Lots of ladies in the park

On April 20, 2026April 4, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

The welcoming committee at Chesnut Park in early January. I was driving in and saw them and pulled over to take a few pictures before heading to the back of the park for a walk. They looked over at me for a second and then went on feeding.

“Get out of the road, Lady. I got a walk to do.”

Out on the dock a purple gallinule was looking for food in the spadderdock leaves.

Gingerbread (named by the regular walkers at the park) is a domesticated duck that was probably someone’s pet and was dumped in the park. She seemed to be doing okay for a while and rescuers were trying to get her so I’m not sure what her status is.

Birds in the bushes above are a red bellied woodpecker and a yellow-rumped warbler.

I found a ruby-crowned kinglet hopping around with the other birds. I don’t see these birds often. The last time I saw one was in 2015. What a cute tiny bird.

A red shoulder hawk looking back at me.

An anhinga posing (actually drying off her wings) on top of the shelter roof.

A lady watching me from the dry swamp. She was so close I took this with my phone.

Lots of ladies as I was pulling out of my parking spot. No males around this morning.

Around the yard in early May

On September 15, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Watching through the trees as the sun goes down across the street.

Watching the sun go down from the kitchen window as a squirrel photobombs the picture.

Out in the backyard, the dried mealworm feeder was busy.

We had several bald molting cardinals visiting the feeders in early May.

Lizards were getting frisky. I took the above through the sunroom window.

I was taking the garbage out front and heard great crested flycatchers calling to each other. I ran and got my camera. They landed high up on the trees in the yard.

This dove was spending time in the begonia plant. I thought she might start a nest there but a few days later she left.

My neighbor on the left had siam tulips blooming and my neighbors on the right had plumeria blooming. I have the advantage of seeing them both from my patio.

I heard Harley (my 11 year old cockatiel) screaming from the sunroom. I ran over to the window and saw a red shoulder hawk on the ground in the back. Harley has a very specific “there’s a hawk back there” scream. After putting him in his cage I opened the back door and chased the hawk away (but not before taking a picture).

We had a few juvenile red bellied woodpeckers coming through with the parents. I was out in the backyard and was able to catch Mom feeding one.

My pitcher plant was blooming.

One late morning I was coming into the neighborhood and saw a coyote walking down the sidewalk right before my street. I luckily had my camera in the car and pulled over and was able to get a few shots before it took off into the woods.

The sunset shining on the clouds in the backyard right before dark.

Things in the yard and neighborhood

On August 11, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

We have a little spot of dirt in our front yard that gets full sun so I planted sunflower seeds and a few weeks later they started coming up.

Near the end of April this one was the first to start blooming.

A tiny Eastern amberwing dragonfly was flying around the sunflower plants.

A titmouse was showing off his snacks. I’m assuming he had a nest somewhere high up in the tree. I kept seeing him fly up there but couldn’t tell where he was going.

A moth through the window. Taken with my phone.

This blue jay was driving me crazy. He kept eating the suet and digging around in the plants for bugs. He lets me get really close. I took the above with my phone.

Critters on the flowering plants in the front yard.

I was sitting at the kitchen table working on my computer when I looked up and saw a hummingbird flying around in front of the window. I pulled out the old window feeder that I hadn’t used in a long time and made some extra food and put it on the window. By the next day she was coming to the feeder. If I was standing still in front of the window when she flew in she would continue to feed as long as I stood still.

A video of Fred flirting with me through the window.

It was almost time to take the suet feeder down. It’s just too hot once May comes and even through the package says they don’t melt, they do. The woodpeckers will just have to eat the regular sunflower seeds instead for a few months.

I kept hearing a peeping noise when I went out to water the plants and saw a downy woodpecker hanging around a spot high up in the oak tree in the backyard. I saw the woodpecker fly away and walked over and saw the above juvenile looking out from a hole underneath a branch. So I did what any normal bird nerd would do, I went inside and got my camera and dragged my patio chair under the tree and waited for the parent to come back.

The parent came back several times. There were two juveniles in the hole but only one popped out at a time. It must be tight in there. I could see the red on the young one’s head so I knew it was a boy. There was also a female.

Both parents stayed busy bringing in food but they would stick their head far into the hole to feed the kids so I couldn’t get a shot of them feeding it.

I knew that the babies were about to be too big for that hole and a few days later I saw them chasing the parents on the trees.

A regular visitor to the backyard.

I was out running errands and on the way home I saw these 3 on the sidewalk in front of the utility field down the street. I pulled over on the nearby parking pad and got out with my camera and crossed the street. Then they started crossing the street and heading right for me. These guys were strutting around like they owned the neighborhood.

I realized there were 2 females behind the trees on my side of the street. The males got close to the females but the females ignored them and went into the woods.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Around the yard and neighborhood in December

On March 24, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was early December and I was seeing the eagle couple in my neighborhood pretty regularly.

My first robins showed up in mid-December. I was putting the garbage can out one morning and heard them in the trees in the yard so I ran inside and grabbed my camera. There were only 3 of them and they stayed high up in the trees. They didn’t stay long. This was the first of several visits from them this winter.

We had 2 turkeys cruising through the yard one morning.

This red bellied woodpecker was taking sunflower seeds from the feeder and sticking them in the palm tree outside the window. Was he storing them up for the winter? I wanted to tell him the squirrels would find them and eat them.

All of the usual winter birds were visiting including black and white warblers, yellow throated warblers and house finches. The downy woodpeckers are here all year round.

The hermit thrush is a special visitor. He only stopped by once this winter. There was one that came by for a month last winter. I wonder if it’s the same one. He eats bugs so he doesn’t go to the feeder but maybe he likes the bath.

By mid-December the eagles were spending a lot of time together on the utility tower that the nest is in.

A few days later I was running to the store and saw them flying near the nest so I stopped since I had my camera in the car. One of them came flying to the nest with a big stick. I’m sure the nest needed some work after the hurricanes from the fall.

I was about to leave when this juvenile little blue heron flew right in front of me. He must have been a late summer baby because he was still all white. They turn blue as they molt their feathers in the first year. I’m glad he caused me to pause because then the eagle came back with more nesting material.

It looked like he had a part of a bald cypress branch. He dropped it in the best spot athough I’m sure she’ll re-arrange it later.

My camelia bush was just starting to bloom.

Sunset across the street in mid-December.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Early summer around the yard

On October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

My neighbor’s plumeria was in full bloom in late May. It had grown really tall and leans over our wall.

A few visitors in the backyard included a house finch, a constant stream of young bluebirds and a young Carolina wren.

The blue jay didn’t mind the red bellied woodpecker getting a sip.

In early June we had an ibis stop by that was missing a foot. I had one visiting last summer as well and I’m thinking it might be the same one. His leg joint looks the same. He was digging around the back for bugs and came on the patio when he saw me through the glass door.

The full moon in late May (taken through the back window).

The pond across the street was steaming late one afternoon.

Summer sunset.

We had a faint rainbow after a storm came through right before dark.

My sunflowers were starting to bloom. The plant that was half eaten by the deer only grew a few feet high but had lots of tiny blooms. It looks like the packet of sunflower seeds I bought had 2 different kinds of sunflowers in it.

The deer only ate half of the leaves on the tall plant and the buds were just starting to bloom. I was afraid the deer were going to come back and eat all of the buds but they didn’t and this plant bloomed for weeks. More to come.

Visitors to the backyard bath.

On August 26, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

This is summer in central Florida. The philodendron plants turn yellow in the summer.

It was already so hot in early May that the squirrels were taking a nap in the shade on the empty nest box.

Bluebirds were coming by to take a bath.

Northern parulas were coming down from high up in the trees to take a bath. They usually don’t come down this low.

A cardinal and red bellied woodpecker share a drink.

A new visitor to the backyard, a female redstart stopped by the bath for a few minutes.

A young titmouse family stopped by. There were 3 juveniles that hung out on the bath for a while. The parents spent the time at the feeder.

A juvenile cardinal that was just starting to molt into his red feathers was still being fed by Mom.

Up-close with my neighbor’s hibiscus.

As I was taking some macro shots of the beautiful hibiscus I realized her plants were covered in mealy bugs. They had taken over the entire 2 bushes. We sprayed several times with neem oil and tried to get them all off. They were gone for a few weeks then came back even worse. We finally chopped the bushes way back to just sticks. They are already started to get leaves again so it will be interesting to see if the bugs come back again. I hope not. Any advice here?

Some of the other blooms in the front courtyard.

I found a ladybug on a plant. I rarely see them anywhere.

The sun going down behind the lake across the street.

Critters in the backyard

On May 27, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

My neighbor’s hibiscus bush has been blooming for months. I’m always sneaking over to her side of our shared courtyard to take pictures of them.

Every once in a while we have a turkey or two cruising by the backyard.

All of the usual birds have been stopping by. Downy woodpeckers, chickadees, red bellied woodpeckers and blue jays. The above were all taken while I was sitting outside one morning. I sat still in the corner and the usual birds don’t mind coming to visit while I’m out there.

There is almost always a downy woodpecker on the suet feeder. The pine warblers don’t mind and would land on it when the woodpeckers were there.

Bluebirds have been stopping by the bird bath. They started to work on a nest in my nest box but didn’t finish it. I’m not sure why they don’t stay. Is it because they can see me in the window? This is the 3rd spring the box has been put up but no nesting.

A pileated woodpecker stopped by and I went outside to get the above. They stay high up in the trees.

A white ibis digging around under the bird bath.

I saw these ladies through the window right before dark and quietly went outside with my camera. . They were on the other side of the fairway so they would have been too far away to take through the window. They glanced at me for a minute but then kept on going down the course.

Front and back in late October

On February 8, 2024January 27, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I have a ton of palm warblers in the backyard but they rarely come to the suet feeder. This one must have decided to be brave and get a bite in between the woodpeckers feeding on it.

Anytime I look out the window I can usually see a red bellied or downy woodpecker feeding on the suet.

Ugh! A squirrel has figured out the tasty snack. All last winter I didn’t see a single squirrel on the suet. This winter I saw one several times. I got a pole baffle and cover for the stand and haven’t seen one on it since.

A house finch stopped by for a drink.

One morning I saw a young indigo bunting through the bushes.

A few days later I saw two more on the ground feeding in front of our patio. They looked like non-breeding males.

Catbirds, eastern phoebes and pine warblers are all regulars in the winter. The phoebe doesn’t come to the feeders since he only eats bugs or flies. He sits on the white stick (which is the marker that separates the golf course grass from our grass) and hops on and off of it chasing flies.

Standing in the backyard one morning I saw this guy sticking out of our gutters and had to take a picture.

Scratching his face on the tree.

I was bringing in the garbage can and saw this family hanging around the entrance wall to our townhomes so I ran in and got my camera and walked over to them. They gave me a quick glance and then ignored me.

The Hunter’s moon from our driveway.

“Red skies at night…” From the front yard and the backyard.

So many boxes of baby squirrels.

On November 11, 2023November 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

We didn’t get much rain in mid-August but it poured the afternoon I needed to get some injured wildlife to a rehabber. This trip I stopped at the emergency vet office and picked up some lost baby squirrels to add to the box of baby squirrels I was taking to Penny (the crazy busy rehabber in south St. Pete). After the vet office I stopped at the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay in Brandon and picked up more baby squirrels, a tiny baby opossum, a juvenile opossum and a juvenile red bellied woodpecker. They all made the trip to Penny’s so they could finish growing up before being released. And yes, that box of squirrels also had the tiny opossum. We put him in the squirrel box to keep warm since it had a warming gel pad under the towels.

A few days later I made a quick trip to the vet office to pick a lost baby squirrel and a pigeon with an injured wing and take them both to the Raptor Center.

The next day I made another trip to take the above from the Raptor Center to Penny in south St. Pete. That little baby opossum was just too cute when Nancy picked him up to put him in the box to make the trip. More baby squirrels and an injured black vulture (my first vulture passenger). A laughing gull also made this trip.

The next week I brought more lost baby squirrels and an opossum to Penny. The tiny bird was an Island canary that was found sick and exhausted. It was banded and Penny was going to try and find the owner. It was either an escapee or was released.

The day after Hurricane Idalia skirted by the Tampa bay area was a busy rescue day. People had brought Nancy baby squirrels that had fallen out of trees the day of the hurricane and a juvenile osprey had fallen off the nest. I picked them up in the morning and took them down to Penny. She took the osprey out of the crate while I was there and checked her out. She didn’t look injured so she should be released as soon as she’s eating and flying.

Later that afternoon I got a request to pick up some more lost critters that had come in from the emergency vet office. I picked up more baby squirrels and the cutest baby duck. I drove them right down to Penny’s.

In early September I got my first turtle passenger. A soft shell turtle had swallowed a fishing hook. I drove it over to Swamp Girl Adventures in Kissimmee, just outside of Orlando. Kim took the turtle and said they shouldn’t have a problem getting that hook out. I have to say that turtle was the stinkiest passenger I have had. It does live in a swamp after all. I hosed out the blue tub and left my windows rolled down for a day and the smell was gone.

Late June in the backyard

On October 12, 2023October 5, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

The female hummingbird was still coming to visit in late June.

It’s not often a smaller bird will come to the feeder when a woodpecker is on it. This chickadee was brave.

Blue jays are regular visitors.

This was the first time I have seen a cardinal molting. This female had lost all of the feathers on her head. She was looking scruffy.

I went outside to get shots of the above downy woodpeckers. At first I thought they were a couple but after watching them for a while I realized they were parent and young. The parent was teaching the juvenile how to dig for bugs in the trees.

I took this through the window. A juvenile red bellied woodpecker was just getting his red feathers in.

We also had a pileated woodpecker stop by.

I looked out the window and saw the above swallow tail kite circling behind our house. I grabbed my camera and ran out the back door thinking he would be gone but I managed to get a few far away shots before he got lost over the woods.