Pretty colors and a sad story

Posted on July 10, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was the end of April and there sat another indigo bunting in our backyard. This was the third indigo bunting sighting in the yard so I’m thinking it might be the same one hanging around. His only company was some cardinals and bluebirds. This was the last migrating bird I saw at home.

An adult Carolina wren sits on the bird feeder hook. I hadn’t seen any for a while and now they are passing through with their babies. She started calling and I realized her two babies were bouncing around in our bushes.

The babies were almost fully grown and were taking short flight hops from place to place. I went outside and shot the above. They didn’t seem to mind me being out there and I stayed far back.

I put the hummingbird feeder out about mid-April and the first time I saw one was on 4/28. Both a male and female were coming to the feeder. The last time I had seen one was at the end of August. I only saw the male a few times but there are 2 females that take turns coming to the feeder everyday since.

The last time I saw my backyard turkey was this day at the end of April. She has been visiting the backyard almost every day for weeks. She would quietly feed and take a quick nap under my neighbor’s oak tree. I saw her around 3pm and she was napping. The next day I found out from a neighbor that she had been hit by a car at 5pm at the end of our street at the stop sign. I was crushed. I knew it was my backyard turkey. I haven’t seen her since. I’m thinking someone hit her on purpose. The turkeys here don’t dart out in front of cars. The speed limit is 20 and she was hit at a stop sign? The neighbor didn’t see the car that hit her but she was dead when the neighbor found her. The people who live near that stop sign don’t have cameras so we couldn’t check that. I just don’t understand people anymore.

On a brighter note, the hibiscus in our courtyard have been blooming and they are huge. The top one starts out pale pink and turns yellow before it dies. This type of hibiscus doesn’t close at the end of each day. They stayed open for at least 3 days.

The peace lily plant has also been blooming.

I took the above shot of the gulf fritillary with my phone as I was taking the garbage out.

In the yard

Posted on December 3, 2022 by dinajohnston

In mid-October I had some migrating birds stop by the backyard. Black and white warblers were common here last winter but this was the first time seeing house finches in the backyard.

I saw my first ever worm eating warbler in the backyard. Over the years I had heard of one being reported twice in the Tampa Bay area but I could never find them. I was pretty excited to see him bouncing around near the bird bath. He stayed close under the big palm leaves on the ground and then later disappeared.

Common birds to the backyard are catbirds (I get a lot of them in the winter) and red bellied woodpeckers.

A house finch with just a little red on his head stopped by the feeder.

I’ve had an almost grown baby coming through the backyard alone. When I first saw her in mid October, you could still see the spots on her hind legs.She was all alone. I don’t know what happened to her Mom but I was thinking she was old enough to be on her own.

For several weeks she would come by every afternoon and hang out in the back, feeding and napping. I took all of these through the window because I was afraid I would spook her if I went outside. She saw me in the window though. She would take a quick nap up against my neighbor’s oak tree.

Our hibiscus bush in the front yard has been blooming for a few weeks. I took this with my phone.

A walk through Safety Harbor

Posted on November 21, 2022 by dinajohnston

Color blooming in downtown Safety Harbor in late September.

It was a quiet morning during the week at the gazebo. This is usually a busy spot on the weekends with events going on here.

Murals off Main Street.

This guy is a regular visitor to the park in front of the pier. HIs owner was busy looking at his phone instead of enjoying the morning out (I know, I’d be doing the same thing).

In the neighborhood

Posted on November 14, 2022 by dinajohnston

It was late August and I was coming home from the grocery store and saw 2 eagles sitting in the utility tower in my neighborhood. I quickly put the groceries up and grabbed my camera and ran out the door thinking they would be gone but they were still sitting there. They were sitting in different towers that are next to each other. I was glad to see my neighborhood eagles back for the winter (at least I was hoping it was them).

A few of the regulars in the backyard. Bluebirds have been checking out the nest box I put up last year. Hopefully they will nest in it this year. The turkeys come cruising through the backyard every couple of days.

Blooming in the front courtyard.

Fungi in the backyard from all of the rain we had in September.

In the yard in June

Posted on July 21, 2022 by dinajohnston

We’ve had some beautiful skies in June. This was looking across the fairway before the storm hit.

Later I was peeking out the window and caught this lightning with my phone.

Sunset across the street.

These were all blooming on my neighbor’s wall. We share a courtyard.

I was coming back from the mailbox and this bunny was in our yard. I couldn’t believe he was still there when I went in and got my camera and came back out. I’ve been seeing one every couple of days. I wonder if it’s the same one. I call him Peter.

The usual visitors in the backyard. All taken through the window.

I finally got a shot of a great crested flycatcher. I’ve been hearing them calling for months but they always stay high up in the trees. One morning I was sitting outside and had my camera with me and was able to catch him.

Baby bluebird was yelling at Mom to feed him (or her). Taken through the window, they were far out on the golf course.

Squirrels being cute in the backyard.

Things in the yard in early May

Posted on July 11, 2022 by dinajohnston

Flowers blooming in the yard in early May.

We had a bad storm one night that formed a small pond on the other side of the golf course. Early the next morning I saw a turkey hanging around the newly formed pond. I grabbed my camera and ran out before the golfers came through. These were taken with my 400mm lens and are cropped up a little but she didn’t seem to mind me standing there. She just went about her preening and strutting around.

A limpkin stopped by while I was shooting the turkey.

The usual birds were coming through the backyard in early May. I’ve been seeing the brown thrashers pretty regularly now.

The baby bluebirds were old enough to cruise around the area. They nest in my neighbor’s nest boxes (several doors down, the neighbors have been living there for years so I think the birds are use to using their boxes). This young one was sitting on the feeder pole in the rain.

Another visit from an armadillo and I always take a shot of the squirrels if they are doing something cute. This time he was just sitting back and relaxing.

The full moon from the driveway.

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.

More from the Veterans Memorial Park

Posted on November 11, 2021 by dinajohnston

More pictures from the Veteran’s Memorial Park in east Tampa. I took so many pictures and had to post most of them. You can see my first post here. The above were taken in the WW2 section.

You can see the cool helicopters from all over the park. Once I got into the Vietnam section, I could really see the details. You could see into the bottom of this one and it had a camera in the floor. I tried to imagine someone flying this and taking pictures over enemy territory.

The one with the teeth across the front was also impressive. I wonder if it was painted this way when it was in use?

There was also a memorial to the dogs used in the military.

The park is in a beautiful setting and was a perfect way to spend a morning walking around under the trees learning about the history.

The park sits on the Bypass Canal and of course I spent some time walking along the water looking for birds. The only ones I found were two limpkins. One was a juvenile, still yelling at Mom to feed it.

There were a lot of hibiscus bushes in the park, which are are my Dad’s favorite.

Speaking of my Dad, here he is going into boot camp. He was over in Germany in 44 and 45.

He had a camera permit while he was overseas. He had a photo album full of pictures taken overseas that I didn’t even know existed until we found it after he died. I still have his camera pass. He would have been 97 years old last week.

Color in the neighborhood

Posted on September 20, 2021 by dinajohnston

With the scorching heat in August I was taking quick walks around the neighborhood early in the morning before work instead of after work. Plus it’s usually raining after work so at least I’ve gotten my walk in. Walking with just my phone, I can’t help but stop and take pictures of all of the blooming things along the sidewalks. I realized there are a lot of magnolia trees here and they all had bright red seed pods on them. I’m assuming the critters will eat them so I’ll have to keep an eye for them