A foggy start to my bike ride

On July 22, 2026August 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

At the end of March I woke up to a foggy morning and almost didn’t go out for an early bike ride. I went out anyway and when I got to the north end of the Pinellas Trail the sun was already coming out of the fog. As soon as I got on the trail I saw a nice fogbow on one side of the trail and the sun coming up over the trees on the other side.

The sun was peeking through the trees along the horse pasture.

The fog made the spiderwebs stand out.

The sun coming up over the barn.

I could see a turkey far out in the pasture. He was strutting around but the ladies were too far away.

Is the grass really greener on the other side? Or maybe it just tastes better?

I love hearing the sound of the meadowlarks.

The grackle’s colors really stood out in the sun.

On the other side of the cow pasture I could see the 2 juvenile bald eagles. One was really flapping his wings.

Farther down the trail I saw another bald eagle. This one looked to be about a year old with those white spots, probably born here last winter.

A kildeer was sitting on eggs in the dirt. These guys nest on the ground.

A warm morning walk at Chesnut Park

On July 18, 2026August 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

The welcoming committee as I drove into Chesnut Park in mid-March.

I saw many ladies this morning. This one looked like she had something wrong with her fur. Mange or maybe she was just shedding. This was the first time I had seen one look like this at this park.

Walking along the back boardwalk. The sun was trying to peek through the trees.

I noticed a least bittern right up near the edge of the lake. They are usually tough to spot but this one was sitting in front of the reeds, out in the open.

Birds out on the dock included a grackle and an anhinga.

This turtle was covered in algae. I took this with my phone since he was so close.

It was getting hot fast as the sun came up over the trees.

Around the yard in December

On April 15, 2026May 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

The squirrels were getting frisky in the backyard in mid-December. Don’t they know it’s not mating season? Actually early December is the start of their winter mating season so I may be seeing some tiny ones soon. Just what we need, more squirrels digging up the backyard.

It was good to see that the neighborhood turkeys survived Thanksgiving as they cruised through our backyard. There is almost no turkey hunting in Pinellas county due to the density and urban nature of the area and there are no public hunting areas so these turkeys are generally safe in our neighborhood with the exception of being hit by a car.

A juvenile little blue heron looking for a snack (lizard) along the sidewalk to our front door.

I hate it when the grackles come to the feeder (which isn’t often) but they are pretty.

Black bellied whistling ducks in the rain. I was standing outside with a big golf umbrella watching them as they found a little puddle to drink from.

I was adding some red lights to the back along the roof when this guy fell down. I’m glad he didn’t land on me because neighbors from many streets over would have heard me scream. I know they are out there but he caught me by surprise.

Blooming in the front yard in December.

Brett and I took the long way around the neighborhood after dinner out to see some lights. We saw a lot of deer out feeding.

This is not a great video since it took Brett a while to stop and I was filming from the moving car but the coyote couple passed by us on the sidewalk. The green eyes glowing belongs to the black coyote that almost blends in. It was really cool to see them in the dark but they kept moving fast.

A sunny start to December

On March 18, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In early December Brett and I were back at Davis Islands for another afternoon walk. We were soaking up the cooler sunny weather.

It was a busy sailboat day and we sat for a while watching the boats go in and out of the yacht basin.

We found the perfect bench to sit and look for birds and dolphins.

This male grackle was showing off his pretty colors in the sun.

We also had a nice view of downtown Tampa from our bench.

Cute little ones in the woods

On September 13, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

It was late May in the woods in the park near my house. Early in the morning I found a barred owl sleeping on a tree close to the boardwalk. You couldn’t miss her. I snapped a quick shot and kept going.

As I got a little farther a young one was sitting on a tree, also close to the boardwalk. The baby was busy preening but stopped for a second and stared at me.

I made my way to the end of the boardwalk and turned around. When I was coming back the parent owl was just waking up. Again, I snapped a quick shot and kept going since people were starting to crowd up on the boardwalk and get pictures with their phones.

Deep in the reeds along the lake a juvenile grackle was begging for Mom to feed her.

I found one of the frogs again.

As I was watching the frog a few birds went by including the tricolored heron in the first shots and the limpkin in the last shot. I was hoping they didn’t get the frog.

A juvenile limpkin was getting a snail snack from Mom.

Mom fed this young one several times. The baby looks like Mom but is much smaller. They eat a lot of apple snails that grow in abundance here.

An osprey flies by with a fish.

The summer rains hadn’t started and the swamp area was dried up. There is usually a pond here.

A hot quiet walk at Roosevelt Wetlands

On September 3, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

In early May I made my last trip out to the Roosevelt Wetlands for the summer. There is no shade here and not many critters during the dead of summer. I was standing near the parking area and could see across the lake to the waste plant mountain. All of a sudden tons of birds took off across the open mound. I’m not sure what scared them, mostly gulls and terns. There’s a lot of hawks in the area and I think most of the eagles are gone for the summer.

Cattails along the trail.

After staring into the reeds for a while I saw a bittern’s head pop up. He stayed hidden after he saw me.

Little critters along the trail.

A bunny hops across the trail, trying to hide fast before I pass him.

Color along the trail in the form of tickseed.

I saw a purple gallinule heading into the reeds and noticed a baby was right behind her. I was able to get a quick shot before the baby disappeared.

A female grackle posing. When I cropped this up I noticed the ladybug on the bottom right.

Standing near the waste plant, looking across the lake to the parking area. It’s a long walk back when it gets hot and the wind blows from the waste plant area.

A little blue heron flies by.

The northern harriers and winter ducks have all gone north for the summer. There was no sign of baby black necked stilts which is the highlight of late spring. Critter traffic comes to a halt through August so I took a long break from visiting.

A morning walk at Chesnut Park

On July 19, 2025August 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In mid-April I was out for a walk at Chesnut Park early in the morning. I parked my car and was walking towards the trail and these two ladies came cruising over the bridge and onto the trail I was heading for. I followed them to the boardwalk and they went into the woods.

I saw 2 young barred owls sitting in the same tree. The one on the far left kept his back to me the entire time. The one on the right was leaning over, almost upside down. I think that was how he was sleeping. I’m not sure how comfortable that is.

Mom was sleeping in a nearby tree.

A wintering coot that hadn’t left yet was eating some grass from the lake.

Looking out on one of the docks I caught sight of two baby wood ducks. They were swimming quickly towards the reeds.

Then I realized there was a family of wood ducks up against the reeds. They floated just outside the reeds for a while and then headed back into hiding.

The above was taken with my phone. This is where the baby ducks were hiding.

Tree swallows were flying around overhead.

A grackle was yelling at something, something they do often.

Dragonflies were everywhere.

The lake was calm and quiet.

Saturday's Critters

White pelican close ups

On April 19, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I made it back to Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Pete in mid-January. I remembered to bring my camera with me this time because I was pretty sure the white pelicans were still there. They wouldn’t stay much longer if the weather warmed up.

A handful were swimming around in the middle of the lake.

A lot of them were still hanging out under the big banyan tree at one corner of the lake where the pipes come out. I’m assuming because of the shade from the tree (although it was cloudy the morning I was there) and the fact that the tree area is fenced off to keep people off the damaged old historic tree so there wouldn’t be any people letting their dogs get close to the bank.

A cormorant flies by.

Eventually most of the pelicans made their way out to the middle of the lake.

A ring-neck duck came close to the edge.

A ring billed gull was also close.

Two male grackles were having a conversation on the ball field sign. They might have been fighting over a lady or both showing off for one.

Winter birds and the moon

On December 26, 2024December 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I could still see the moon when I was at Chesnut Park in late October early in the morning. Only the front part of the park was open due to the hurricanes we recently had.

It was quiet but I managed to find a few interesting birds (although nothing new). Catbirds are very common in the winter but the white eyed vireo and the male common yellowthroat are a little bit harder to find.

The grackle was singing in the sun, showing off his beautiful feathers.

The park is full of squirrels sometimes being cute.

Two weeks later the rest of the park opened and I was happy to be walking on the back boardwalk again. The trees looked a little barer and apart from the tons of fallen logs in the swamp the park looked the same. The water levels in the park were still high but it stays high coming off the rainy summer anyway.

I could still see the partial moon high over the lake.

The views around the lake were a lot clearer with the storms moving out a lot of the bushes and reeds that had grown up high along the edges.

Up close with a manatee

On July 22, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, zoo animals9 Comments

You can pay a lot of money and go swimming where the manatees hang out and maybe see them swim by (I have never done it) or you can go to Zoo Tampa and see them really up close without getting wet. Although, I have had one swim within a few feet of me when I was out past the sandbar at Fort Desoto Park. It was feeding time when I visited the zoo in late April. This lady was eating right in front of the window.

The zoo has an amazing manatee hospital. All of these manatees came in as injured or sick ones and the zoo rehabilitates them and releases them once they are better. I saw a release that the zoo did in 2022 and you can read about it here. You can read more about their manatee center here.

It was funny to watch the turtle pick the algae off the manatee.

I got to see the baby pygmy hippo that was not quite a month old.

Now that’s a big lizard!

The red tailed guenons are my favorite primates. They are so animated.

Flamingos on alert.

I walked through the lorikeet aviary and caught these 2 flirting.

A wild baby grackle was looking for bugs but found a leaf.

The wild little blue herons nest in the trees over the alligator exhibit. There were a lot of nests far in the back but only one near the fence. The babies were almost fully grown but not ready to fly yet.

I saw a tricolored heron sitting in the cypress tree across the exhibit.

One tree over I could hear the babies making a loud clacking noise. They were waiting for Mom to regurgitate her food and come over and feed them. They have the craziest looks when they are begging.