“Oh say can you see!!”

On May 29, 2017May 30, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

This is what you see when you drive into Fort Desoto. This picture does not do it justice. It’s huge.

Blooming things on the trail.

Usual birds on the pier. A cormorant and a few snowy egrets.

Pelicans everywhere.

The osprey have been very accommodating with their meals. Usually they fly off quickly if you get anywhere near them. The ones on the boardwalk don’t even flinch.

Bye, bye, Ibis (take me with you!)

It was strange seeing 2 mallard ducks swimming in the salty gulf.

Summer fun at Fort Desoto.

Hanging out with some fowl.

On March 29, 2017March 21, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals2 Comments

Lots of pretty colors at the pond at Horsepower For Kids.

Fighting over the ladies. It’s a good thing they can swim or else they would drown.

Duck, Duck, Swan?

On February 15, 2017January 26, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

So many different ducks at the petting zoo near my house, Horsepower for Kids.

Lots of quacks.

On January 9, 2017January 10, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Lots of pied grebes at Crescent Lake Park.

Lots of mallards trying to sleep.

Lots of friends sticking close together.

Lots of variety.

Lots of ring necked ducks and lesser scaup.

So many different ducks at Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Pete.

More cute baby ducks

On August 13, 2016August 13, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

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Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Petersburg had lots of duck families in late June. There were several muscovy families as well as a few mallard families and one white duck with an orange baby.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters

More babies at work

On July 14, 2016July 14, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

One of the night heron parents trying to sleep in the sun.

Still pretty young, the baby night herons were finally big enough to see from the parking lot at work. These babies were growing up right near my car.

A week later, the babies were almost the size of the parents. There were two nests in the parking lot.

These are yellow crowned night herons.

And some mallards trying to nap in a puddle in the parking lot.

SkyWatch Friday

An overdose of cuteness!

On May 28, 2016May 28, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

So many baby ducks, so little time. They grow up so fast. There were several different families at Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland in late April. Since then there are even more babies so I have a lot of duckling shots coming.

Linking to Saturday’s Critters

Duck action at Lake Morton

On January 18, 2016January 19, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

An unusual looking hybrid. Looks like a cross between a mallard and a muscovy duck.

A baby mallard in December!

A coot and a gull fighting over bread that someone threw in the lake.

Duck butts!

A lone female bufflehead. Not a common duck here.

A ring neck duck taking a bath.

Drying off.

~~I cannot figure out what kind of duck this is. Is it a hybrid of some sort? I’ve only seen one at the lake. That pink beak and the pink legs are amazing as well as the eyes.~~

I found out today that this is a Coscoroba swan. It is the smallest of all swans and comes from South America. The city of Lakeland bought a pair for the lake last January. At this point there is only one at the lake.

There are so many different ducks at Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland. They are known for having swans on the lake but there are a lot more ducks there and so many different ones. It’s fun just to walk around and look at all the duck action going on.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

Duck, Duck, Goose……

On January 9, 2016January 9, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Grumpy ole muscovy duck.

Different pretty ducks at the lake.

The lesser scaup stayed in the middle of the lake.

Friends hanging out together.

The geese stick together.

Interesting pigeon.

There’s always a green heron at one end of the lake.

I hadn’t been to Crescent Lake Park in downtown St. Pete in a long time. I had to run some errands near there right before Christmas so I brought my camera along and walked around the lake early that morning before my errands. Nothing new there but it was a nice morning out.

Saturday's Critters

Around the neighborhood

On October 1, 2015September 23, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography12 Comments

Ducks at the neighborhood pond. I haven’s seen a creme colored one around here before.

Another morning of having to wait for ducks to cross the road on the way to work.

My neighborhood osprey finally came back. He’s been gone since March. I’m assuming he’s been off nesting and raising babies. He usually comes back in early July but this year it was late August. Now he sleeps on my neighbor’s sailboat mast and eats his meals on my neighbors dock.