A quick early walk at Chesnut Park in early May. The park started to get crowded pretty quickly so I left and headed out to another park close by.
Possum Branch Preserve was void of people but not many birds there either. At least it was a nice walk outside.
A few birds there included a juvenile night heron and a red bellied woodpecker.
I caught this common snapping turtle cruising down the back trail. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a snapper out in the wild. This one was pretty small.
Spending more time at home, I’ve been going out for a walk around the backyard after work. These were all taken in April. Now that it’s late May, I would get eaten alive by mosquitoes if I’m not covered in bug spray.
A few critters on my plants (or weeds).
I noticed this juvenile night heron on my neighbor’s screened in porch. 
The sun going down on the ducks.
Sunset over my neighbor’s palm trees.
The snowy egrets were showing off and flirting.
The little blue herons were doing the same thing.
Some of the other birds were also showing off with their breeding faces.
The turtles were watching all of the action.
Even the cormorants were flirting and chasing each other high up in the trees.
Unlikely pair in the same tree, a wood stork and an osprey.
After a really cold week, I headed over to the TECO (Tampa Electric Co) plant to see the manatees that hang out there in the winter. The warm water coming off the electric plant in the lagoon keeps the manatees warm during the coldest weeks. Years ago, the plant built a manatee viewing center with a big deck that wraps around part of the lagoon. All of those dots in the water are manatees. There were hundreds of them the morning I was there in late January.
The plant says that the smoke coming out of the stack is actually clean steam. It doesn’t feel smoky when you are there and the sky was clear blue.
Part of the deck overlooking the lagoon. This was still early in the day before the big crowds get here. I got here well before they opened at 10am and waiting in line to park and was out before lunch. They can get crazy crowded and parking is a challenge when the manatees are here in large numbers. The news channels report on them when there’s been a prolonged cold spell so everyone heads over including me.
Some of the birds around the plant. White pelicans were flying high, a young night heron flew by the deck and a vulture was sitting on a platform built for an osprey nest.
Down at the very end of the lagoon, it’s roped off so boaters or kayakers cannot follow the manatees into the area. There is no swimming with the manatees here.
There’s usually some stingrays splashing around.
I took a ton of manatee pictures so more to come on those.
The usual herons along the trail.
A green heron sneaking around looking for food.
A house wren singing.
A coot getting friendly.
The yellow flowers always make the preserve look pretty in the fall.
The view from the blind.
Some of the ducks at Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Pete. That grebe was here in June. He should have been up north for the summer. Maybe some of the grebes stay all year round. Normally they are only here in the winter.
The wild parakeets nest in the water tower near the park. I was able to catch them right along the lake in the trees and feeding right on the ground.
Other usually birds at the park.
Checking me out. No snacks for him.
A beautiful tree across the street.
Views from the park. I always love this view. Seeing the fish water tower in front of the few tall buildings in downtown St. Pete. As I’m coming around the corner at the far end of the park I always remember to turn around.
When my sisters were here over Thanksgiving weekend we went out looking for manatees. The most dependable place to find them is at the Manatee Viewing Center at the Tampa electric plant on the other side of the bay. The manatees congregate here in the winter months due to the electric plant’s discharge canal where the water that cools the electric plant is sent back out into the bay warm and clean. I’ve been there before over the years when you could see hundreds of manatees near the boardwalk but this time there were none. You could see a few far out in the canal but they just looked like bumps floating in the water. We would have been crushed if we hadn’t seen the below the day before.
Another reliable place to see manatees (and much closer to my home) is the Safety Harbor fishing pier. We were out running around one afternoon and stopped by on the way home. We counted at least 6 swimming around the pier so we hung out there for a while watching them come up for air.
Linking to My Corner of the World.
It’s always fun to watch the wild parakeets eating high up in the trees. They are so loud that it’s easy to spot them.
Lots of the usual birds at my walk at the Florida Botanical Gardens.
Across the pond, an osprey flies by with a snack.
Just a few plants at the gardens in early October.
Linking to Wednesday Around The World
Late summer babies. Blondie came back in August with another new baby.
The usual critters in our yard during the past few months.
One day I came home from work and grabbed the mail from the mailbox that is on the side of our house next to the front door. This guy came out with the mail. I dropped the mail to the ground and was glad he didn’t land on me. I think I woke him up.
The muhly grass blooms pink in the fall. These started blooming in late October.
Different skies in the front and back yards.
Typical awkward teenager, this several month old sandhill crane was so funny to watch. He was trying to be brave and walk off on his own and then go running back to mom.
It looks like this great blue heron bit off more than he could chew but he got it all down. His neck was bulging for a while.
A grackle with a snack.
This night heron was trying to hide in the reeds along the pond but it was hard not to miss those bright red eyes.
It was weird seeing this purple gallinule hanging over the trail. He was eating something on this plant.
These hawks were across the marsh. Looks like they were fighting over a snail.
Breakfast was going on during my walk at Circle B Bar Reserve in mid May.
