Dina's Wildlife Adventures

A new bird for the new year

Posted on January 1, 2019 by dinajohnston

There was a Hudsonian Godwit reported at Honeymoon Island in early fall. Since I had never seen one before, I headed out hoping for the best. I was totally prepared to spend the morning looking and coming up empty-handed since that is what usually happens. This morning was different. There he was, strutting around in front of a handful of photographers. He was feeding right along the shoreline. They are very similar to the common marbled godwit but are slightly smaller and have a slightly different coloration. The beak looks the same though.

Other birds close by were a swallow on a sea oat and a killdeer in the parking lot.

A few moths on the way back to the parking lot.

Linking to My Corner of the World.

Flying in to sleep

Posted on June 8, 2016 by dinajohnston

I found a killdeer across the pond.

Some of the cattle egrets were sporting their bright “breeding” colors. You can see the difference with the younger cattle egrets that have the drab faces and the ones ready to mate with their bright pink and yellow beaks. Their legs are also bright pink.

An ibis doing a balancing act.

Across the street from the Pinellas county waste plant, there’s a small pond with a mangrove island in it. Before dark, a lot of the birds come here to sleep for the night. I stopped by there recently after work and birds were flying in to spend the night on the little island.