A beautiful sunrise

On January 15, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In mid-October I was out a little earlier than usual for a walk. I stopped at nearby Philippe Park to catch the sun coming up over the water. I didn’t stay long and headed to the waterfront in Safety Harbor for my walk.

It was a beautiful morning out.

The birds were just starting to get active as I shot the above video.

Over on the tiny beach a dog was having the best time going for a swim.

Walking along the boardwalk I see this damaged dock part stuck to the mangroves. I guess it will be here for a while.

The sun was coming up high by the time I reached the end of the boardwalk.

Back at the parking lot before leaving.

I decided to stop back by Philippe Park again before going home to see if there was a lot of damaged trees from the hurricanes. The ones down on the road had already been moved but the grass areas were covered with downed trees. It’s going to take the rangers months to clean it all up. I was glad to see the owl nest tree still standing and I’ve heard the owl couple are back nesting in it already.

A walk through history.

On January 5, 2023December 26, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

It was dark and cloudy on my walk at Philippe Park in upper Tampa Bay in early December. The clouds made it feel a little like it was winter even though it was mild. To the right of of the sidewalk in the first two pictures is an Indian mound so it feels like there’s a large hill here. There are steps up to the top on one side and many people like to jog or walk up the stairs. It was built by the Tocobaga Indians. There is an urban legend that the ancient Indian burial grounds and sites keep the hurricanes from hitting the Tampa area but Odet Philippe’s home was destroyed by a hurricane on this spot in the 1800’s.

I love the old trees here. It feels like old Florida.

Beautyberries are all over the park. I’ve seen catbirds, blue jays and mockingbirds eat the berries.

Odet Philippe is buried here. He was one of the first settlers in the area and was know as the first person to grow grapefruit in the Tampa Bay area. He built his plantation on this site in the early 1800’s. You can read more about his life here (from the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame).

Since I was close to the Safety Harbor pier I stopped for a quick walk before heading home. I was hoping to see manatees but the water was too dark to find them and they didn’t seem to be close to the pier.

Please don’t use rat poison

On May 22, 2021April 20, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

“What is everone looking at? Wait, I see a rat in the parking lot. Tell Mom to go get it.”

“I am Dracula. I suck the blood of rats”

“Soon I’ll be flying and can go get my own rat.”

“She’s taking my picture. I need to move over here to the best spot.”

Right before dark all three of the babies lined up and I got a shot of them all together. Both parents had just flown away, assuming to go get dinner. Since they are so curious, they were always looking everywhere. It was so amazing seeing these guys growing up. It really is a privilage to have these owls growing up in such a populated area. I didn’t make it back to the nest after this to see them all grown up. Unfortunately no one got to see 2 of them grow up. I just recently found out that 2 of them died from rat poison. The third one survived. Maybe he didn’t get to eat as much of that poisoned rat that the parent brought back. This is what happens when people use rat poison boxes. The rats don’t die right away and the owl grabs it to bring back to the nest. These owls are a natural pest control and the three young ones would have cleaned out most of the area of rats for a while when they first start to hunt.

Spring is here

On May 1, 2021April 30, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Trying to get a shot of an inchworm hanging from a tree is like trying to bite an apple hanging from a tree with your hands tied behind your back (I remember doing this as a kid at Halloween parties). The trees were full of these guys dangling and swaying back and forth in the wind. It’s not a sharp shot but you get the drift.

They were crawling around in the weeds as well. Every year in early March they take over a few of the parks here in the Tampa bay area. Harmless but annoying when they get in your hair.

The inchworms where hanging in the tree that is home to the owls at a local park. Dad was in his usual spot overlooking the big tree.

My first baby owl sighting of the year. He looks a little grumpy, like he just woke up. It was late in the day when I got to the park. The babies were just waking up from a nap and were ready for a snack.

Mom flew up to a branch over the nest.

The babies were watching Mom and one was climbing up the tree trying to get closer to her. Did I say “babies”? There were actually 3 and I eventually got pictures of all of them together but more on those later.

I was sitting at a traffic light on the way home and noticed an inchworm on the inside of my window. He had the nerve to poop on my window and leave a trail. When I got home I got him out and put in on a bush.

Cuteness overload

On April 27, 2021April 20, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals2 Comments

A few days earlier I noticed two little squirrels hanging out of a hole in a tree near the owl’s nest. When I came back to check on the owls, I saw 4 squirrel babies hanging out of the nest. They were in a highly visible spot and everyone was going crazy over the cute babies hanging out of the tree.

Two of them kept slipping back into the hole. One of them climbed up to the top of the hole but then he quickly scrambled back down. Trying to be brave but realizing that it’s a big scary world out there.

Mom came in and brought some food. I couldn’t quite tell what he was eating.

He was so cute covering his mouth while he chewed. Probably didn’t want his siblings to try and steal it.

After Mom left, these two were busy preening each other.

The squirrels eventually went back into hiding, probably to nap so it was back to paying attention to the owls. Those baby squirrels had better hide from this guy who was only one tree over. He has babies to feed as well.

Great old trees

On April 19, 2021March 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

I had a quick walk at my local pond in early February. It was a quiet morning. Just me and the anhinga watching me take a picture of her.

The glossy ibis was still there. Maybe they’ll stay permanently.

A teeny critter flying around the clovers.

I stopped by another park close by to check on the owls. Mom was half asleep and there was no sign of babies. I had heard there were two but both were sleeping far down in the nest all morning (later there 3 babies so stay tuned for baby owl shots).

This squirrel had a mouthful as he was running across the parking lot.

The big oak tree where the owls nest. We had heard from a ranger that they were taking this tree down later this year. They say it’s getting rotten inside and could fall on a car or worse a person. Several trees nearby have come down in bad storms. It still looked solid to us. Everyone was freaking out and talking about signing a petition to keep the tree up but if it’s dangerous, it’s coming down. The ranger said the owls will find another tree.

The view near the parking area. There are a lot of great trees in this park.

One of my favorite trees in the park. It’s cool to see the limbs growing along the ground. The first shot is a pano taken with my phone.

image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup Our World Tuesday Graphic

Baby bluebirds

On November 17, 2020March 2, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I was lucky to catch these two juvenile bluebirds hanging around the playground area at Chesnut Park in early September. I know they nest there every year but I never see bluebirds at this park. They were flying around from the tree to the ground. They’re really pretty with those bright blue feathers.

Chickadees are usual birds at this park. Yellow throated warblers are as well during migration season but the pine warbler on the bottom is a little more rare to see.

After a quiet morning at Chesnut Park I stopped by Philippe Park on the way home. The park was busy with dog walkers and joggers and lots of families hanging out but I found a quiet spot along the water and hung out for a while.

All grown up

On May 7, 2020April 27, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

At the end of February I was able to stop by the owl nest and see the baby almost grown up. He was still pretty fuzzy but was looking more like an adult.

One of the parents was always close by.

Then in mid-March I stopped by again and the baby was looking all grown up. Almost as big as his parents. He was very curious, always looking around at the sounds of the birds and squirrels going by.

The morning was so nice that I hung around the park watching the fishing boats go by. This one was pulling up bait fish and getting followed by the pelicans looking for a handout.

The old trees in the park near the nest have a lot of personality.

It was the beginning of a great weekend.

Fun in the sun

On December 20, 2014December 20, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized6 Comments

Yes I took these right into the sun. I was standing on a sea wall looking for ducks and heard a splash down near the beach area at a park in Safety Harbor. The black dog ran in and was barking at the brown dog to come in. They splashed around and played for a while. They looked like they were having the best time in the cold water. The brown dog got tired and went back on the beach and the black dog seemed to stand there like “Come back, it’s not time to leave yet.” He finally shook off and headed back to the beach.

Orange beak duck and the red-eyed devils at Philippe Park.

On January 5, 2014January 5, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

After leaving the Safety Harbor fishing pier, I headed over to Philippe Park to see what was swimming around the inlet there. First thing I noticed was the red breasted merganser. This is the first one I’ve seen this winter.