The masked birds and a gator

On August 22, 2026September 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

This guy greeted me when I started to walk down the trail at Possum Branch Preserve in mid-April. He was in the middle of the pond and looked like he was trying to take a nap in the water.

Blooming along the trail.

As he hovered over the pond, an osprey was doing his angel pose while he looked for something to eat

I made it to the big mulberry tree and I got lucky this trip. The tree was already full of cedar waxwings feasting on the berries. Sometimes I get here and there isn’t anything on the tree and it can be a long wait before they fly in. They fed for about 10 minutes before flying across the trail to the cypress trees.

They rest for 20-30 minutes and then fly back to the mulberry tree to continue eating. The waxwings are migrating birds and are here anywhere from January through April. Some years I will see them several times and some years I won’t see them at all. This year they hung out at this preserve for several weeks.

More berry eating.

As I was leaving the alligator had come up to the bank of the pond to take a nap. I walked on the far edge of the trail and kept an eye on him as I walked by. If they see anyone on the trail here they usually slip back into the water but you just never know.

More from MOTE Aquarium

On January 28, 2020January 28, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals1 Comment

It’s not often you get this close to a shark. Above are some of the bigger things under water at MOTE Aquarium in Sarasota.

The Aquarium rehabilitates and houses permanently injured turtles, manatees and dolphins. The turtle above was missing an eye.

We don’t have crocodiles in the Tampa Bay area, at least not yet. They can be found in areas much farther south including the Everglades. I’ve never seen one out in wild. They look very comical, almost like a cartoon.