Tag: Largo nature preserve

All of the usual winter critters

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I wasn’t expecting to find anything new at the Largo Nature Preserve in early December. I did find some usual wintering birds including a blue-gray gnatcatcher and a yellow rumped warbler.

Yellow crowned night herons hang out along the boardwalk that circles the small lake. Years ago they nested here but I haven’t seen any nests in a long time.

A female blue winged teal is common here in the winter.

Northern shovelers are occasionally seen here in the winter. There were several males and females on this morning.

A pied grebe was running away.

I found some tiny critters trying to hide on the leaves.

The bald cypress trees were starting to show their fall colors.

Saturday's Critters

Limpkins were kung fu fighting.

On 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.

Saturday's Critters

Scaring off a goose

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I have seen an Egyptian goose in the Tampa area once. One showed up last summer in south St. Pete. They are an invasive species and are seen out in the wild in south Florida. I had heard there was another one at the Largo Nature Preserve and the first time I went I didn’t see it. On a recent trip I walked around the preserve on the golf course side where I heard he usually hung out and didn’t see him but when I got to the other side of the preserve he was there, walking along the bank.

After taking a few shots of the goose I realized there was a mallard Mom with babies swimming around in front of the goose.

Dad flew in and was staying close to the family. I thought “How cute” as they made their way down the side channel.

Then I saw the goose flying towards the side channel.

Look how cute the family is! Both parents were keeping the babies close.

I watched the goose go down to the water and get a drink right in front of the family. It was then I realized what was going on.

This mean invasive goose was going after a baby for a meal. He slipped into the water and snuck up on the family. Mom squawked at the goose.

The goose backed off at first but stayed close by and then kept testing the parents. Dad wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping the babies safe even though he was right there. Mom was fighting off the goose. At this point there were a handful of people on the trail watching. Two ladies started picking up sticks and rocks and throwing it at the goose. No one was going to get in that water though. The water is full of alligators (which also makes a meal out of baby duck).

The goose finally swam away to the other side and the family kept going down the channel. I couldn’t tell if anyone hit the goose with a stick or rock but he seemed to have given up for the time being. Someone said they started out with 13 babies and now they are down to 9. Was it the goose or other usual Florida animals (hawks, owls, eagles, otters, alligators) that got them?

The mallard family went away swimming fast and stayed together. Although the babies were probably oblivious to what was going on.

The goose flew over to my side of the channel and walked right up to me.

I took this with my phone. He seemed to be mad like it’s my fault he lost a meal. I put my camera down and waved my arms and yelled at him (like the crazy person I am). He took off and flew around the bend and headed back towards the golf course.

These geese are invasive and are not protected. There’s an urban legend that they originally escaped from the Miami zoo when Hurricane Andrew came through in 1992 and did a lot of damage to the zoo. There are a lot of them in south Florida and have taken over some parks. They are aggressive and poop a lot. I hope it doesn’t happen here.

A two park morning

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I was out at Largo Nature Preserve on a foggy morning in early March. I didn’t expect to see anything new but you never know. I saw a mallard across the golf course that sits next to the preserve.

There were also 2 Canadian geese on the course. I haven’t seen any since last year.

The limpkins were looking for breakfast. After a quick walk I left and stopped at the Roosevelt Wetlands to see if there was anything there.

As soon as I got out of the car at the wetlands I saw 2 northern flickers on a utility pole. I looked around for a nest but they stayed on the pole or wire for a while. These may have been 2 females.

The blanket flower was coming back from the cold spell and starting to fill out along the trail.

A pair of northern shovelers were sitting on the bank.

The usual birds were there including a limpkin and great egret.

As I walk down the trail I could see tons of birds hovering over the nearby waste plant. I think the bigger one in the top was an eagle.

Towards the end of the trail I could a lot of turkey vultures. It didn’t look like they had something to eat so they may have just been resting.

A young juvenile eagle flew right over (I took this into the sun) and headed past the trees.

I saw something moving around on the side of the landfill. I realized it was a coyote. This was the first time I have seen a coyote in Florida. I know there are tons of them here and people have seen them in my neighborhood (mostly at night) but I have not seen one here. I have seen them in Utah and Colorado but this was my first Florida one. He was far away and ran along the ridge for a few minutes before disappearing.

an image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup

The usual suspects on a cold morning.

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Mr. Grumpy (great blue heron) greeted me when I got to the Largo Nature Preserve in early January. It was chilly so that might have been why he was fluffed up.

Blue-gray gnatcatchers were everywhere.

A limpkin was across the pond and had a snack.

The pied grebes were still being cute. I don’t often see 2 together.

It looked like they were having a spat over something.

A little later I saw one of them with a big crawfish.

The pretty grackle was yelling at me for being on his boardwalk.

I found an alligator in a corner of the pond. The first shot up close is with my camera and the 2nd one is with my phone so I wasn’t too close. Plus, I was on the boardwalk.

The sun was trying to come out as I walked around the boardwalk. It was a little chilly this morning and I was thinking I might not find too much but you never know.

SkyWatch Friday

Having a ducky morning

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In mid-January I stopped at Largo Nature Preserve to see if any new winter ducks were there. The preserve is a great little park just off a crazy busy main road. It’s quiet once you get on the trail and every once in a while I find something different here. There were a lot of pied grebes along the ditches. They are common here in the winter.

You can always find mallards here.

The find this morning was the northern shovelers that were bathing and feeding close to the trail. They are usually skittish and paddle away when they see someone coming but they just ignored the traffic on the trail this morning. There were males in both bright colored breeding feathers and in the drab brown non-breeding feathers.

There was also some females sticking together farther down the trail.

 

A new bird on a full moon

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

At the end of October I heard there was a new bird in town. A Wilson’s warbler had been sighted at the Largo Nature Preserve. I had never heard of this bird being anywhere in the Tampa bay area. For several days there were tons of people posting sightings of it on Ebird so I finally made it to the preserve.

I took a quick trip around the boardwalk and noticed the moon’s reflection in the water so I took a shot before it went all the way down.

I went to the spot where the Wilson’s had been sighted and saw a few birds hopping around in the brush. I noticed the above with some yellow but I realized it was a Nashville warbler which was also a great migrating bird.

I didn’t wait long for the Wilson’s to hop into sight. A new bird for me. He’s almost all yellow with a black cap on his head. He was easy to spot mixed in with the titmouse and blue gray gnatcatchers. After those few minutes of fun seeing the new bird I went for a walk around the park.

A young purple gallinule was in the pond. This was the first time I have seen one here.

It seemed late for ducks to be mating but I guess since it was still so warm that mating season is almost all year round here in central Florida.

Seeing blue with a blue jay and a blue gray gnatcatcher.

Butterflies were still around.

A cutie on the trail.

A tiny bit of fall with the red leaves coming out.

A 3 park morning.

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was early December and I was ready for another morning out with my camera. My first stop was the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. I ended up only taking a few pictures while I was there. I was busy looking for birds of which I found none.

I left the gardens and stopped at nearby McGough Park to see if there were any birds there. No birds but a lot of other critters. The bees have taken over this owl nest box.

A few of the turtles in the turtle pond.

Some of the permanently injured animals that live here (the nature center here houses animals that cannot be released back into the wild). Both owls had injured eyes.

On the way home I stopped at the Largo Nature Preserve and did find a few birds here.  You can usually find limpkins along the boardwalk here and they are use to people walking by. This one was sitting on the railing and made no attempt to move as I walked by. This is not cropped.

Not surprised to find the usual birds here. A blue gray gnatcatcher, a black and white warbler and a yellow rumped warbler.

Another usual bird, a pine warbler, was pigging out on caterpillars. He ate several while I was snapping and I was lucky enough for him to show them to me.

Quiet morning out

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was a quiet morning in early May at Largo Central Park Nature Preserve. I found a baby limpkin hanging out with Mom along the boardwalk. He was so cute, trying to mimic how Mom picks up shells and bangs them open but he didn’t quite have it down yet. He kept picking up empty shells and then ran over to Mom and started whining to be fed.

Later on the other side of the preserve I found another limpkin getting a snack.

A tricolored heron was skipping around over the water trying to catch some tiny fish (or maybe some tiny bugs). Using his wings, it looked like he was walking on water.

A great egret lands on the other side of the pond.

The magnolia trees were in full bloom.

Little critters at the botanical gardens

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants2 Comments

This beautiful hanging orchid plant was blooming in mid-April at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo.

I love these spikey pods that bust open and are filled with fuzz. I still can’t figure out what these are.

A butterfly had landed high up on this silk floss tree.

Tiny critters in the butterfly garden. There were a lot of monarch caterpillars on the big milkweed plant. I think the bottom caterpillar is an orange barred sulfur butterfly.

Usual birds here are the dove and the brown thrasher.

And of course I can’t walk by and not take pictures of the wood ducks floating around. This time I also saw some on the fence.

A crow flying by with an egg in his beak. Probably a turtle egg.

I stopped at nearby Largo Nature Preserve after leaving the botanical gardens and it was pretty quiet there. I did notice some heads sticking out of holes in some dead trees near the parking lot. A screech owl had been nesting in one. I never made it back here to see if there were any babies. A red bellied woodpecker was checking out the other hole. Probably just started to work on a nest.