Around the yard in late September

On January 27, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

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.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

A botanical gardens on the other side of the state

On January 6, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

While Brett and I were on our “No power” trip (no electricity from Hurricane Milton) to the east coast in October we spent an afternoon at McKee Botanical Gardens in Vero Beach. It was our first time in the Vero Beach area and I had heard about the Gardens from friends who live nearby. It was a beautiful place to wander around and the gardens were full of things blooming and flying.

The gardens were started in the early 1920’s and there were a lot of tall old trees.

I managed to find a few migrating birds including a northern parula, a black throated blue warbler and a Swainson’s thrush.

A pileated woodpecker flew in while I was looking for migrating birds and started eating the seeds on a nearby palm tree.

There were so many different types of lizards. Tons of them in all sizes but we didn’t see any bigger iguanas. The bottom one is an invasive Peter (or rainbow) rock agama that was introduced into south Florida’s wildlife in the 70’s. They have recently made their way farther north and are now plentiful in Vero Beach.

We were taking a break on a bench and this squirrel brought his snack over and ate in front of us.

The Hall of Giants is an original building of the gardens and was built to house the largest table at the time (found in New York City), built from a single piece of mahogany.

The gardens also had a lot of tiny waterfalls.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life

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.

Front and back in late October

On February 8, 2024January 27, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I have a ton of palm warblers in the backyard but they rarely come to the suet feeder. This one must have decided to be brave and get a bite in between the woodpeckers feeding on it.

Anytime I look out the window I can usually see a red bellied or downy woodpecker feeding on the suet.

Ugh! A squirrel has figured out the tasty snack. All last winter I didn’t see a single squirrel on the suet. This winter I saw one several times. I got a pole baffle and cover for the stand and haven’t seen one on it since.

A house finch stopped by for a drink.

One morning I saw a young indigo bunting through the bushes.

A few days later I saw two more on the ground feeding in front of our patio. They looked like non-breeding males.

Catbirds, eastern phoebes and pine warblers are all regulars in the winter. The phoebe doesn’t come to the feeders since he only eats bugs or flies. He sits on the white stick (which is the marker that separates the golf course grass from our grass) and hops on and off of it chasing flies.

Standing in the backyard one morning I saw this guy sticking out of our gutters and had to take a picture.

Scratching his face on the tree.

I was bringing in the garbage can and saw this family hanging around the entrance wall to our townhomes so I ran in and got my camera and walked over to them. They gave me a quick glance and then ignored me.

The Hunter’s moon from our driveway.

“Red skies at night…” From the front yard and the backyard.

Fall migration in my backyard

On December 17, 2022December 12, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I was bummed that I would miss fall migration due to my shoulder surgery but it seems that fall migration came to me one afternoon. I came home from physical therapy and looked out the back window and saw some birds hopping around near the bird bath. I was thinking it would be the same birds that visit (titmouse, chickadees, etc) so I barely looked but then I noticed a few that looked different. I still had my camera set up on my tripod so I started snapping. There were a few immature indigo buntings.

There were several flashes of yellow and one was a non-breeding male scarlet tanager that was taking a bath.

Above are female summer tanagers.

A red eyed vireo stopped for a quick drink.

Pine warblers are fairly common in the backyard during the winter.

Catbirds are also common in the winter. He was photobombed by a bluebird.

Chickadees come by almost every day but it’s always hard to get a decent shot. They are very skittish.

There were several house finches this afternoon.

Later in the day the neighborhood red shoulder hawk stopped by and that cleared out all of the birds. I always know when he’s here since Harley (my young cockatiel) has a certain high pitch scream when he sees him. I jumped off the couch when I heard that scream and there he was, low in the tree. I ran outside and shooed him away but not before snapping the above.

I made it home right before lunch and when I saw all of the birds in the backyard I started snapping (all through the window). An hour later I was starving but it was hard to pull myself away from the window. I eventually did but I kept peeking out. I looked up on the BirdCast Migration tool website for Pinellas County. It said that over 5 million birds had passed through that night so I think that explains the fall out on this day in mid-October. We normally get one million passing through on a big fall out day.

In the yard

On December 3, 2022December 5, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

In mid-October I had some migrating birds stop by the backyard. Black and white warblers were common here last winter but this was the first time seeing house finches in the backyard.

I saw my first ever worm eating warbler in the backyard. Over the years I had heard of one being reported twice in the Tampa Bay area but I could never find them. I was pretty excited to see him bouncing around near the bird bath. He stayed close under the big palm leaves on the ground and then later disappeared.

Common birds to the backyard are catbirds (I get a lot of them in the winter) and red bellied woodpeckers.

A house finch with just a little red on his head stopped by the feeder.

I’ve had an almost grown baby coming through the backyard alone. When I first saw her in mid October, you could still see the spots on her hind legs.She was all alone. I don’t know what happened to her Mom but I was thinking she was old enough to be on her own.

For several weeks she would come by every afternoon and hang out in the back, feeding and napping. I took all of these through the window because I was afraid I would spook her if I went outside. She saw me in the window though. She would take a quick nap up against my neighbor’s oak tree.

Our hibiscus bush in the front yard has been blooming for a few weeks. I took this with my phone.

Flappers at Circle B Bar Reserve

On December 11, 2021November 12, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Some of the little birds that are often seen at Circle B Bar Reserve are the house wren and common yellowthroat.

We were looking for the yellow billed cuckoo along the trail and someone spotted this summer tanager from across the marsh. It’s the first time I’ve seen one here.

We found the pair of cuckoos but they were doing their best to hide high up in the trees.

The usual birds to find in the water here. A common moorhen taking a bath and the grebes have returned for the winter.

“Mom, pay attention. That lady is watching us.”

“She’s not going to bother us unless she’s willing to wade through alligator infested marsh”

“Okay, so we can relax. It’s been a busy morning eating bugs.”

Later I passed the black bellied whistling duck family (looks like the other parent is here) and the babies were all napping. It’s such a treat to see these babies here since the main trails are closed in the summer. This is a late family for late October.

Birding in my pajamas.

On November 9, 2021March 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Titmouse are coming to my backyard bird bath pretty regularly to take baths. I try and hide behind the curtains and take pictures through the window so I don’t spook them.

I’m also getting blue jays and catbirds but they just get a quick drink and leave.

Watching the birds fly around the trees, I saw a dash of yellow from across the yard but almost didn’t look twice because I thought it was a palm warlber. I was able to grab a shot of this hooded warbler with a bug in his beak through my dirty windows. (I have since spent some time cleaning them).

I took the shots of the pine wabler and yellow throated warbler outside early one morning, walking around the trees in the back of our home before work.

Twice I watched this red bellied woodpecker hide nuts in a palm tree. He was getting them from a feeder across the fairway and flying back over to our side and hiding them.

Usual morning birds in the back, a great egret and blue jay.

There’s a ton of squirrels in the yard. One climbed up on the outdoor chair and was watching me in the window. I changed out the bird feeder pole to a much higher one and now he can’t get to the food so he wasn’t happy (although at some point he’ll figure out a way to get up there).

The ladies were out at the Botanical Gardens

On December 10, 2019December 10, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

This female summer tanager did not mind me watching her while she feasted on a beautyberry bush. Or, maybe she didn’t see me. I was hiding in the bushes after all. She stayed for a few minutes filling up on berries and then took off.

A female indigo bunting was hiding in the bushes.

A female rose breasted grosbeak was eating something high up in the tree.

Female woodpeckers. A pileated and a downy.

Both males and females look the same for thrashers and green herons so these could be either.

A new bird in late October

On December 9, 2019February 18, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I had heard he was there for a over a week before I made it down to Fort Desoto. I headed down to the park early one Saturday morning in late October thinking it would be a needle in the haystack story. As I drove into the park I saw several people with binoculars in a field near the boat ramp. After walking through ankle deep ant infested water (the field was flooded due to recent rains) I found the Vermilion Flycatcher. He was out in the open buzzing from tree to tree so it was pretty easy to spot that flash of red unless you weren’t paying attention and thought it was a cardinal. It was the first time I have heard of one being in the Tampa bay area so there were a lot of people coming through that morning looking for him. He’s a beautiful bird and totally worth enduring the over 50 ant bites.

Otherwise, there were just the usual migrating birds at the park. This female rose breasted grosbeak was very accommodating.

The white pelicans are back but they were across the lagoon. You can tell how much bigger they are than our resident brown pelicans.

Osprey have taken over the park. They are everywhere.

Shorebirds near the fishing pier.

TOTO is still hanging out at the park. He’s got a band on his legs with TOTO. I’ve been taking pictures of him for over 8 years. He’s always there with his girlfriend.

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