A morning of usual critters

On April 18, 2026April 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I was at Roosevelt Wetlands in late December hoping to find some great winter ducks but only the usuals were there. Above a pied grebe was watching me take his picture.

Ring-necked ducks are usually here during the winter.

And coots are easy to find in the winter.

A year round bird but not that common is a Cooper’s Hawk. He was hiding in the shadows.

Eastern phoebes and savannah sparrows are plentiful here in the winter.

Boring ole mallards were trying to sleep on the main trail.

Since things were slow at the wetlands I left early and stopped at Philippe Park on the way home. The great horned owls nest here in the winter. Dad was sitting high up in the tree and was easy to find.

Mom was still sitting on the nest. They sat on the nest for a month and abandoned it twice this winter. Something wasn’t working for them. Maybe the eggs weren’t hatching? Everyone thought they would have left the park by now for the season but I’ve recently heard that she’s back nesting on a different tree in the same park. Maybe third time’s a charm?

It was low tide along the sea wall and ibis and a few laughing gulls were feeding in the muck.

Fighting bucks

On March 28, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

I have only gotten a few fleeting glimpses of this big guy at Chesnut Park recently. I was there early one morning in early December and saw him running through the woods off the back boardwalk.

I came off the boardwalk and was on the dirt trail when I heard a commotion in the woods. I went in a little ways and hid behind a tree and caught him and a slightly younger buck going at it. I couldn’t get any closer (not that I would have wanted to) so all I got are a few blurry shots of them locking antlers. They fought for just a minute and then the younger buck ran off and the older one went deeper into the woods.

A lady standing in front of the boardwalk.

The usual birds were a titmouse and a chickadee.

Spatterdock in the lake.

This cute pied grebe would flap her wings when coming up after a dive to get the excess water off.

I passed another lady on the trail.

This guy was not shy. I think this is the one fighting the bigger buck.

We were still in drought mode and the swamp was dry and full of the dead cypress leaves.

All of the usual winter critters

On March 21, 2026April 10, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I wasn’t expecting to find anything new at the Largo Nature Preserve in early December. I did find some usual wintering birds including a blue-gray gnatcatcher and a yellow rumped warbler.

Yellow crowned night herons hang out along the boardwalk that circles the small lake. Years ago they nested here but I haven’t seen any nests in a long time.

A female blue winged teal is common here in the winter.

Northern shovelers are occasionally seen here in the winter. There were several males and females on this morning.

A pied grebe was running away.

I found some tiny critters trying to hide on the leaves.

The bald cypress trees were starting to show their fall colors.

The sun through the pink grass

On February 2, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In early November I was at the Roosevelt Wetlands near Clearwater early enough to catch sunrise. The native muhly grass along the trail entrance was blooming pink.

The goldenrod was in full bloom as well.

The sun was slowly coming up over the landfill as I made my way down the trail towards the other side of the lake. Yes, this preserve sits next to the largest waste plant and landfill in Pinellas county. As long as the wind blows away from the lake it’s fine. It’s a hot spot for birds most of the year.

I made my way over to the trail that runs along side the lake. Local birders call this “warbler alley” but it was a quiet morning.

One of the northern harriers that spend the winters here was cruising the top of the landfill, looking for a meal.

I found a house wren hiding in the bushes.

A loggerhead shrike sits up high in the sun.

A pied grebe staring at me.

A phoebe was flying in and out of this tree.

A rare scissortail flycatcher was seen in the park and I missed it on this morning but the next day I heard it was hanging around the other side of the waste plant and I stopped by the next day to catch it sitting on a stick for a while.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

Birds in the St. Pete parks

On May 17, 2025May 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Towards the end of February I headed down to St. Pete, near downtown. I first stopped at Crescent Lake Park for a quick walk. The first thing I saw was this cute little pied grebe. I realized this one had his breeding beak on. We usually only see them in their non-breeding drab colors. This one had an all white beak with a black stripe down it which means he was ready to flirt. I heard weeks later that there were grebe babies there and I didn’t make it back down there to look for them.

There were only a few white pelicans left. Most had already left to go north for the summer.

Most of the wintering ducks were gone but this pretty lesser scaup was still there.

My next stop was at the North Shore Park waterfront for a longer walk. When I got back to my car I heard screaming from the tree in front of it and looked up and saw black capped (or nanday) parakeets. I grabbed my camera and started snapping. Isn’t three a crowd?

They were busy eating and being silly.

Some were already pairing up.

Some where huddling together in the cold (it was a little chilly this morning).

Some of the different colors of pigeons. I don’t see white ones or the red ash ones often.

Just a man walking his dog along the seawall.

A sailboat near the little bay beach.

A quick walk around Crescent Lake Park

On May 25, 2024May 17, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Tiny butterflies and a big one at Crescent Lake Park in late March.

A pied grebe in the middle of the lake. This one had his breeding stripe on his beak already but I didn’t think they nested here.

Green herons were everywhere.

Just a few of the many turtles around the lake.

Mama muscovy with a baby. I’m sure she started with many more than the one.

A pretty mallard sits in the vegetation.

European starlings don’t get any respect around here but they are pretty when the sun hits them just right.

The old banyan trees are looking a little rough The one on the left is turning brown. It might be from the lack of rain. Hopefully it will come back when the summer rains hit.

The usual suspects on a cold morning.

On April 11, 2024April 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Mr. Grumpy (great blue heron) greeted me when I got to the Largo Nature Preserve in early January. It was chilly so that might have been why he was fluffed up.

Blue-gray gnatcatchers were everywhere.

A limpkin was across the pond and had a snack.

The pied grebes were still being cute. I don’t often see 2 together.

It looked like they were having a spat over something.

A little later I saw one of them with a big crawfish.

The pretty grackle was yelling at me for being on his boardwalk.

I found an alligator in a corner of the pond. The first shot up close is with my camera and the 2nd one is with my phone so I wasn’t too close. Plus, I was on the boardwalk.

The sun was trying to come out as I walked around the boardwalk. It was a little chilly this morning and I was thinking I might not find too much but you never know.

Having a ducky morning

On April 6, 2024May 12, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In mid-January I stopped at Largo Nature Preserve to see if any new winter ducks were there. The preserve is a great little park just off a crazy busy main road. It’s quiet once you get on the trail and every once in a while I find something different here. There were a lot of pied grebes along the ditches. They are common here in the winter.

You can always find mallards here.

The find this morning was the northern shovelers that were bathing and feeding close to the trail. They are usually skittish and paddle away when they see someone coming but they just ignored the traffic on the trail this morning. There were males in both bright colored breeding feathers and in the drab brown non-breeding feathers.

There was also some females sticking together farther down the trail.

Busy birds at Circle B Bar Reserve

On February 20, 2017February 21, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Seen out in the marsh: black crowned night heron, pied grebe, American bittern, glossy ibis and an anhinga.

Saw the above Carolina wren hiding in a bush.

A great egret playing with his meal.

I saw this hawk on a branch right over the trail. I realized he was eating something. I think it was a praying mantis.

Lots of birds on the trails at Circle B Bar Reserve in early January.

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A walk after work

On May 9, 2016May 9, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

The lake at Kapok Park are full of turtles. People feed them and they come close to the boardwalk. Look at those fingernails!

A cute grebe shying away.

The red-winged blackbirds come close the boardwalk as well. Both a male and a female were posing for me.

Moorhens were taking a bath.

A rare sighting at this park. I found a lone purple gallinule under the boardwalk. I have never seen one here or even heard of one near the area.

Great blue heron flyby.

The big old trees at the park. It looks like one got blown over during a big storm. It looks like such a big strong tree. It’s hard to believe wind would knock that over.

On the way home I stopped by downtown Safety Harbor and could just barely make out a juvenile eagle on the cell tower.

Another tower close by had two babies (you can see only one in the picture). One of the parents was feeding them and the other parent was on a utility tower across the street. I’ve been keeping an eye on these nests for a while, swinging by there on the way home from work. It’s great to see these eagles raising families in this busy neighborhood.

I stopped by Kapok Park on the way home from work recently and did a quick walk around the park. I was hoping to see signs of the great horned owls but they either didn’t nest there this year or already nested and left.

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