Spring in the backyard

Posted on May 22, 2023 by dinajohnston

I haven’t seen blue-gray gnatcatchers in the backyard in a long time. This was early April. I was sitting outside enjoying the cool weather and this one came down close and was singing away.

I was pretty excited to see indigo buntings in the backyard. Brett and I were watching tv one Sunday afternoon and I look over and see one on the bird bath. I was able to sneak over to the window and snap the first shot before he flew off. Then I went outside and was able to get the 2nd shot of one up in the tree before they both took off.

The lone turkey has still been visiting and taking naps in the backyard. I wonder if she was scoping out places to nest.

I could see a hawk on the other side of the fairway.

The lizards were showing off for the ladies.

I realized that our wall outside had a lot of these caterpillars. They are tussock moth caterpillars. They are known to eat your plants but we didn’t really notice any damage to the few we had in the back.

One morning I saw one of the caterpillars spinning what looked like a web over his body and I ran out and took the 1st picture. Later that day it was completely covered. I counted 16 of these on the back wall.

A few weeks later I saw a few of these on the windows. I don’t think a lot of the cocoons hatched though.

The gardenia bush was full in early April and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of them. I just wish the pictures captured the smell.

The yard in early March.

Posted on May 8, 2023 by dinajohnston

Look who showed up in the backyard in early March. Last year they were here all winter but I hadn’t seen any parulas at all until March. I was sitting outside for a while enjoying the cool weather and the above got close enough for me to get some shots.

That lone robin was still hanging around in the backyard.

Bluebirds were stopping by.

A lone turkey was cruising by for a few days and one day I caught her taking a nap just outside our window.

We get tons of woodpeckers at the feeder and bird bath.

Butterflies on the hanging lantana.

Someone nearby is feeding these ibis. I saw them pecking around the tree and when I went outside to sit down one of them walked right up to me. I had to step back up against the house to fit him in the picture. He wandered off when he realized I wasn’t going to feed him.

Gardenias were starting to bloom.

Things in the yard

Posted on June 14, 2022 by dinajohnston

Blooming at the end of March in the front yard.

I was out watering my hanging baskets and saw the inchworm. I had to run in and get my camera and macro lens. Later that day I saw the green lizard and ran out to get shots of it. We have a ton of brown lizards and it’s rare to see a green one.

I’ve been seeing a lot of woodpeckers in the backyard. At one point there were 3 hanging out in different spots.

Occasionally I get a bluebird stopping by. They mostly hang out in my neighbor’s yard several townhomes down. These were all taken through the window. They are very skittish.

I was pretty excited to get a shot of a hooded warbler in the yard through the window. I saw one back in October as well but only got a blurry shot of him.I wonder if it’s the same one.

Pine warblers and northern parulas were stopping by the bird bath. I haven’t seen either in a while now so I hope they come back this fall.

Blue jays are always at the feeder.

A titmouse sits on top of the bluebird box. So far no birds have nested in it.

Turkeys were strutting by our windows in late March/early April. The first one was right in front of the window, the bottom 2 were taken across the golf course. I think these are 3 different ones since they have different face colors. I haven’t seen any in a while now. They may be nesting.

Down the street I found a juvenile night heron. Next year I’ll have to look for some nests early in the season.

Things in the backyard

Posted on April 16, 2022 by dinajohnston

Some of the birds in the yard in late January and early February. I’m always looking out the window when I’m at home. I noticed the great egret creeping around the tree but he went behind the bushes when he caught the lizard.

I’ve seen several random turkeys roaming around the neighbhorhood and was wondering if they were all the same turkey. These were across the fairway from our house. The top one had a gray head (maybe the juvenile from this past summer) and the bottom shot has a red head. These were taken the same week.

The usual bigger birds in the backyard include a cardinal, blue jay and a crow that’s been hanging around for a few weeks.

There’s always a Carolina wren in the backyard. Sometimes we have two.

Other occasional birds at the feeder are titmouse and woodpeckers.

We had several bluebirds bouncing around the backyard one afternoon. They would catch some caterpillars on the ground and fly up to the top of the bird feeder to eat them.

We’ve had parulas up in our trees for a while now. I hear their shrill all day long. I was able to catch the male (top shot) in a lower branch singing away one afternoon. The bottom shot is either a juvenile or maybe the female. She came down to the bird bath.

A few other things in the yard. That spider looks like he has a smiley face on his back. The gardenia bush outside our front door has been blooming and it smells so nice when you walk out the door. I went out and got these with my macro lens. All other pictures where taken through the windows.

Colors in July

Posted on October 5, 2020 by dinajohnston

I wanted to get out for a road trip in July so I headed to Bok Tower Gardens in central Florida. It was hot, it was quiet and not many birds there but, I was outside walking around. Everything was blooming and there was lots of color so I had a lot of things to take pictures of.

Flowers and bugs

Posted on May 12, 2020 by dinajohnston

Color coming out in early April at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. Yes, the gardens were open during the big shut down. I went around 8am and there were very few people there. Most probably thought it was closed. It was nice to walk around in the quiet garden.

Watching these crazy parakeets getting sticks for their nests.

Not many birds in early April. The usual blue jays and wood duck couples. The wood ducks usually have babies here in the summer but they go into hiding and it’s hit or miss seeing them here.