Reflection in the mirror

On August 3, 2026July 22, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I got to Folly Farms in early April around 8am. As I got out of the car I noticed a bluebird sitting on a nearby car. He didn’t seem shy and stayed there as I walked over.

I think he was staring at himself in the reflection. I knew cardinals do this but didn’t realize bluebirds did. Where was his girlfriend? Probably still sitting on the nest waiting for him to bring in worms.

A starling posing on a tree. They look pretty when the sun shines on them.

Birds were scarce but I did see a cedar waxwing fly off and a yellow throated vireo was far away.

These grasshoppers were everywhere. They were still young ones (they turn yellow when they get bigger). They were eating through the plants in one part of the butterfly garden. I’m not sure if they will spray or just let nature take it’s course.

When I got back to my car the bluebird was on my car.

I waited a few minutes and he kept flying into the side mirror. Maybe he thought he was fighting off another male?

Butterflies and a baby hawk

On August 15, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants6 Comments

I’m still working on my butterfly shots. The perfect place to do that is Folly Farm in Safety Harbor. There is a great butterfly garden there.

While shooting butterflies I noticed a plant that had a lot of the grasshoppers on them. It was mid-May and these guys are just starting to show up. These Eastern Lubbers will get even bigger and turn orange when they are fully grown. They can eat through plants very quickly.

The red shoulder hawk was sitting on the first tree in front of the butterfly garden.

A few trees over was the baby. The nest was in an open palm tree but the nest was pretty high up. I waited a while hoping one of the parents would come and feed it but that must have happened much earlier that morning.

Before going to Folly Farm I stopped at the mangrove boardwalk near the fishing pier for a quick walk.

It was pretty quiet. Only the usual birds were there including red-winged blackbirds and a yellow crowned night heron.

The sea ox-eye was in full bloom along the boardwalk. Also called sea marigolds, it lives in salt marsh areas. The only other place I remember seeing it is at Fort Desoto.

Pretty things in June

On August 26, 2020August 26, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants4 Comments

I couldn’t find a tag on this really cool plant. Love the hairs sticking up on the newer ones. I realized that the older ones that had broken open had red bugs in them.

Little critters at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales in early June.

A hopper hiding in the dirt.

It was good to be out even if it was hot in central Florida. The gardens had recently opened back up and I had a rare Monday off so I drove over to spend the morning walking around. There wasn’t a lot of birds around but still lots of things to look at.

My Corner of the World

Pretty things at Bok Tower Gardens

On November 19, 2019November 19, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals5 Comments

Lots of little critters at Bok Tower Gardens in late September. Very few birds. The best one was the white eyed vireo. It was a good morning to work on my butterfly shots.

I found this butterfly couple flying around. Only the top butterfly was flapping. Assuming they are mating?

I was looking for bugs and saw this big eye staring at me from behind a leaf. After climbing around under the leaves for a few minutes he stopped and took a nap on a stalk. He was not much bigger than my thumb.

Random things at Chesnut Park

On November 7, 2015November 7, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals6 Comments

A leftover Easter bunny eating his breakfast.

Getting frisky.

The eagle has landed. After being absent all summer, the eagle is back in his usual winter Saturday morning spot across the lake.

I saw this weird stuff growing out of the tree. It looked like it could be merengue but I’m guessing some kind of lichen.

I was excited to see another baby deer at the park. Mom and baby stayed pretty far back in the woods. These were taken from the parking lot and heavily cropped so they are a little blurry.