Not yet “purple” kids

On September 27, 2025September 27, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In late May I was back at Chesnut Park hoping to see the almost grown raccoon families hanging around the boardwalks. All I saw was the above. Someone was sleeping in with his foot hanging out of the hole.

This turtle was laying eggs just off the trail. Unfortunately those eggs are going to be an easy meal for the raccoons to find, if not the crows.

I had heard there were purple gallinule babies along the lake but at first all I saw was one adult just off the dock.

I came off the dock and walked around the lake near the edge and saw the above almost hidden in the shade near some trees. This baby was almost as big as the parent. He was a little skittish so I hid in the bushes for a while.

Mom showed up with a spadderdock bloom and started feeding it to her young one.

She grabbed another bloom and that’s when I realized she had 2 kids to feed. She stayed busy for a while although the older one might have already been feeding himself. He was off by himself looking for food most of the time. Luckily we were off in a hidden corner of the lake and no one came around to scare them off while I was there.

An almost hidden alligator. I could just barely make out his black back through the ferns. I was on the raised boardwalk so I wasn’t too concerned if he woke up.

By the dock at Chesnut Park

On October 28, 2019October 29, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It’s fairly rare to see purple gallinules in Pinellas county. Occasionally one pops up in a weird spot but doesn’t stay long. I usually only see them in central Florida, at Circle B Bar Reserve or Lake Parker. Now there seems to be several families living near the dock over the lake at Chesnut Park. They’ve been reported there for several weeks and they have a juvenile with them. They were really close to the dock.

The juvenile doesn’t quite have his bright colors yet.

This squirrel was missing his tail.

Little critters along the dock.

These dogs at the end of the dock looked at me like “We don’t know what they are staring at. Would you play with us?”

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These purple clowns make me laugh.

On January 2, 2016January 2, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The purple gallinules are so much fun to watch. They are like little purple clowns trying to navigate the plants. If they walk out on a stem that can’t hold their weight, they slide down to the end and try to hang on. They stop to check you out for a second and then continue to try to eat the plant. They are pretty scarce until the fall and then there is usually a few families hanging out in the plants close to the trail.

The above is a juvenile purple gallinule that was born early this past spring. He hasn’t quite gotten his bright feathers in yet but he already has those big yellow feet. He was still trying to climb around without falling down.

These were all taken in mid-November at Circle B Bar Reserve.

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