Lots of color in the gardens

On December 29, 2025January 3, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants2 Comments

In early September I went for a walk at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. It was still pretty hot and I left my camera in the car and just walked with my phone. My first stop was the butterfly garden and it was pretty quiet there. I was hoping for some hummingbirds but I didn’t see any this morning.

Color along the path.

The spatterdock made pretty patterns in the water.

A few of the critters I saw.

Pretty fungus growing from the summer rains but the above in red is a stinkhorn mushroom and has a foul smell if it breaks apart.

The banana plants were blooming.

I grabbed my camera out of the car to catch this green heron catching a bug. He was feeding in a small pond next to the parking lot.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

Back at one of my walking happy places

On October 27, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In late June I was out for an early walk at the Dunedin marina.

The front beach area of the marina has been closed since Hurricane Helene hit last September and I realized that it had just opened back up again after 9 months. It was so nice to be able to walk along the far side of the marina out onto the jetti area. The little beach area was covered in seaweed and it was high tide so much of the area was under water anyway.

The floating dock in front of the sailing center was being fixed that morning. A Dunedin utility worker was adding planks as I walked by.

This gravel spot is where the Dunedin Sailing Center meeting house sat since 1929, until Hurricane Helene and Milton flooded it and it had to be torn down. Eventually a new elevated building will be built.

Looking towards Clearwater Beach.

Some horseshoe crabs were swimming around in the shallow part.

This corner of the jetti had grass and 3 nice benches to sit and watch the dolphins come in the marina. They were all lost in the storms.

A green heron sits very still on a rock, trying to catch some bait fish.

I was excited to see the purple martins still here and their houses were still standing (the bases are set in concrete).

You can hear their sweet calls in the wind. The babies are all grown up and they left not long after I took this video. They’ll be back next spring though.

The marina was still closed to public boats and except for a few commercial boats near the entrance no one was coming in or out. Many of the docks are damaged and the sea wall caved in. I’ve read they were going to start repairing everything by the end of this year.

Linking to Image-In-Ing.

More from hanging out at the “Bar”

On June 16, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

More sunrise shots (taken farther down Heron Hideout Trail) from my visit to Circle B Bar Reserve in March after a 3 year hiatus.

The twin tree was still there.

I saw several male painted buntings feeding along the trail right as the sun was coming up. They were right on the trail and were not shy.

A female northern harrier made a pass overhead.

Trail views on Marsh Rabbit Run trail.

The usual birds were there including many glossy ibis and green herons.

The common club-rush plant was everywhere in the marsh. There used to be water here and now it’s all choked up.

Down at the end of the trail sits the end of Lake Hancock.

More alligators along the trail.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Limpkins were kung fu fighting.

On May 31, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I was out at Largo Nature Preserve in mid-March just as the sun was up over the trees. It was a little chilly and you could see the reflection of the trees and sun over the mist on the small lake.

Yellow crowned night herons are common along the boardwalk and they nest in the trees on the lake. This one kept getting spooked by people walking by.

A green heron with beautiful pink legs was calling out to it’s mate.

After my lap on the boardwalk I walked out on the paved trail. As I came around the corner I saw 2 limpkins on the ground. At first I thought they were hurt or were they mating? They seemed to be fighting. Maybe it was a territorial dispute. They kept poking each other in the chest with their feet. It went on for a few minutes and then someone was walking towards them from the other side and they broke up.

They fought a few more times as they broke up and walked over to the water. Then one flew off down the canal. I guess the remaining one was the winner. They both looked uninjured.

A mirror image of a snowy egret getting a snack.

A soft shell turtle coming up for air.

Was it fall or spring in central Florida? The maple tree was turning red in March.

The usual suspects.

On December 11, 2024January 21, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was not that early in the morning at the start of October when I went for a walk at the Roosevelt Wetlands. The sun was already high in the sky over the marsh.

All of the usual birds were there including a green heron and two tricolored herons.

Another usual bird, a female anhinga, was drying off her wings.

I was hoping to see some winter ducks but it was still a little early and most of the ducks were mallards.

There was a lone blue winged teal. Hopefully more will show up soon.

A loggerhead shrike in his element, sitting on a wire.

A male anhinga (on the far right) was crashing this tricolored heron convention.

Another usual thing here is a white peacock.

Most of the parks along the coast were closed due to flooding from Hurricane Helene and Roosevelt Wetlands was one of the few open in early October. The water levels were high but the trail was still dry. I was hoping to find some fall migraters or early winter birds but only the usual suspects were here.

Critters at the marina

On November 25, 2024November 25, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

In early September I was out for an early walk at the Dunedin marina.

I was standing on the pier and a cormorant popped up right below me.

As I walked around the marina I noticed a big blob in the water in front of the boats on the right. Several manatees were hanging out in between the docks. At first they were in the middle of the channel (to the right of the yellow arrow).

I stood there for a while keeping my eye out for them. A few minutes later they came a little closer to the sea wall. There were at least 2 of them.

Then they came right up to the sea wall. I could see their snouts coming up for air in between the shadows of the railing and at one point one of them showed his big backside.

This green heron was not afraid of my shadow.

An anhinga sits on a boat lift crane.

I always see little ruddy turnstones walking around the rocks in front of the marina. They pick the bugs out of the oyster shells attached to the rocks.

Even though the clouds were moving in a boat heads out for an afternoon cruise.

Watching the storms come in

On October 24, 2024December 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights9 Comments

More storms moving in during my walk in early July on the Dunedin causeway. I love when the skies are all moody and it keeps the heat down.

I could see storms coming from Clearwater beach so I headed down to the marina to see if I could spot some lightning or a rainbow. Neither made an appearance.

This was the last time I saw the purple martins. The nest boxes survived hurricane Helene but I haven’t been able to check if they survived Milton.

A dolphin makes a brief appearance as he heads towards Clearwater.

A green heron was taking a break on someone’s boat.

The rain was quickly headed for the marina so it was time to go home. All shots were taken with my phone.

Dolphins, a manatee and a spoonbill!

On February 22, 2024February 21, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

I was driving on the Dunedin causeway one morning in mid-November when I saw a roseate spoonbill feeding along the shoreline at the beginning of the causeway. I had my camera in the car so I turned around and got out and snapped a few shots before someone came walking down the beach and spooked him away. I’m glad I stopped before my walk because he would not have been there on my way back. He looked so pretty in the sun.

The grumpy looking ole reddish egret was there. I see him here often. He didn’t move an inch while I was taking pictures of the spoonbill. After a quick walk on the bridges I headed to the nearby marina to walk around.

As I walked around by the boats a dolphin was heading into the marina. He was fast but I was able to snap the above with my phone. I didn’t even see him leave.

When I walked out on to the fishing pier there were several dolphins heading out into the open water. The marina dolphin may have been one of them.

Someone was going to have a nice boating trip, although it wasn’t windy at all this morning.

There were several manatees in the marina swimming in between the slips. One came fairly close to the sea wall. It looked like he had some type of hump on his back but I couldn’t get a better shot.

I looked up from the manatees and saw a green heron hiding on a boat, watching me. They are common here and eat the bugs and small mangrove crabs on the dock poles.

A quick walk at Chesnut Park

On November 25, 2023November 25, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

It was the end of August and I kept missing all of the fawns this summer. I finally found one with Mom at Chesnut Park. The baby was getting pretty big but still had spots. I only saw them for a minute and they took off deep in the woods.