We had a warm morning in early January so I headed out for a quick trip to nearby Folly Farms in Safety Harbor. The neighborhood community garden has a small butterfly garden and if there isn’t any birds around I can usually find some tiny critters. There was still enough blooming to keep the garden full of bees and butterflies. The fun catch was the ladybug. I don’t see them very often.
Folly Farms in Safety Harbor was all decorated for Christmas with lights everywhere. I was there early in the morning and many of the lights were still on. It was weird looking for birds and butterflies with a tshirt on and Christmas lights everywhere. The farm has a community garden and someone had sunflowers blooming in their square, in the middle of December! I could only find a few butterflies in the butterfly garden even though it was still blooming.
The only bird I found at the farm was a hermit thrush. I had not seen one since 2018 and I had just seen one in my backyard before finding this one at the farm. I had to wonder if it was the same one from my yard even though I was 15 minutes away.
I stopped by the Safety Harbor fishing pier before heading home and found some black capped (or nanday) parakeets in the parking lot. They were eating seeds from the top of the trees. They blend in well in the trees and I might not have seen them if they hadn’t been screaming.
A manatee was close to the pier but the dolphins were pretty far out in the bay.
Watching the ibis feed off tiny crabs in the water.
Pelicans were cruising by the pier.
There were several osprey out diving for fish in the bay but only one came close enough to try and get shots. He swooped down and grabbed that fish so fast and then went the other way. I was hoping he would fly towards me. Oh well. I’ll try again.
I was at Possum Branch Preserve in late April and caught the cedar waxwings filling up on mullberries. This was the last time I saw them so I’m assuming they were fueling up for their trip north for the summer. They are beautiful even covered in berry juice.
I saw this pair of swallow tail kites soaring high over the preserve. I think it may be the first time I’ve seen two flying together.
I stopped at nearby Folly Farms next to quickly walk through the butterfly garden.
I stopped at nearby Folly Farms to see if I could find some hummingbirds in the butterfly garden. I only found butterflies but there were lots of yellow ones which I don’t see often.
I caught this downy woodpecker with something in his beak. It looks like a cocoon. He pulled it out of a hole in the fence.
I stopped at Possum Branch Preserve on the way home. As I headed out on the trail I caught a limpkin flying by and an osprey overhead looking for fish.
The bunnies were still around long after Easter. This one was snacking in the mimosa groundcover which blankets the preserve in the spring.
This goes under “the one that got away”. This was the only shot I got of the boblonk. It was a female. I saw the pair several times from far away as they were flying off. I had seen them here several years ago but was bummed I couldn’t get a decent shot. Hopefully they will stop by next year.
The cedar waxwings were still there, hanging out on the far end of the preserve.
I had heard about a small park not too far from my home that had a community vegetable garden and a butterfly garden so I thought I would stop by on the way home from Chesnut Park. As I got out of my car I saw two swallow tail kites cruising right over the park. I thought that was a good sign. One of the kites had what looked like a frog in his talons but he cruised over the trees before I could get a second look.
It was right before lunch and the sun was straight up and hot so there weren’t many butterflies around although the small garden was very pretty.
I saw a juvenile brown thrasher high up in a tree but he was gone in a flash.
A lot of yellow was blooming this morning. It was quiet and hot so I’m thinking I’ll come back when the weather cools off, maybe during fall migration.
Looks like a perfect log to take family pictures or take a break.
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