A park and a bike ride

Posted on August 26, 2023 by dinajohnston

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 bike ride through the neighborhood

Posted on August 3, 2023 by dinajohnston

In mid-April I headed out for a quick bike ride around the neighborhood. I wasn’t expecting to find much but I still put my camera in my backpack. As soon as I got down the street I saw the above swallow tailed kite flying around in circles and followed him farther down the street to the utility field. I was thinking he was going to head past the trees and disappear but I stopped and pulled my camera out and waited anyway. He did come back around and for once I was ready. He was still far away but I was able to get one shot of him eating something while flying, assuming it’s a dragonfly.

The swallow tailed kite flew away and as I was putting my camera back in the backpack I saw something fly into the bushes out of the corner of my eye. It was an eastern kingbird. A first sighting in my neighborhood. He flew over to the sign and posed for a while.

I stopped by the only osprey nest in the neighborhood that’s actually in a tree. There are tons of them here but the rest are on a platform or utility pole. I still haven’t seen a baby in this nest but it’s up high and they could be sleeping.

Other usual neighborhood birds include a yellow crowned night heron, an anhinga sunning himself and a juvenile little blue heron that is just starting to turn blue.

I saw an adult eagle flying from the other end of the neighborhood and land on a utility tower with another eagle.

Of course the tower was right into the sun but I could see them out in the field sitting on the tower. I’m thinking this is the other couple that has a nest farther down the field.

Of course a bike ride wouldn’t be complete without an alligator sighting or several. This was a tiny one sitting on the bank of a small pond, almost blending in.

Empty nester

Posted on July 31, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was almost the end of April and the lone baby eagle in my neighborhood was all grown up. I stopped by the nest early one morning and found a couple of does wandering around under the nest tower.

The baby eagle was climbing up the tower to reach Mom. I think he was screaming at her to go get breakfast.

The other parent flew in and started eating a fish on the utility pole right next to the nest tower. I was waiting a while to see if he would bring the rest of the fish to the nest like he usually did after a few bites but this time I think the parents are trying to get Baby to go get his own food. Or at least follow them to hunt.

Baby was circling around the parent that was eating, screaming.

Mom flew over to the other tower and Baby followed her. They sat for a few minutes and then both took off.

Several times at the end of April I stopped by and the nest tower was empty. I guess Baby finally started following his parents to learn how to hunt. A few times I caught Baby flying back to the nest. The above were the last few shots I got at the end of April. By early May I didn’t see them anymore. I’m hoping I’ll see the parents again in September.

Fly free Baby and I hope you see your sister that fell off the nest in your travels. She was released in central Florida.

🎵 “Fly like an eagle” 🎵

Posted on July 15, 2023 by dinajohnston

And he’s off, flying like the eagle that he is. 48 days from the first time I saw the baby eagle sitting up in the nest to the day I saw him flying. He was probably flying a few days before and I just missed it but it was great to see him taking those first flights.

He flew down the field to the next set of utility towers. One of the parents was sitting in the tower next to him. He landed on a the tower briefly and then flew over to the parent.

I could hear him screaming and I think he was telling his parent to go get him some food. The parent may have been trying to get him to follow him to hunt but I don’t think Junior was ready at this point. When the parent took off Junior flew back to the nest tower.

He came back and landed on the top of the tower.

I saw one of the parents flying by through the trees.

Junior landed back on the nest and waiting for his breakfast. He must have been hungry because it looked like he was chewing on a stick or maybe playing with it.

Someone was watching me from the field.

There are always a lot of red bellied woodpeckers in the trees at the eagle’s nest and this morning I got a brief glimpse of a great crested flycatcher.

I was looking for little critters while I waited for the eagle parent to bring Junior his breakfast but it got late and I had to run some errands so I left.

Getting some air

Posted on July 3, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was early April and I was still keeping an eye on the lone baby eagle in the neighborhood. He was still doing quite a bit of flapping. Our neighborhood is in the Coast Guard flight path but I rarely see them. This morning I caught one flying low past the nest. The eaglet didn’t seem to notice.

Mom was yelling at an osprey that had gotten too close to the nest and then chased him away. The osprey nest is just down the field in the next tower so there’s going to be some territory overlap.

The intruder.

The baby was getting some serious air.

The baby hopped over to the edge of the tower and started flapping. I was worried he was going to take off and not make it back up to the nest but he didn’t jump off.

He grabbed a stick on the nest and was either playing with it or moving it out of the way.

He was getting some high jumps and was moving around the tower.

Ibis flying by.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Mid-April in the backyard.

Posted on June 22, 2023 by dinajohnston

I was looking out the back door and saw the above great egret in the yard. He saw me standing there and walked up close to the door. Someone nearby has been feeding him because he was looking for a handout. I took the first shot with my phone through the door and then went and got my camera. I slowly cracked open the door and he perked up, probably thinking I was coming out with a snack. I shot the above with my camera and then closed the door. He eventually left.

In mid-April I saw a Carolina wren in the backyard with 2 young ones. The 2 juveniles were bouncing around the yard, following Mom and still being fed by her. They must have just left the nest because they were bouncing and hopping around more than flying. I ran out with my camera as they passed my yard and headed into my neighbor’s yard.

Butterflies are regular visitors on the lantana plant.

It was getting dark and I was watering the plants and I heard the above great crested flycatcher right above me. I ran in and got my camera but it was so dark.

I hadn’t seen any bluebirds for a while and was thinking they were nesting in my neighbor’s nest box but then I saw a few in the backyard and one was getting nesting material in front of my window so some of them may still be working on a nest.

I’m glad someone is using my nest box.

We were still in an extreme drought and the pond down the street was almost dry. There was just a tiny bit of water in the middle. Some type of piping was exposed (it might have been thrown in there by a neighbor years ago). I was heading out for a bike ride and saw the spoonbill in the pond so I had to stop and take some pictures.

A juvenile little blue heron and a great blue heron were looking for snacks as well.

We are starting to get those summer sky colors right before dark but still no rain.

Intruder alert

Posted on June 19, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was the beginning of April and I was checking on the lone eaglet in my neighborhood almost every day. At least driving by the nest to see if it was still up there. He was busy flapping every morning and I was hoping he didn’t end up falling off the nest too early like his sibling.

I stopped by right before sunset one afternoon and saw a juvenile on the other tower. At first I thought the baby had flown over but I saw him sitting on the nest so I called Louise to check if the baby that had fallen off the nest the week before had been returned to the area and she said it was still in Orlando at the eagle rehab. I think this was a juvenile from the nest on the other side of the neighborhood. He had flown by a few days before but one of the parents chased him off before he landed.

Mom flew overhead several times and landed on the other side of the nest tower. She didn’t seem to mind the new juvenile on the other tower and didn’t chase him away this time.

After a while the intruder flew over to the nest tower and landed near the nest.

Baby was yelling and flapping. I don’t think Baby wanted this intruder to come near the nest. Eventually the intruder flew off and headed back to his side of the neighborhood.

A few other birds stopping by before sunset. I could see a roseate spoonbill flying far across the utility field. There are always a lot of woodpeckers around and these two doves were keeping an eye on me.

A quick shot of the sun going down at the eagle nest.

And then there was one

Posted on June 10, 2023 by dinajohnston

Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? It was the end of March and I was sitting under a big tree at the eagle’s nest in my neighborhood when I thought I saw movement in the reeds under the nest. At first I thought I was crazy but then I saw her move again and realized a deer was watching me. She stood there frozen for about 30 seconds and then moved farther into the reeds.

The kestrel couple were still hanging around and stopped on the wire above me to enjoy a snack.

A few days later I was sitting on the other side of the nest since the babies seemed more visible from this angle. I only saw one baby sitting up but the other one could be sleeping.

Both parents were sitting high up on the other tower. A man walked over to me (I was sitting close to the pool and people stop and ask me about the eagles) and said there was a baby eagle down on the ground by the other condo building. I packed up my camera and chair and ran over.

There it was, sitting under a big tree. Several people were keeping an eye on it. They had tried called several agencies but couldn’t get anyone to respond. I called Raptor Center of Tampa Bay and Louise came out pretty quicky. Louise is our nearby resident raptor rescue expert.

She had her caught in no time and was checking her out to see what her injuries were. There were no injuries that she could see. Louise was thinking she was flapping her wings a little too hard and got some air and ended up landing down near the condos and couldn’t get back up to that nest in the tower. The eagle didn’t fight her at all but just watched Louise.

I helped hold the eagle while Louise put the hood on her (it keeps her calm and quiet) and put her into the crate. Off she went, to the raptor center to be checked out. Since the nest is in a Duke energy tower the eagle could not be placed back up there. Duke would have to cut the power to half of Oldsmar for a while to get her back up and they won’t do that. She spent a few weeks at the center until she was fully flighted and then released in central Florida.

And then there was one. I was glad I was there when the other baby got rescued because otherwise I would be going crazy wondering what happened to it. Now the younger baby will get the full attention from the parents. Louise said that 2 years ago both babies fell off the nest so I hope this last one stays put.

The next morning the monk parakeets were back on bottle brush tree.

A soft shell turtle was at the pond across the street from the nest. It looked like she was laying eggs.

A busy morning at the nest

Posted on May 29, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was the end of March and the late baby eagles in my neighborhood were still not flying yet.

I heard Mom screaming and realized that another juvenile (from the nest at the other end of the neighborhood) was cruising over the nest and trying to land. Mom chased off the intruder and landed back on the nest tower. The nest far over on the other end of the neighborhood was several weeks ahead of this nest. Those babies were already flying and this one came looking for an extra meal.

After the intruder left Mom sat there and screamed for a while. I guess she was calling for her mate. The mate flew in and they both sat there for a few minutes. They were on the other end of the tower and it’s was tough to see both of them together.

All of a sudden they started mating. I’ve read that they stress mate even while they still have babies.

After the eagles calmed down I started looking around and saw this woodpecker with a snack on the fence.

A great crested flycatcher and a palm warbler landed in the trees I was sitting under.

I heard some screaming and realized some monk parakeets had flown into the bottle brush trees next to the fence. They were eating the seed off the brushes.

Across the field a squirrel was eating what looked like a big mushroom.

Pedaling around the neighborhood

Posted on May 11, 2023 by dinajohnston

I was heading out on my bike for a ride through the neighborhood when I saw a swallow tailed kite cruising by. I snapped the above and then he was long gone over the trees. I’ve been seeing them flying high over the neighborhood for several weeks but they don’t hang around long. One or two circles around the area and they fly fast and high.

I keep stopping by the great blue heron nest but I haven’t seen any babies. One of the neighbors nearby said that last year they didn’t have any babies either.

I was pedaling along the golf course and some birds flying into a tree caught my eye. I stopped and realized there were cedar waxwings were up there. I got my camera out of my backpack and watched them for a while. Luckily I was far enough away from the fairway that I didn’t have to worry about getting hit in the head with a golf ball.

They were feeding on the nearby small pepper tree. They would fly back forth between the pepper tree and the big oak tree. I just sat down on the grass half way behind an oak tree and watched them gorge on those pepper berries.