A cold morning bike ride

On June 8, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Beautiful skies hovered over dead vegetation in cow pastures in mid-February. I went for a bike ride along the northern end of the Pinellas Trail that runs through cow pastures.

This is the deadest I have seen the fields here. This was a week after our big freeze where we had 3 nights in a row below 30 degrees here in central Florida. This is the first time it’s happened in the 24 years we’ve been living here. I’m thinking most of it will come back by the end of summer.

The invasive brazilian peppertrees were full of berries. The cardinals, blue jays, robins and cedar waxwings will eat these.

Another invasive plant, the toxic rosarypea vine was also popping with seeds so there was a lot of bright red along the trail.

Savannah sparrows were along the trail.

I wasn’t expecting to see pretty blue flowers on this trail on this cold morning. I don’t remember seeing this here before. It was on the other side of the fence. Native skyblue lupine blooms here in the winter.

I could barely make out two young eagle heads on the nest. Mom was sitting higher up on the left.

Wood storks along the trail.

I usually see meadowlarks near the eagle’s nest.

A horse was out in the pasture and it looked like he was eating spanish moss that he must have pulled out of the tree.

He had a tiny friend out with him.

I passed a gopher tortoise right before getting back to my car. He was out of his hole and must have been trying to stay warm in the sun.

Camellias blooming in January

On June 1, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants, Vacation2 Comments

While Brett and I were in Orlando for a long weekend to visit with friends we went for a quick walk at Mead Gardens. We had not been before and the first thing we noticed was all of the camellia bushes were blooming. There were a lot of them around the nature center.

There were so many new buds coming out.

The parking areas were pretty full and we realized there was a camellia flower show and contest going on inside. There were so many beautiful colors and patterns. How could you judge them? You would really have to have an eye for details in them. I wouldn’t be able to pick a winner. They would all be winners.

There were a few rose bushes as well.

We spent an hour walking the trails and looking for critters which were scarce. It was chilly this morning. On the trails it felt more like a park than actual gardens but it was still beautiful.

I did see several gopher tortoises along the trail. I was able to zoom in with my phone and catch the above while hiding behind a bush.

Seeing turkeys on my bike ride

On November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Some days in July were just too hot to go for a walk, even in the shade. One hot morning I hopped on my bike and went for a spin around the neighborhood.

I always look around when I stopped for a break at one of the many ponds. This guy was hiding in the duckweed but he was pretty far down from the sidewalk. Most of the ponds (if not all) have an alligator in them so you have to pay attention.

I only saw one deer this morning and I haven’t seen many since then. We used to see them in our backyard every once in a while and it’s been months now.

Mushrooms were popping up everywhere due to the summer rains.

Color along the sidewalks.

The turkeys have been hanging out in the utility field and I hope they are hiding this week. I only saw 2 this morning but occasionally I see 5 or 6 together near here.

They were not skittish as I got off my bike and took the above video with my phone.

This is the first time I’ve seen a gopher tortoise in the neighborhood. I guess they may be hiding their burrows on the far end of the utility field.

This hawk was not skittish either. He let me walk up to this pole he was sitting on and he still didn’t fly off. He gave me this “What do you want?” look.

Biking along the fence

On August 20, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

In early May I went out for a bike ride along the north end of the Pinellas Trail.

My first stop was right before the horse barn on the right. I was looking around to see if the almost grown sandhill cranes were around since that family usually hangs out in the nearby pond. I saw this cute fox squirrel right along the fence. I rarely see them in the Tampa Bay area but they are know to live along this trail area. I’m assuming this is a Sherman’s fox squirrel, one of four subspecies that live in Florida. They are bigger than our common squirrels and have a black face.

Little critters along the fence including the robber fly in the bottom.

A cattle egret was posing for me and he still had his breeding orange feathers.

Farther down the trail I found a pair of sandhill cranes.

A lone Canadian goose was sitting along a pond near the golf course that runs along part of the trial.

I usually see meadowlarks along the fence or at least hear them calling from far away.

There are a lot of gopher tortoise burrows along the fence. I don’t see them out of their holes often but this time I saw two walking around.

On my way back I spotted the crane family far out in the horse pasture. The two babies were getting big fast.

I could see a deer near the crane family and when I cropped up this picture I realized the fox squirrel was in the grass in front of the deer.

Cruising past cow pastures

On January 29, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The Upper Pinellas Trail runs through cow pastures. It’s usually a nice quiet bike ride and sometimes I get to see something cool like maybe a new bird. In early November I got there just after the sun was up.

It was peaceful on the trail this weekday morning.

A kildeer was close to the trail. They are plentiful on the cow pastures and most of the time I hear them before I see them. It’s rare for them to get close to the trail.

Far out I could see turkeys and sandhill cranes hanging out together. There must be good bugs in that area.

The eagle couple hadn’t started nesting yet and they were together on one of the utility towers along the trail.

I saw a lot of pine warblers this morning. They were busy catching bugs.

I heard the sandhill crane’s loud chortle from across the pasture as they flew by.

A few deer were scattered along the back fence line.

Gopher tortoises have homes deep in the dirt along the trail. Most are sleeping far down in the hole and are hard to see but this one was half out. I could just barely make out his eye through the grass. Gopher tortoises are protected in Florida and are a threatened species. They are land animals and we lost a lot of them when Hurricane Helene came through and flooded many of the parks so every one of these are important.

I had heard there was a rare alder flycatcher at the beginning of the trail. I have never heard of one in Florida. They migrate through the central part of the states so this one was a little too far east. There were several other people there looking for him so he was easy to spot.

There was a large flock of cattle egrets flying back and forth across the pasture. I’m not sure what kept causing them to get spooked and fly away. Maybe the eagles were cruising by.

Cranes and eagles on the bike trail

On February 19, 2024April 19, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In early November I went out for a bike ride on the north part of the Pinellas Trail, along the cow pastures. It was still warm and the sun was coming up later in the morning.

I passed the usual sandhill crane couple (at least I thought it was). There’s always a couple in this part of the cow pasture but there’s another couple that hangs out farther down the trail so it could be either couple.

Pretty colors along the trail including the beauty berry in the bottom shot. It was all over parts of the trail. The only birds I’ve ever seen eating them are catbirds, mockingbirds, blue jays and cardinals. They should have been feasting on them this morning but I didn’t see a single bird on any of it.

A swamp sparrow was checking me out while I was taking pictures of the plants.

I rode up on the back of this utility tower that sits on the trail and saw the eagle couple sitting high up in the tower. I stopped and pulled out my camera and started taking pictures and it looked like they were having a conversation.

It looks like the male had been flirting but not very successfully. He put his foot on her but stopped. Maybe he was asking her why she had another headache?? I rode to the front of the tower.

I stood there for at least half an hour hoping they would actually mate. They nest in the towers farther down the cow pasture. You can really see the difference in the size when they are together with the smaller male on the left. Female eagles (and most raptors) are larger in size. Some think it’s due to carrying eggs as well as being able to defend the nest and babies. I finally gave up and rode farther down where I saw a juvenile eagle alone on a tower.

The juvenile eagle sat on the tower for a few minutes and then took off over the trees.

There are several gopher tortoise nests (or sandy holes in the ground) along the trail but I don’t often see them outside of them. This big one was cruising around in the cow pasture.

Shots with my phone along the trail. It was a quiet morning and the trail was almost empty so I felt like I had the whole place to myself.

Critter transports in mid-September

On December 23, 2023December 19, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

More rescue transports for the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay. These are from the middle of September into October. I got a text in the middle of September that a baby squirrel needed a ride from an emergency vet to a rehabber. Emergency vets will take in wildlife but they usually don’t treat them. They call rehabbers to come and get them. This teeny tiny baby needed to get warmed up and fed so I made the trip and brought it to the Raptor Center. It’s better if the parent raises the babies but someone had found it in their yard and the Mom never came back.

A few days later I headed over to the Raptor Center to take a box full of squirrels and an injured crow to Penny, the rehabber in St. Pete.

On the way from Brandon to St. Pete I stopped at an emergency vet in South Tampa. Someone had found a Cooper’s hawk laying down in their driveway. I was crushed when I picked up this beautiful hawk and saw how sick he was. He had either been hit by a car or had eaten a poisoned rat. Either way he had a tough road ahead. If it was a poisoned rat he will probably not make it.

A week later I made another trip from the Raptor Center to Penny, the rehabber. This time it was a young squirrel and the cutest baby bunny.

A few days later I made another trip with the same type passengers. This baby bunny was even tinier.

Early October brought my first gopher tortoise passenger and there were 3 of them. Two had been hit by a car and one had been found lost on a construction site. They made the trip from Raptor Center to Swamp Girl Adventures in Kissimmee, near Disney World. Kim at Swamp Girl specializes in rehabbing all types of turtles/torts and other reptiles. Gopher tortoises have Florida state-designated threatened protection due mostly to loss of habitat from over population and building. They are listed as a rare species in this area and there are several programs trying to re-introduce them into the wild. These guys were very special passengers.

The next week was a quick trip. A great horned owl with an injured eye had been picked up by a rescuer near my home and I picked it up from her and drove it out to Raptor Center in Brandon.

In mid-October I had a car full of critters that I had picked up at the Raptor Center and drove down to Penny in St. Pete to finish rehabbing and eventually release. An osprey with an injured wing, the same owl with the injured eye I had picked up days before, an injured screech owl and a tortoise. The tortoise was not a gopher but someone’s pet that had an injured shell. A dog had bitten through the young shell and the tortoise was surrendered to a vet. I’m not sure what Penny will do with it once she fixes the shell. Maybe it will get sent to a zoo or sanctuary.

A short walk at the “turtle park”

On July 8, 2023July 3, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

I decided to visit the small McGough Park to see if there were any migrating birds in the trees behind the turtle pond. Of course I had no luck on the birds but the pond is always full of turtles. Many were already coming out on the bank to soak up the sun early this morning.

It’s easy to see how the park got it’s nickname “The turtle park”.

There are also gopher tortoise hidden along the trail and if you look on the ground through the trees you might find one wandering around.

A green heron posing for me.

I was sitting on a bench under a tree and this Carolina wren came down next to me and started singing. I didn’t even have to crop this shot.

The park is also home to some permanently injured birds. They are well cared for here and I was able to see this screech owl (missing an eye) on his daily walk with his care taker.

This barred owl is Eugene and was also out for a walk with his care taker. He’s missing an eye as well.

Cows and eagles

On June 24, 2023June 15, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

The usual critters on my bike ride on the Pinellas Trail north of Brooker Creek. Cows and cattle egrets. The calves were getting big by early April.

I passed the eagle’s nest that sits far away in the cow pasture. The 2 young ones were flapping away and close to flying.

I could see a gopher tortoise walking around right under the eagle’s nest. He must have a burrow nearby.

As I was pedaling back to my car I heard an eagle yelling overhead. She was sitting on a utility tower and making a lot of noise. I stopped and pulled my camera out of my backpack.

I saw another eagle flying overhead. He landed on the same utility tower. After a few seconds of yelling back and forth, the below happened.

They started mating while a crow bothered them. At this point there was a small crowd watching from below. It’s not often you see eagles mating out in the wild (although this was my 2nd time this month with the first being in my neighborhood).

They sat together for a while on the same nest. I finally headed back to my car.

Looking for sparrows

On April 3, 2023March 23, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I was out on my bike cruising my new favorite trail through the cow pastures in late February. I had to wait until the sun was up a little since it was a little chilly this morning.

This time the cows were on the far end of the first pasture.

This meadowlark didn’t move from the fence as I rode by so I stopped and got a quick shot of him.

This sandhill couple were right on the trail. By now they should be having babies so hopefully I can catch some little crane colts.

The eagle’s nest far across the pasture was busy with 2 babies almost fully grown. They are way ahead of the ones in my neighborhood.

There are holes along the fence that I usually don’t pay attention to but this one caught my eye. The gopher tortoise had come out of his hole and was sitting close to the trail. They are state-listed as Threatened in Florida so we have to keep our distance.

It was a busy sparrow day along the trail. I found three all feeding nearby. The first is a Savannah with that bit of yellow above the eye. The second is a Swamp (he was hiding in the bushes so it was hard to get him) with that dark brown streak over his head and orange tinted wings. The last two are grasshopper sparrows. There is a Florida subspecies which I thought this one was based on the white tips on the feathers and darker back feathers but after researching their habitat I don’t think it is. They are only found in the middle of the state and are very rare and endangered.

This one is the reason I was taking so many pictures of sparrows. It’s a vesper sparrow and my first one. It’s not rare for him to be here in central Florida but this was the first I’ve heard of one being in the Tampa bay area and he’s been hanging out at the cow pasture for a few weeks.