Critters around the neighborhood

On October 4, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

We had rain all morning in the neighborhood in early June. Once it stopped I was ready to get out of the house so I headed out on my bike for a quick spin.

Since it had just stopped raining I took a quick detour on the golf course behind our house thinking there wouldn’t be any golfers coming through for a while. I ran into a limpkin and a great egret.

The sun was out by the time I made it around the neighborhood and I slowed down when I saw a head pop out of the pond. He climbed onto the bank but didn’t go any farther. There were several people walking their dogs and they all saw it before getting too close.

Early one morning I was going to the grocery store and saw 2 figures from far away on the left side of the road. I slowed down and realized it was 2 coyotes. One was black. I had heard about a black coyote in the neighborhood but this was the first time seeing one. Black coyotes are not rare but are uncommon in Florida. They get their color from a genetic mutation known as melanism. The black one crossed first, right in front of me. I was glad no one was behind me because they would have been honking to hurry up.

The brown one crossed next and stopped in front of me and had to scratch an itch. I didn’t have my camera which was just as well since I wouldn’t have been able to get it out quick enough but my phone was right there.

They both sauntered across the golf course and disappeared behind some bushes.

A neighborhood spin on my bike

On September 10, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals5 Comments

I was out on my bike early one morning in May with just my phone, hoping not to get rained on but the skies cleared up quickly. As I turned the corner off our street I could see deer running across the golf course.

The goldenrod was blooming along the street.

A limpkin crossing the dam on one of the ponds.

A quick video of a big alligator going into hiding.

A swallow tail kite cruising high over the trees.

There were lots of turtles on the banks once the sun was out.

A juvenile little blue heron creeping around the pickerelweed along the edge.

A yellow crowned night heron out in the day.

One of the smaller alligators that hangs out behind the club house parking lot. He got a little too close and I kept backing up in the grass. This shot was cropped up.

One of the other bigger ones heading into the water. This one seems to live in this spot where there aren’t any houses on both sides of the pond. There’s a small bridge so I was up high.

There are a lot of alligators in the neighborhood since there are so many ponds. Most are pretty small and the 2 big ones aren’t near the golf course. I’m sure if they start hanging out on the course they end up “gone” or “disappear”.

Baby critter season was in full swing.

On September 6, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

I made it back to the ruby throated hummingbird nest at Chesnut Park just in time to catch Mom feeding the little babies in early May. Zooming in with my 600mm lens I could see 2 tiny beaks peeking out over the top of the nest. Mom was feeding the one on the left in the 2nd shot.

This is an uncropped shot with my camera. The nest is across the river and up in a tree. I’m not sure who the first person was that found this nest. Talk about a needle in a haystack. I guess the hummingbird buzzed by them on the trail and they followed it with their eyes to the other side and saw it land.

I didn’t stay long at the nest. Walking along the boardwalk I spotted the usual birds, a limpkin and a male anhinga drying off his wings.

There’s always a lot of baby moorhens in the spring.

I was able to find the green frogs again since they were spending time near the small dock. An alligator was close by the frogs.

I ran into some friends on the back boardwalk and we were talking about how the 2nd raccoon family had moved from their original tree. I had not seen them yet and thought I would miss them. As we were looking around for the owl we saw this baby raccoon stick his head out of a hole. I took the above with my phone.

The Mom had moved her 3 babies to a tree farther down the boardwalk. We only got a look at the one baby but could hear some noises coming from the tree. I heard a few weeks later the family was seen moving around the area, the babies all grown up.

A doe was watching us take pictures of the raccoon.

Looking up at the trees I could see the sun was up high and it was time to go home.

When I got back to my car the above were feeding right in front of the parking area.

Lots of critters at Myakka River State Park

On August 17, 2024August 7, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

I saw lots of critters during my visit to Myakka River State Park in mid-May. The park is so big that I drive through and stop off at different ponds or trails and take short walks. The above limpkin was on the bank under the bridge where a lot of alligators hang out.

I saw these ladies up ahead and pulled over and got out to snap the above. They were grazing right near the road. There was a baby with 2 does.

I parked and walked along an elevated trail that runs along the big tickseed field. I was hoping to see deer farther out in the field but all I saw was an eagle and some vultures on the utility poles. I shot the first 2 from the beginning of the trail. The poles were sitting right on the trail and as I got closer the eagle just looked at me for a second and then ignored me. He was pretty high up.

Cute little pigtails!

There was a family of feral hogs along the road.

I saw another family farther down the road. There were twins here but the 2nd one stayed far in the woods with some does.

I got to the boat ramp and got out and hiked closer to the big lake. Far out I could see a sandhill crane couple with older kids as well as a few limpkins.

This vulture was digging up something in the muck. Probably left over dead fish.

Right before leaving I saw another baby. Mom was already far back in the woods and the baby was taking his time catching up with Mom. It’s weird how the fawns are out in May here but less than 2 hours north in the area where I live we don’t see them until mid to late July.

A two park morning

On May 13, 2024June 4, 2024 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.

The usual suspects on a cold morning.

On April 11, 2024April 4, 2024 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.

It’s turkey week on the blog

On November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I’m continuing with turkey week. Only these aren’t recipes for what to cook for today’s Thanksgiving festivities. These are wild turkeys in my backyard. (Full disclosure – I am not a vegetarian. I’ll probably be eating a little turkey later today, one bought from a store). A Mom with her lone baby was feeding around in our backyard one afternoon. I went outside with my camera and was sitting in the patio chair taking these.

As I was watching baby I could see the older juvenile turkeys across the fairway. They started heading over to our side of the cart path and towards the tree island behind the building next door.

The Mom and baby started to make their way over to where the older turkeys were. I was wondering if the older turkey family would let this baby hang out with them or chase it away. I’m hoping Mom was ready to get her baby out of there but she was heading right for them.

I followed Mom and baby over to the newly formed tiny pond from the recent rain. The adults were feeding in the water, scratching around in the muck. The Mom of the juvenile turkeys was standing close by watching them feed in the water. I didn’t get too close and was taking these with my 400mm lens.

Mom and baby kept their distance. They were watching for a few minutes and then left and headed over back towards my home so I followed them back.

A few minutes later the older ones cruised by my neighbor’s yard and went around the building and left.

I eventually went around to the front yard to look for the older turkey family and saw a yellow crowned night heron and a limpkin in the lake across the street.

The sun going down through the trees.

Red clouds in the backyard later in the week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A hot morning walk with the usual critters

On October 30, 2023April 9, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

All of the usual big birds were at Chesnut Park for my morning walk in late June (anhinga, yellow crowned night heron, limpkin).

The wood duck babies were almost fully grown.

Birds were flying overhead (royal tern, osprey).

Things were blooming in the swamp.

Deer and bunnies were easy to spot.

I don’t often see barred owls here but this one was very visible, taking a nap along the boardwalk.

A cardinal was eating the seed that someone had left on the boardwalk.

A park and a bike ride

On August 26, 2023August 17, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In late April I made a quick stop at Chesnut Park to see if there were any migrating birds hanging around. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of warblers come through here during migration but the only thing I found was the usual titmouse. They come really close because people feed them here. They come down close to the boardwalk to see if you have snacks. Once they realize you aren’t carrying they head back up to the tops of the trees.

The squirrels are also being fed here so they check you out as well.

I came home and it was still to early for lunch so I hopped on my bike and went for a quick pedal around the neighborhood. The first thing I saw was a bunny. A brown thrasher flew in front of me as I was taking a picture of the bunny. Was he posing for me?

I found a limpkin in the pond down the street from our house in the same spot the limpkin babies were last year. The water was much lower this year and at first I only saw the adult. He was calling to another limpkin that was farther down the creek.

I left my bike in the bushes and followed the creek along the golf course (no one was playing at the time) and saw another adult limpkin far in the woods. I could just barely make out a baby in the sticks. They stayed pretty hidden and eventually worked their way down behind the houses so I couldn’t follow them any farther. I’m assuming they were farther back since the water was a little higher there.

And, a random alligator that I saw in the neighborhood. This was taken with my 300mm lens and cropped so he was pretty far away.

A 3 park morning.

On January 14, 2023January 11, 2023 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.