These purple clowns make me laugh.

On January 2, 2016January 2, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The purple gallinules are so much fun to watch. They are like little purple clowns trying to navigate the plants. If they walk out on a stem that can’t hold their weight, they slide down to the end and try to hang on. They stop to check you out for a second and then continue to try to eat the plant. They are pretty scarce until the fall and then there is usually a few families hanging out in the plants close to the trail.

The above is a juvenile purple gallinule that was born early this past spring. He hasn’t quite gotten his bright feathers in yet but he already has those big yellow feet. He was still trying to climb around without falling down.

These were all taken in mid-November at Circle B Bar Reserve.

Saturday's Critters

Pretty birds doing everyday things.

On November 30, 2015December 1, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography11 Comments

A purple gallinule shining through the reeds.

A pretty common yellowthroat in the shade.

A cute grebe floating around.

A little blue heron taking a gulp.

A red-eyed vireo being shy.

A downy woodpecker high up in a tree.

A limpkin looking down at me from up above.

A palm warbler reaching for the stars.

A white pelican all alone.

Moorhens imitating each other.

Tiny hummingbirds humming in the firebush.

Some of the birds on my recent walk around Circle B Bar Reserve.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

Two baby gallinule families!

On August 6, 2014July 28, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I get to the lake, park and walk out on the sidewalk. I’m thinking “I may not be able to find that purple gallinule family in this big pond. As I’m standing there thinking that, a purple gallinule flies right in front.

A little black fuzz ball comes running to him. Well, I found them. But, they were far out in the middle of the pond so all of these are extremely cropped. This little one was the youngest of the three babies in this family.

This one must be the oldest baby, skipping over to catch up with mom.

This one looked like the middle baby. They were at the “Getting Brave” stage since all three were running all over the place nowhere near the parents.

Mom didn’t stay long. She checked on the kids and left. I’m assuming she’s out looking for food.

The middle one was out cruising for food himself.

I walked a little bit further down the sidewalk and I hear this quiet “peep, peep” coming from under the leaves. Out pops a tiny baby, only a few days old.

Then I see the parent come over to the baby.

Such a tiny little thing. An only child.

There were two purple gallinule families at the neighborhood lake. I had heard about the one family with three older kids so it was fun to see the little baby as well. So far all three of the older ones are doing well. They have a lot to look out for. There are lots of hawks that cruise this lake and the lake is full of alligators. Hopefully, both families can avoid being lunch and grow up to be big beautiful purple gallinules.

Little to big

On December 2, 2013December 3, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography19 Comments

The tiniest bird I saw that day. A blue-gray gnatcatcher looking up.

Not too much bigger is the eastern phoebe. You can usually find them hanging out at the intersection of Marsh Rabbit Run and Heron Hideout.

A little bit bigger, there’s been a kingfisher hanging out in the same corner as the phoebe.

This early fall, there’s been a purple gallinule family hanging out in the same corner as well.

Getting bigger, I found these juvenile limpkins hiding in the marsh. They still have some baby fuzz on them.

A parent was close by watching me.

The American bitterns are back. This one was hiding in the marsh on Wading Bird Way. Another photog with a keen eye found him.

Taken right into the sun, the anhinga was flipping his fish.

“I’m the biggest one here.” says the turkey vulture showing off.

“Bye, bye” says the ducks as they take off after an eagle flew over them.

Lots of the same ole thing at Circle B Bar Reserve in mid-November.

Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday Our World Tuesday Graphic

Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

A tale of two lakes

On July 27, 2013July 27, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I caught this squirrel eating right next to the hummingbird feeder.

The only decent shot I got. I forgot to bring my tripod and even though I had my monopod, the light was awful. The feeder was in the shade so I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the hummer hovering over the feeder.

Bug on a ball. Lettuce Lake Park in north Tampa was quiet on a Saturday morning in late June. So I did what any respectable birder would do. I left and went somewhere else.

Twin Lakes is not a park. Just a lake at the entrance to a subdivision in what I call is the boonies. This subdivision should win a prize for one of the top birding neighborhood spots in Tampa. Constant traffic, dog walkers and joggers going around this little lake. The first thing I spotted was a baby moorhen.

A mom and younger baby was close by.

The baby was getting a bite from Mom. It’s funny to see his little wings go so fast when he was getting his food.

The above juvenile grackle was chasing after his parent for food.

I had heard there were baby purple gallinules at the lake. I first saw the adults coming out of the leaves right in the middle of the pond.

Then I saw three tiny black dots. These are highly cropped taken with my 300mm lens.

The parents stayed close to the babies.

Walking around, the parent must have been looking for food.

The baby is so tiny. He could only be a few days old. There must have been another family with older babies because I had read about them over a week earlier.

I don’t know what that was she had in her mouth but it didn’t look like food.

Not too bad for a walk around two different parks. Even though it’s summer and hot and not many birds around, there’s still a lot to see out there.

Camera Critters

A new park with tons of water birds.

On October 28, 2012October 28, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography19 Comments

Great blue heron flies right over my head.

This purple gallinule looks like a juvenile. His head isn’t quite dark enough yet.

Alligator was dragging a chunk of leaves around with him. He was swimming close to the boardwalk.

View from the top of the tower. It’s a small boardwalk but packed with birds. It was a nice quiet morning. Only myself and one fisherman to the boardwalk for most of the morning.

The boat ramp was covered with vultures.

They were all over the parking lot. There were signs there that said “Not responsible for the damage caused by vultures to your car”. So what do you do? Do you park under a tree hoping that would cover the car? Or do you park out in the open thinking the vultures would be in the trees? I didn’t have any problems the short time I was there. This problem is probably from people feeding them.

The new park I visited, Medard Park, in east Hillsborough is like a tiny oasis out in the middle of nowhere. I passed strawberry farms, old orange groves and horse stables on the way there. This park is now known for having snail kites nesting there. They were pretty easy to find along with tons of other birds. The lake was full of great blue herons, limpkins, great egrets, cormorants, and moorhens. I kept seeing a kingfisher wizzing by but he never landed anyway near. Near the tower there were warblers, woodpeckers and blue gray gnatchatchers in the trees. I think I may have to make this park a regular stop this winter. Can’t wait to see what ducks show up to spend the winter here.

LorikArt