Beautiful colors after the storms

On November 19, 2025November 19, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Lightning from the bathroom window in late July.

Beautiful summer skies from the front and back yard in late July. When it storms late in the day and the sun comes out right before dark bright colors appear for a short time.

The little frogs come out after a storm. They show up on the windows and the walls outside.

This is Fred. He has a specific hump on his neck and back and sleeps on the old white trellis during the day. If he sees me walking up to the window he jumps over to the window and acts like he wants to come in.

Summer skies in the yard

On November 3, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

The best thing about the quick late day summer showers are the rainbows that follow. I saw the sun peeking out after a storm and ran out the back door to catch the above.

The clouds were swirling over our driveway one afternoon in late June.

I was able to catch lightning through the upstairs bathroom window.

Sunset over the pond across the street.

The juvenile bluebirds (with the white spots on their wings) were growing up fast. There were two families that were feeding at the dried mealworm feeder most of the summer.

Bunnies were still coming by to eat the grass late in the day. One day I saw a one near the patio and then later I looked out the window for him and didn’t see him. At first I thought he left and then I saw movement right below the window. He ate through most of that spider plant.

The hummingbird was feeding on the shrimp plant.

I was keeping my eye on her as she left the shrimp plant and flew up near the top of the oak tree. I was able to run upstairs and catch her through the bedroom window. She sat up there several days in a row after feeding.

This young Carolina wren was taking a break on the patio (which has since been cleaned) and was eating bugs from the patio but I think he thought that leaf was something yummy to eat as well.

Someone in the neighborhood is feeding the ibis. This one saw me standing in the door and walked right up to it looking for a snack. I took the above with my phone.

I was out doing yardwork at the end of June and heard what I thought was a swallow tail kite calling. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and was back out right as this one was sailing overhead along the golf course. Luckily there wasn’t anyone on the course and I was standing on the tee getting shots. There were 3 of them cruising over the trees and circling back over the back yard.

I realized that one of them had a frog in his talons.

A juvenile landed in the pine tree in our backyard and was screaming at the parent. He wanted the parent to bring him the frog and the parent wanted him to come after the frog and learn to feed himself. The parent with the frog made several passes over the pine tree, yelling at the young one. The juvenile finally flew off and followed the parents over the trees and they were gone.

Storms moving through the front yard as the sun peeks out right before sunset.

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

Around the yard in mid-July

On November 4, 2024October 24, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I looked out the kitchen window and saw a squirrel in the small tree in our front courtyard. I realized he was eating one of the almost dead sunflowers. He sat there and ate it while I ran and got my camera. I guess he was eating the sunflower seeds. He looked so happy like he had just won a prize.

In mid-July we had a heavy storm and the temporary pond across the fairway filled back up. Late one afternoon I saw a spoonbill feeding in the pond and went out with my camera. Luckily there wasn’t anyone playing golf that late and I was able to stand in the fairway and get some shots of the spoony and his friends without getting too close. There was also a snowy egret, a little blue heron and a juvenile little blue heron (the white one above).

A quick video of them feeding that I took with my phone.

The hummingbird was a regular visitor to the feeder and the shrimp plant.

These two turkeys came cruising by and stopped long enough for me to sneak out back and shoot the above from our patio.

We had a rabbit come by and feed on our ivy in the patio. I took these through the glass door. He saw me but kept eating for a while. I didn’t mind him eating the ivy. We are always cutting it back.

A few days later I was doing some clean up in the front and saw this tiny bunny up against our front door. I snapped the above and texted a rehabber to make sure he was old enough to be on his own. She said he was fine. Later I saw him hopping around the courtyard but haven’t seen him since that day.

Those weird fungus looking things on my back glass door that was actually lacewing eggs turned into this. They are beneficial to the yard and will eat tons of little bugs including mealybugs, aphids, spider mites and whiteflies.

A pretty mushroom after the rain. The squirrels usually eat them.

I was at the pool in our subdivision and this dragonfly landed on my towel and stayed long enough for me to pull my phone out and snap the above.

Afternoon lightning I shot from the garage.

July skies from the front yard.

What we did on our summer vacation

On August 29, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Atlanta, Vacation9 Comments

Brett and I took a roadtrip to Atlanta in June for a week. We hadn’t been since late 2022 when we both got the flu and ended up spending 2 days in the hotel and then going home 2 days early. We lived there for years before moving to Florida so we were going back to visit old friends and visit some of our old favorite places. We usually stay out in the suburbs near friends but this time we rented a condo in midtown. The first night we were there a storm came in and I shot the above with my phone on our balcony.

The next night we had an early dinner with friends and was back at the condo right before sunset. I went up to the pool deck on the 24th floor and shot the above.

Another sunset the next night with clouds moving in.

Just a few blocks from our condo was this old white house on Spring Street and it was interesting how all of these tall buildings are going up around it but the house remains. After a little research I learned it was a funeral home built in 1928 and was granted historical landmark protection. Margaret Mitchell (writer of Gone With the Wind) had her funeral here as well as other Atlanta notables. It’s going to be renovated into a restaurant and event space.

One afternoon we stopped at the famed Dekalb Farmers Market. It’s a huge building with so many different types of food from all cultures. It’s always packed and since we were not home we didn’t buy any perishables but lots of snacks to take back to Tampa.

One afternoon we headed over to Little Five Points neighborhood. Back in the 80’s this was the cool punk area to hang out in. It was filled with vintage and thrift stores and it was fun to people watch. The area has gotten a little more mainstream now and is known as an artists mecca. The anchor store is the Junkman’s Daughter. This was a great thrift store back in the day but now it’s mostly tshirts and souvenirs.

The black building above used to be the Little Five Points Pub and I saw the Indigo Girls play there back in the late 80’s before they were famous.

We were back at the condo one afternoon to take a break and I noticed how bad the traffic was going through Atlanta at 2pm in the afternoon. Rush hour traffic is all day there.

I went up to the pool deck to snap the above. There are so many cranes here. Most are high rise resident buildings going up.

The frog topiary on the next block from our condo. I took a lot of pictures as we were on the go all week going to see old sites and a new one so I have a few more posts coming on our trip. It’s amazing how much the city has changed in the 22 years we’ve lived in Tampa although a few things were still the same.

September in the yard

On December 7, 2023November 25, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals10 Comments

I looked out the back window one morning and saw deer on our patio. One was so close. I took these with my camera through the window. I knew they would take off if I opened the door but I think they still saw me.

One walked over to my Christmas cactus (that wasn’t blooming at the time) and started eating it. I took a video of if and above is one of the stills. She demolished it. It was a small one and wasn’t doing very well so I didn’t try and stop her. I replanted the pot with petunias.

Bluebirds taking a bath.

Across the fairway I could see a spoonbill sleeping under a tree. I went outside and snapped the above from our little yard. A little later I saw it feeding in the newly formed pond from the much needed rain we had. I didn’t see anyone on the course so I snuck across to get a little closer.

I sat down under a nearby tree and watched as the spoonbill was feeding. A juvenile little blue heron and a few white ibis were also there.

The young turkey showed up with Mom again. I went outside and took these. They didn’t seem to mind me sitting in the grass nearby. They stayed for a while, pecking around the yard.

I saw another lone turkey taking a nap (or a dirt bath) nearby.

I finally saw the twins in my neighborhood. I was coming home from running errands and had my camera in the car. I pulled over right before my house and snapped them heading into the woods at the end of our street.

The view from across the street in mid-September.

I took these with my phone from the upstairs bathroom window. This was the only night we had a good lightning storm this summer.

Summer mornings in Dunedin

On November 6, 2023April 11, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

It was a stagnant morning in late July. Not even a slight breeze or ripple on the water. I stopped at the pier at Weaver Park to see if I could spot any dolphins but the tide was so low that they would be far out anyway so I didn’t stay long. It was too hot to be out so after my quick walk I headed home.

A few days later it was cloudy when I went out for a walk at the Dunedin marina. There was at least a breeze and a chance of rain.

The tide was low and the water was clear around the pier and I noticed someone must have dumped some fish bones in the water. I’ve never seen this before. The tiny bait fish were picking the bones clean.

A little farther down the pier I could see coral growing on the oyster beds.

The usual great egret was there, trying to catch some tiny fish.

I had heard there were some fun eclectic mailboxes on a few of the streets just off Main street so I took some back roads to get home.

These are just a small sample of some of the ones I saw. All snapped with my phone.

When I got almost home I could see some rain clouds out in the bay. I took a detour and stopped at the Oldsmar pier hoping to see some rain headed our way. I started to walk out on the pier and heard some thunder so I ducked under a picnic shelter and caught the above lightning across the bay. We did get a short storm at home but we are still in severe drought conditions. Through September this is the driest year on record for Pinellas county.

A weekend with the Mouse

On September 21, 2023September 15, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation10 Comments

Brett and I drove over to Disney (not to a theme park though) in early June for a one night road trip for our 29th Anniversary. After checking into our hotel we headed over to Disney Springs to walk around a little bit and have an early dinner. I’ve only been here in the winter and it was so hot even at 5pm. After walking around for a half hour we decided to go ahead and eat early and then head back to the hotel.

Our hotel was nearby (not a Disney hotel) and we could see the fireworks from the theme parks in the distance. A nice little storm moved through at the same time and we got a great lightning show from our window.

A quick video of the fireworks (on the left) from the Magic Kingdom and the storm (on the right).

After a quick breakfast at the hotel we headed to the Disney golf course. Brett was going to play a round of golf and I was driving the golf cart (I’m not a golfer, maybe some day though but it’s fun being out and driving the course), This Mickey cart was out front at the clubhouse. It was so cute (the carts everyone uses looks like a regular cart).

There was a little bit of color along the course.

We saw a lot of raccoons along the course and they come right up to the carts. We had caught up with some guys playing ahead of us and they told us that people are feeding them. One guy said he came back to his cart from the hole and a raccoon was up in his cart digging through his snack bag. There are signs warning not to feed the wildlife but no one seems to listen anymore.

It was a beautiful morning out on the course and after a big lunch we headed back home. It was a perfect quick getaway.

Summer skies from the yard

On October 20, 2022October 14, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights9 Comments

Late August into early September brought some beautiful skies to our neighborhood. These were taken with my phone from the front yard or the backyard. The rainbows always end up in the backyard since the storms usually come late in the day and the sun is setting from the front. We were getting them almost every day for a week.

Lightning from the upstairs bathroom window.

In the yard in June

On July 21, 2022July 21, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

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.

More summer skies from the yard

On October 7, 2021October 7, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights8 Comments

The skies from my front and back yard in late summer are insane. Some nights right when the sun hits after the rain has moved out, it looks like the sky is on fire. These were all taken in late August and early September.

The above was snapped with my phone through the glass door and the screened porch. The smaller ones before this were too close to be outside. The next day I found out it hit my neighbor’s house. It fried his fuse box and burned one side of his house. It took several days for an electrician to come out and fix everything so you really don’t know when it’s going to hit.