanta but it has since been closed. We were living here at the time and my sister and I spent many nights down at the Olympic park during the games.

The parking lot at our hotel was like a fairy tale with all of the bright colors.

An early morning walk before heading out for the day.

We stopped at a friend’s house for lunch and her camellia bushes were still blooming.

She also had some little green critters hiding in her garage.

More to come on those fall leaves.

A walk in the woods

On January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

The one that got away. I was walking down the back trail at Chinsegut Wildlife area and I hear a noise in the woods. Several deer were cutting across the trail way ahead of me and I just caught this buck peeking back at me before he took off into the woods.

I love coming here and seeing all of the red headed woodpeckers. They are everywhere here. And, this spring I AM going to get back up here to look for some woodpecker nests.

Another amazing thing about this place is that I was standing in one spot on the trail near the nature center and saw 4 different species of woodpeckers. Without moving I was able to get pictures of red heads and then I saw a downy, a red bellied and then a pileated. They were all hanging around the same area at the same time.