A hot quiet walk at Roosevelt Wetlands

On September 3, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

In early May I made my last trip out to the Roosevelt Wetlands for the summer. There is no shade here and not many critters during the dead of summer. I was standing near the parking area and could see across the lake to the waste plant mountain. All of a sudden tons of birds took off across the open mound. I’m not sure what scared them, mostly gulls and terns. There’s a lot of hawks in the area and I think most of the eagles are gone for the summer.

Cattails along the trail.

After staring into the reeds for a while I saw a bittern’s head pop up. He stayed hidden after he saw me.

Little critters along the trail.

A bunny hops across the trail, trying to hide fast before I pass him.

Color along the trail in the form of tickseed.

I saw a purple gallinule heading into the reeds and noticed a baby was right behind her. I was able to get a quick shot before the baby disappeared.

A female grackle posing. When I cropped this up I noticed the ladybug on the bottom right.

Standing near the waste plant, looking across the lake to the parking area. It’s a long walk back when it gets hot and the wind blows from the waste plant area.

A little blue heron flies by.

The northern harriers and winter ducks have all gone north for the summer. There was no sign of baby black necked stilts which is the highlight of late spring. Critter traffic comes to a halt through August so I took a long break from visiting.

A walk on the causeway

On June 4, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments

It was pretty cloudy when I first got out to the end of the causeway at Fred Howard Park in early March. It was supposed to be a sunny morning. The sun was just coming up behind the clouds and it looked like the cormorants were just waking up. I’m thinking they must sleep here on the backside of the little beach because it’s closed at night so they probably don’t get bothered.

The clouds were starting to part as I walked the causeway.

A lone great blue heron was standing on the rail. He let me get pretty close before taking off when more people stopped to look. I took the above with my phone.

A little later I saw a lot of cormorants hanging out on the rocks on the jetty. They must move to the jetty as more people show up on the beach.

A view of the island beach area from half way down the causeway.

Why did the ruddy turnstone cross the road??!??

A great egret was keeping an eye on the nearby fisherman, hoping to steal his bait.

Water toys lined up waiting for the tourists. It was going to warm up later in the afternoon so I’m sure many would get used.

A little blue heron was dancing for his fish.

The sun was fully out by the time I got back to my car.

This is the best time to be out on the beach, before 9am in March.

There were a few birds out on the beach before I left. Royal terns looked small standing around that juvenile herring gull in the middle. Skimmers were staying close to the water.

Around the yard in February

On May 10, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

In early February my neighbor told me he kept seeing a dove fly into the palm tree in between our driveways, near our garage. I got my camera out and saw that she had a baby. We get a lot of doves in the backyard. They like to sit on the bird bath when it gets dark. I wasn’t expecting to see them nesting high up in the palm tree.

A few days later I realized there were 2 babies. They were growing fast.

Days later a bad storm came through and I went out after the storm right before dark to make sure the babies hadn’t gotten blown out of the nest. They were pretty big at this point. This was the last time I saw them in the nest. At some point over the next few days they flew the coup.

Then I noticed 2 juvenile doves in my backyard under the bird bath. They stuck close together and they didn’t have their full black spots on them and their beaks were still small so I’m thinking these were the 2 babies.

A week later I was out doing some yardwork and noticed a dove picking up sticks and bringing them up to another palm tree in front of our house.

This couple was building a nest. I don’t know if it’s the same couple that had the babies near the garage.

Northern parulas were regular visitors to the backyard in February.

Some bigger birds lurking around the yard included a great egret and little blue heron.

The tiny mini-squirrel (who I think is a juvenile) was taking a nap on the unused bird box.

This Mom was watching me from the tree. She looks like she had recently been nursing so I’m thinking this is mini-squirrel’s Mom.

The bunny has become a regular visitor.

My neighbor’s hibiscus bush was blooming.

Around the yard and neighborhood in December

On March 24, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was early December and I was seeing the eagle couple in my neighborhood pretty regularly.

My first robins showed up in mid-December. I was putting the garbage can out one morning and heard them in the trees in the yard so I ran inside and grabbed my camera. There were only 3 of them and they stayed high up in the trees. They didn’t stay long. This was the first of several visits from them this winter.

We had 2 turkeys cruising through the yard one morning.

This red bellied woodpecker was taking sunflower seeds from the feeder and sticking them in the palm tree outside the window. Was he storing them up for the winter? I wanted to tell him the squirrels would find them and eat them.

All of the usual winter birds were visiting including black and white warblers, yellow throated warblers and house finches. The downy woodpeckers are here all year round.

The hermit thrush is a special visitor. He only stopped by once this winter. There was one that came by for a month last winter. I wonder if it’s the same one. He eats bugs so he doesn’t go to the feeder but maybe he likes the bath.

By mid-December the eagles were spending a lot of time together on the utility tower that the nest is in.

A few days later I was running to the store and saw them flying near the nest so I stopped since I had my camera in the car. One of them came flying to the nest with a big stick. I’m sure the nest needed some work after the hurricanes from the fall.

I was about to leave when this juvenile little blue heron flew right in front of me. He must have been a late summer baby because he was still all white. They turn blue as they molt their feathers in the first year. I’m glad he caused me to pause because then the eagle came back with more nesting material.

It looked like he had a part of a bald cypress branch. He dropped it in the best spot athough I’m sure she’ll re-arrange it later.

My camelia bush was just starting to bloom.

Sunset across the street in mid-December.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Flying off into the sun

On January 2, 2025January 2, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Spoonbills on my walk at Safety Harbor in at the end of October. They were far out on a spit and were busy preening.

A little blue heron on a broken pier. I had a short walk along the water on the bay and then drove over to the Dunedin causeway for a longer walk on the gulf side.

After my walk on the causeway I noticed the above somewhat rare lesser black backed gull when I was getting in my car. Luckily I had my camera in the car and pulled it out. I don’t see these guys often and realized he had a snack.

He watched me for a short time, wondering if I was going to steal his fish. I stood still next to my car and he started eating again.

Turkey vultures were cruising by him, maybe hoping he would leave the fish?

All of the usual shorebirds were nearby including the black bellied plover in the first shot and dowitchers in the 2nd one.

Pelicans were flying overhead.

Then even more came from the other direction and flew into the sun.

I always love seeing the pelicans fly over. In my head I hear the theme music from the Jurassic Park movies.

“Oh deer, don’t come any closer”

On November 16, 2024December 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals2 Comments

This lady was already molting at the end of July. They shed their fur twice a year, in spring and fall. Maybe she was just shedding from spring? I took this through the back window.

A little blue heron came walking by the back window.

I wasn’t getting a lot of birds in the backyard in late July. Mostly the usuals including blue jays (above), cardinals, titmouse and chickadees. With all of the rain we had been getting they weren’t coming to bath as much but this blue jay couldn’t pass up a good clean bath.

Fungus growing on fallen branches and in the hanging baskets. They dry up pretty fast once the sun comes out for the afternoon.

I took the above with my phone through the back door. It had just stopped pouring and the squirrel had found the few sunflower seeds that had fallen out when I brought the bird feeder in before the storm.

I kept my camera in the car hoping I would see some baby deer as I was going in and out of the neighborhood. One morning I saw a young buck on the way out and quickly pulled over and snapped the above.

The next morning I was leaving much earlier and took the long way out of the neighborhood. I saw a fawn and Mom heading into the woods. I was able to catch them leaving and the baby stopped for a few seconds and looked back at me. I wonder if the people in the nearby homes feed them.

A few days later I stopped at the utility field on my way out and saw the above. I wasn’t in a hurry and parked the car and got out. I was across the street and trying to hide behind a big bottlebrush tree but they knew I was there. I don’t often see the males in the neighborhood and it was cool to see two big racks together 😉.

They spent a few minutes feeding along the sidewalk on their side of the street.

All of a sudden this guy crosses the street and starts walking right towards me. I walked back to my car in the grass and away from them. I was not going to test his friendly manner and let him get any closer.

He walked around the tree I had been standing behind and looked at me as if to say “This is my tree.”. I took these from behind my car. They both eventually headed towards the nearby woods.

Summer sky in the front yard.

Aren’t all babies cute?

On September 21, 2024September 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I had been going to Roosevelt Wetlands every few days to see if there were any black necked stilt babies. There had been several couples nesting across the pond so even if babies had hatched it might be hard to see them. On the first day of June I got lucky. There was one family with three little ones feeding not far from the trail. They are so cute when they are that little (aren’t all babies cute?). Both parents stayed close by as the little ones were running around exploring.

A little blue heron wandered a little too close to the area and one of the stilt parents flew towards him and did a few dive bombs. At first the blue heron was not going to move but eventually he headed a little farther away.

There was a moorhen family also feeding in the area and a few times the moorhen Mom tried to run off the baby stilts.

Across the pond I could see another stilt couple that were on eggs. They were nesting on a little spit of dirt in the pond and sadly I had heard a few days later that after a few days of rain the nest got flooded and lost. They usually nest before the summer rains but this couple must have started late.

A Coast Guard plane flies close by.

Swallow tail kites were seen everywhere including this morning.

Where are all of the birds?

On August 3, 2024July 25, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I made one last trip to the bird rookery in north Tampa in early May. I was planning to go back again at the end of the month but never made it back. Above is a phone shot of most of the little island. I know I’ve said this many times but it feels like there are less and less birds nesting here each year. The island has not changed sizes. It hasn’t been disturbed. Are there less and less birds or is there another rookery somewhere else that they are going to now that we don’t know about?

I saw very few baby wood storks. Much less than this time last year. I did see several couples still flirting and mating. Maybe they are all just later this year.

The little blue herons hadn’t started nesting yet.

I did see several anhinga nests in the back. These guys were a little older. Anhingas usually nest early in spring.

There were a few great egret nests with babies. These were the youngest ones I saw.

This Mom was busy feeding her babies.

These babies were almost as big as Mom and were quite a handful when she was trying to feed them.

I did not see any cattle egrets at the rookery this year. While they usually nest a little later they are starting to build nests by now so it was a bummer not to see them with their bright colored breeding beaks and feathers. There were about half the glossy ibis than last year. They nest in the back of the island so those babies aren’t visible until they are much older anyway. By this time last year there were a lot of juveniles in front of the island waiting to be fed. We’ll see what next year brings.

A spin around the neighborhood.

On May 23, 2024May 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

It was almost the end of March and I hadn’t been out for a spin around the neighborhood in a while so I hopped on my bike after lunch and took off. The first pond I stopped at had a little alligator floating in the middle.

After taking the picture of the alligator I noticed a pair of anhingas down along the pond. Both the female (with the brown neck) and the male (all black) where fanning out their wings to dry out so they must have been feeding here. I could almost imagine she was smiling at me.

There was a soft shell turtle sunning himself on the other side of the pond.

The next pond I stopped at had the usual birds. A great blue heron taking a break and a little blue heron creeping along the shoreline.

Butterflies were out at the utility field.

The bottlebrush trees were blooming all over the neighborhood. They attract hummingbirds but I didn’t see any this morning. I stopped at a few of them and waited for a while but all I saw were bees. It might have been a little early for hummingbirds to come through but I had heard there were some sighted nearby.

I stopped by the eagle’s nest when I saw the eagle sitting up on the tower. Mom was still hanging around even though she lost her mate and babies in late January (I wrote about what happened in this post). It looked like she had a stick in her talon. She flew to the nest and sat up there for a while. It was really too late for her to re-nest again even though she had a new boyfriend.

The boyfriend was sitting on top of the next tower. He still has some brown in his head. He’s been hanging around for a while. Now it’s mid-May and they are both gone and I will have to wait until late September or October to see if they come back.

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.