Back on the trails at my favorite park.

On October 20, 2014October 21, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography14 Comments

One of the first birds I see walking down the trail is a common yellowthroat.

He was checking me out.

A hairy woodpecker flew in.

Then a red bellied woodpecker showed up.

Another bird, I think this is a female yellowthroat.

Down the trail, I see the royal couple looking over their kingdom from a tall cypress tree in the middle of the lake.

Green heron doing his “trying to catch a tiny fish” pose.

Another red bellied woodpecker.

Another downy woodpecker. The trail was full of woodpeckers.

This is the 2nd time I’ve seen black bellied whistling duck babies and again they are far away and into the sun. I waited for half an hour hoping they would swim towards me but they kept getting farther away. This a late family.

It was so good to get back out on the trails at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland. I had not been since May. It’s way too hot in the summer. There wasn’t a lot of bird activity yet. The winter birds and ducks hadn’t gotten there yet. It was still fun to get out and walk. But, the spider webs were out of control. You really had to watch were you were going. They were across the trails in the trees and along the sides. Soon, meaning maybe mid-November, the weather will break and it won’t be so miserably hot there.

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Wild things growing at the zoo

On August 4, 2014August 5, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography10 Comments

I usually see red bellied woodpeckers in the trees right before the zebra and giraffe exhibit. I didn’t think to check earlier to see if they had nested this spring. I hadn’t gone to the zoo in a while and then as I walk through I see a juvenile woodpecker. He was hopping pretty good from branch to branch but I didn’t see him fly. He doesn’t have any red on his head or belly yet.

He was still being fed by the parent. You can see the red belly on the woodpecker on the left. The young one doesn’t have that yet.

Both parents were flying around looking for bugs.

Close up of the baby.

A baby tricolored heron was in a nest over the alligator exhibit. Waiting for Mom to bring food.

A young little blue heron hanging around. Most of the great egret and blue heron babies are all grown up. They were still hanging around the nest area though. This guy will have dark blue feathers in a year.

Nice butt shot. This was the only shot I could get of the baby cardinal. He moved around to the back of the tree which went into another exhibit. I waited a while hoping he would come back around but Mom brought food back and they disappeared.

Flowers in bloom.

Funky plant at the zoo. I’ve seen this plant at the Botanical Gardens but can’t remember what kind it is. It’s in the fruit section.

It was a hot day at the zoo. I went early in the morning just to walk around and get some exercise not expecting too much. It was fun watching the woodpecker family bouncing around in the trees. I was hoping to get some grasshopper shots. They are usually all over the zoo but I couldn’t find any on this trip. I wonder if they spray to keep them from taking over. They ruin the plants and flowers. I don’t get them in my yard and I guess I wouldn’t want them there but they are pretty cool looking.

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Birds of prey on the nest at Honeymoon Island

On April 8, 2013April 8, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography14 Comments

Walking the trail at Honeymoon Island, this is a common sight. The trail is full of osprey sitting on nests. Osprey raise their babies a little later than eagles and owls. Most of the eagle and owl babies in the area are almost grown up and the osprey were just starting to lay eggs when I walked the trail in mid-February.

Another common sight, both parents on the nest. This couple might not have eggs yet. The osprey on the left had a fish under his foot.

I saw the above great horned owl before I saw the nest. She was sitting in a branch right over the trail.

The nest is right on the trail so you can’t miss it. I saw two baby owls looking down.

I don’t know what they were looking at here. Must have been a squirrel running around.

“What are you looking up at?” said the older owl. He was probably watching an osprey fly by.

As I was standing there watching the baby owls, the above landed on a branch right over my head. The trail is full of these red-bellied woodpeckers.

This was the same dark drizzly morning I saw the red breasted mergansers. Not too far from the parking lot is the owl nest. Everyone walking the trail can see the babies peeking out. I had heard they were there but didn’t make it out until they were almost grown. They looked very curious. Staring at anything that moved. The weather kept most people home so it was a quiet morning. Not many other birds out though. Tons of osprey and woodpeckers. I’m going to try to back there to see some osprey babies.

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Weird mix of birds at the Florida Botanical Gardens

On December 3, 2012October 5, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography16 Comments

Wood stork high up in the tree. He was all alone.

Red bellied woodpecker has a big nut. I think he was hiding it in the hole.

Pileated woodpecker on a utility pole. These birds have done a lot of damage to the poles there. You can see where they try to patch them up but the woodpeckers just move and create new holes.

A lone female wood duck. I found her in a small pond behind the old butterfly garden.

Red bellied woodpecker and easter phoebe were sitting in the same tree. I could hear the phoebe singing from across the lake.

Wild monk parakeet hanging on a pole. There’s a small flock that always seem to be around the gardens.

I finally made it over to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo after trying the weekend before and getting deterred by a huge crowd coming for an event. This Saturday morning it was quiet. I could even hear that phoebe singing all morning. There wasn’t anything unusual there. But still, it was a nice morning out and I got a good 2 hour walk in.

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