A chilly morning at Fort Desoto

Posted on April 29, 2021 by dinajohnston

“I caught one this big” said the osprey as he landed on his nest.

Actually, he was bringing in sticks to spruce up the nest.

It’s amazing what you see when you are standing around waiting for baby birds to wake up. This Prairie warbler flew right in front of me.

Turning around, the coast guard was sitting right off the beach.

I eventually got tired of waiting for the baby birds to wake up and headed over to North beach to see what was over there (I don’t have a lot of attention span and was also trying to get some exercise so I needed to keep walking). All of the usual birds were there.

On the fishing pier, Harry the hybrid (great blue heron x great egret) was having a scratch.

It was a beautiful morning in late February.

Not many people out early in the morning (just us photogs) and it was a little chilly.

Flying things at Bok Tower Gardens

Posted on May 6, 2019 by dinajohnston

Little critters in the flowers.

Nothing new but not too common with the exception of the cardinal. The others are a prairie warbler, yellow bellied sapsucker (woodpecker) and the yellow throated warbler. I was hoping to find some other birds but I was a little too early for spring migration.

The best find of the morning was the bobwhite. I never see them where I live so this was a treat. He peaked out behind the bushes for a few minutes as I was walking down the trail and then ran back after a few seconds.

I drove over to Bok Tower Gardens in central Florida early in April for a long walk.

Early morning at Fort Desoto

Posted on April 4, 2019 by dinajohnston

Terns, willets and laughing gulls out on the beach.

A lone prairie warbler on the trail.

Someone caught a creepy crab while fishing on the pier.

A common sight around the fishing pier, a snowy egret hitching a ride.

The morning started off cloudy, looking like it was going to rain but the sun came out before noon.

Birds and boats at Fort Desoto

Posted on August 23, 2018 by dinajohnston

A rare yellow billed cuckoo high up in the tree.

Either a female or immature prairie warbler.

Hiding in hole. I was wondering if they nest in this hole.

Some of the shorebirds close to the trail, a ruddy turnstone and a black bellied plover.

I stopped by the fishing pier before heading home.

Far across the bay near Egmont Key.

Sailing past the pier, this old sailboat reminded me of my dad. He would have loved that boat. I turned it into a black and white photo so it would have looked like something he would have taken many years ago.

An early summer walk at Fort Desoto.

Yellow birds at Fort Desoto

Posted on April 13, 2015 by dinajohnston

All above are white eyed vireos. Fairly common during migration.

All of these are of a hooded warbler. The park was filled with these bright yellow birds with black hoods. They were not shy and would not freak out and fly into the bushes. They remained on the trail as long as no one got too close.

I saw one prairie warbler at the park.

A single yellow throated warbler. I don’t see these too often.

It poured the last Friday in March. I never get that lucky. Usually, it pours early in the week and by the time I get out to the parks, the birds are gone. This time I got up early on Saturday and headed down to Fort Desoto. Not a big fall out but still enough birds to keep everyone entertained. I think there was possibly more people than birds though. I’m hoping this is only the first fall out for spring migration this year. It’s still early.

Migration can be a pain in the neck – Skywatch Friday

Posted on May 15, 2014 by dinajohnston

My first blackpoll warbler of the season.

Cape May warblers were everywhere.

Red-eyed vireo.

A first-summer male orchard oriole with mulberry stains on his chest.

I think this is a female orchard oriole.

I think this is a first year female Baltimore oriole.

Another red-eyed vireo.

I saw one northern Parula that morning.

Baltimore oriole.

My first black throated green warbler.

A male orchard oriole taking a berry break.

Prairie warbler doing some weird acrobats.

Bye,bye, orchard oriole.

A female rose breasted grosbeak.

It was a busy day in mid-April. A big fall out day. Spring migration was in full swing and I knew I’d come home with a neck ache from staring up in the trees all morning. I was right. Birds were everywhere but they did not sit still very long. There were almost as many people at Fort Desoto that morning. Everyone was yelling out bird names: “there goes a female blah blah”, ” I just saw an immature male blah blah”, ” has anyone seen the yellow blah blah?” All of the little birds were starting to looking alike, especially the yellow and brown ones. Let me know if I got any of the above wrong. People had driven from all over the state to check birds off their list. I met a ton of new people and ran into people I hadn’t seen since the last migration. It was catch up day. The next couple of weekends still had a few birds but not like this big weekend. I also saw a lot of little red birds and blue birds. More on those later.

Check out more sky pictures at

Little yellow birds invade Fort Desoto

Posted on April 9, 2013 by dinajohnston

Hooded warblers were everywhere. They were walking around in the grass and posing for everyone. I saw this bird last year but never got a shot so this is my first official hooded warbler shot.

Prairie warblers aren’t too common. There were many of these on the east beach trails.

After I cropped this up I realized there were tiny white bugs all over the leaves. I think that’s what he was eating.

White eyed vireos are common during spring migration.

This one was trying to hide in the fir trees.

Yellow throated warblers were common around the ranger’s house this weekend.

My very first prothonotary warbler.

He was posing for me right when I hit the trail that morning.

Central west Florida had a small fall-out this past weekend. A big storm came through the Tampa Bay area on Thursday and by Friday afternoon, people were posting great migrating birds all over the area. The most populated seemed to be at Fort Desoto so I headed down there early Saturday morning. I skipped the beach and went straight to the woods. I spent over 4 hours looking for little birds in the bushes and trees. Of course, everyone else had the same idea so it was pretty crowded on trails. Everyone was so nice pointing out things they had seen. I do not know my little birds very well and usually shoot first and look up species later. Saturday I left knowing all but one bird that I had taken pictures of. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of new people and ran into a few old friends I haven’t seen in a long time. I also saw a few red and blue birds that aren’t cardinals or blue jays so I’ll post those later.

Check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for