Fun animals at the zoo

On January 17, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals4 Comments

We had a brief cold front (meaning high of 75) in late October. Brett and I decided to spend the morning walking at the zoo. We got there right as the macaws were having their fly over. They free-fly from the front of the zoo and circle around the main area before landing on the perch. They were moving so fast it was hard to keep up with them.

The Marabou storks were flirting on the nest. They already had an egg so they must have been celebrating.

Koala bears sleep up to 22 hours a day and it’s rare to catch them awake. This one did a few stretches and a big yawn before going back to sleep.

I guess three’s not a crowd. I was watching this couple flirting and then another parakeet showed up and they all flirted with each other.

The flamingos were waiting to be fed.

At first I thought this yellow billed stork was trying to hear what I was telling him but no, he was just scratching an itch. It’s fun when they come close in the open aviary.

The ducks were using the manatees as a floatation device. The manatee hospital is always busy caring for, rehabilitating and releasing injured manatees.

A quick video of the manatee eating his yummy lettuce.

A turtle pops his head up to give us a look.

The “No power” road trip

On December 7, 2024January 21, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

We lost power early in the afternoon on the day Hurricane Milton was coming. The next morning after spending the day cleaning up the yard we decided to take a road trip for a few days since we knew the electricity would not be coming back on for at least several days. Local hotels were full from people evacuating the coastal areas and the gas stations were out of gas (and most didn’t have power anyway). We had a full tank of gas and figured we could make it to West Palm Beach before filling up again so we packed the car Friday morning and headed to Ft. Lauderdale to visit Brett’s relatives. We didn’t see any gas until we got to the other side of the state. We spent Saturday with Brett’s aunt and uncle and Sunday we decided to do some sightseeing. We were at Butterfly World when they opened.

Gouldian finches were flying freely in the big aviary at Butterfly World. The males have the darker purple chest and the females have paler chests. They are beautiful birds and it was fun to watch them chasing after each other.

The budgies were flirting and preening each other.

This couple, with their zebra striped heads, were kissing.

This was a target rich environment with lots of little birds flying close by. The top is a juvenile gouldian finch who hasn’t gotten his bright feathers yet. The middle one is a scaly-breasted munia. I have heard there are some wild ones flying around parts of Tampa. The orange one is some type of canary.

There was a small flock of cockatiels and I wondered if they were former pets that were surrendered.

Some type of guineafowl? There were several creeping around on the ground.

And yes, there were tons of butterflies at Butterfly World but more on them later. A quick video of them fluttering around as I walked into the aviary.

At the baseball park

On September 28, 2021September 11, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

In early August I stopped by the baseball fields near my house to see if any parakeets were nesting. Getting out of the car I could see the nest high up in the light post. The clouds were moving in over the sun you could just make out a faint rainbow around it.

I could hear loud screaming coming from below the light post in the big pile of sticks. The parakeets build their nests at the bottom of the osprey nests and go in from underneath. The osprey have long left since they nest late winter. These monk parakeets were busying flying in and out but I didn’t see any young ones. There were several entrance holes to this one big nest.

A few of them flew over to the tree and hung out there for a while.

Some of the other light posts that didn’t have nests were full of pigeons taking a nap.

A tricolored heron posing on top of the ballfield fence, in the outfield.

There weren’t any games going on while I was there and the park was pretty quiet with a few people on the tennis courts. There were at least 8 empty osprey nests here but it’s hard to get good shots of the babies since the nests are so high up. Years ago I saw some loggerhead shrikes juveniles here but I didn’t see any here today. I’ll check back on another quiet day.

Flowers and bugs

On May 12, 2020May 12, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants2 Comments

Color coming out in early April at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo. Yes, the gardens were open during the big shut down. I went around 8am and there were very few people there. Most probably thought it was closed. It was nice to walk around in the quiet garden.

Watching these crazy parakeets getting sticks for their nests.

Not many birds in early April. The usual blue jays and wood duck couples. The wood ducks usually have babies here in the summer but they go into hiding and it’s hit or miss seeing them here.

Caterpillars were on the milkweed but those pesky milkweed bugs were taking over.

Crescent Lake Park

On August 5, 2019August 6, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

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.

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