Color in early December

Posted on January 2, 2023 by dinajohnston

I was out for a walk at Hammock Park in early December. I wasn’t expecting to find any birds so I was just out enjoying the walk with my phone. We hadn’t had much rain so the creeks along the trails had only a trickle of water.

There were small bursts of color if you look closely.

Built in 1888, this small chapel is now used for weddings, memorials and other small ceremonies. It sits at the entrance of the park. It’s a cute little church but I have not had the chance to go inside yet.

Morning walks at the marina

Posted on July 25, 2022 by dinajohnston

The Dunedin marina area is one of my new favorite places to walk in the mornings. Even though it’s miserable hot, there’s usually a breeze here on the water. During the week, before 9am, it’s pretty quiet and easy to get a good parking spot.

Two juvenile osprey were trying to catch some food. After a while they both ended up on the same tree on the water’s edge.

This anhinga had no problem catching her fish. I think she was showing it off.

Juvenile house sparrows were digging in the sand for bugs to eat.

I found these fuzzy plants on a fence near the water. It looked like cotton but a month later I would find out what they were. More to come on these.

A great egret ready to take off.

Blooming in the yard in late December.

Posted on March 22, 2022 by dinajohnston

My Christmas cactus bloomed most of December and I finally went outside to get some macro shots of it before it went dormant. Then I started looking around to see what else I could shoot. The small camelia bush next to our garage was blooming. I also took some pictures of the pointsettia plants and the hanging impatiens. Now that it’s March, we have a lot of other plants blooming so I need to get on that.

The welcoming committee

Posted on January 27, 2022 by dinajohnston

The welcoming committee at Chinsegut Wildlife Area. This is the 3rd time I’ve seen these sandhill cranes hanging around the nature center. One is a juvenile and didn’t quite have the red on his face this past summer. It’s great to see the family is still together. I’m assuming they nest somewhere on the lake here.

Later when I was leaving they were hanging around the parking area and I snapped this with my phone.

I’m sure these are some type of weed but they were really pretty along the trail.

It was foggy when I first got there but wore off as the sun got higher.

Fall colors in central Florida

Posted on December 6, 2021 by dinajohnston

Interesting colors and patterns on my walks before work in my new neighborhood. It’s been cooler at night and in the mornings so some of the leaves are changing while other plants are blooming. All taken with my phone.

Long walk to the open field near my house. I can see the sun coming up over the trees.

A hot late July walk

Posted on September 6, 2021 by dinajohnston

Pretty things at the Florida Botanical Gardens in late July.

A quiet place to ponder.

Nature’s chandalier.

Little critters

Some almost grown wood ducks preening in the shade.

Color in the gardens

Posted on May 3, 2021 by dinajohnston

Lots of color in late February at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales.

I love this plant with the bright pink stalks and the shiny green leaves. It looks like pink celery but the leaves are different so I’m not sure what it is. It might be swiss chard.

If there was ever an on line scratch and sniff invented, it would be for this. The smell of an orange blossom is the best smell ever. When you drive into the gardens you wind your way through a large orange grove before getting to the parking lot. In February you have to roll your windows down to take in the smell. There were also orange trees scattered around the park and I just stood there for a while taking it in.

The azaleas were in full bloom and the park had sections that were covered in the bushes. This was the perfect time to be outside in central Florida.

A two park morning

Posted on April 12, 2021 by dinajohnston

The Florida Botanical Gardens was very quiet in late January (as it should be). It was cool out and was really looking like winter. Only a blue jay and brown thrasher made an appearance.

Heading over to nearby Largo Nature Preserve, I happen to see some drama going on with the muscovy ducks. A male intruder was trying to mate with a female who had a mate right beside her. The boyfriend tried unsuccessfully to run off the intruder. After the intruder mated and left, the female’s mate mated her as well. She was having a rough morning.

A pileated woodpecker pair were doing some damage to this utlity pole. Maybe working on a new nest? You can see the male has a red stripe on his cheek.

Lots of plants blooming at both parks.

Wide open spaces

Posted on February 9, 2021 by dinajohnston

More shots from my trip to Bok Tower Gardens in November. I had a weekday off and Brett had never been so he took off and went with me. He was surprised at how big the koi fish were in the moat around the bell tower. You can feed them here so they are huge.

We took some time to just hang out and breathe with the wide open spaces here. It was quiet this morning and the oak trees were great shade.

Color on the path in the children’s garden.

We felt like we were on a farm for a few minutes.

Just outside the gardens in the parking lot, I stopped to look at the plants and noticed several caterpillars. I had already put my camera up so I snapped these with my phone.

After leaving the gardens, we stopped to check out some cows.

We really were just looking to see if the whooping cranes that hang out in a cow pasture were still around.

The cranes were still there but they were napping all the way across the pasture. This was with my 400mm and super cropped. It’s good to see them still there though. It was good to be out of the house and we had a nice day trip. We need to do more of these.