An early morning bike ride

On June 30, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

I was out on my bike in early April watching the sun come up on the Pinellas County bike trail. It was a little too early to see any migrating birds but I might see something else fun.

I had just started out and up ahead I saw an alligator crossing the trail. This is the first time I’ve seen one on the trail here but since there are ponds on both sides I wasn’t too surprised to see him crossing. I was afraid I wouldn’t have time to take my camera out of the backpack so I took the above with my phone.

A quick video of him strutting across. After this I pedaled over to where he went in on the other side.

I was able to catch him down in the ditch as he crawled under a hole in the fence and went into the pond.

Farther down the sun was coming up over the horse pasture.

Evening primrose was blooming along the fence.

The sun far up across the field. The lake in the back is Lake Dan.

The pattern on this juvenile bald eagle is striking. I saw him across the cow pasture and at first I thought it was a red-tailed hawk but when he turned around I could see his eagle beak. I was hoping he would fly off but after 15 minutes he looked like he wasn’t going to move so I continued on the trail.

A red headed woodpecker was in the same big dead tree.

This not-quite adult eagle was sitting high up in the tower right on the trail. Based on the coloring in his head he must be around 3 years old. See chart below for age identification.

Bald eagles don’t get their all white head until they are 5 years old.

He started yelling at the crows that were bothering him and took off.

More flowers along the trail.

I love seeing the horses out in the pasture. It makes me feel like I’m farther out in the country (or really just suburbs here).

Cattle egrets taking a break from feeding on bugs around the cattle. Many had their pretty bright orange breeding feathers and beaks.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Sunrise over old Florida

On April 28, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

I love coming up to Chinsegut Wildlife Area early in the morning to catch the sun coming up over the trees.

Sunrise here is what I think old Florida looks like. Lots of tall old trees and fog.

There were lots of birds behind the nature center including the female painted buntings that were in the platform feeder.

There’s a large red headed woodpecker population here but I’ve never seen them come to the feeder area until this morning. This one posed nicely for me.

Then he flew down to the suet feeder and snacked for a few minutes. This is the closest I’ve seen one and there were a lot of people standing on the deck behind the center so he wasn’t shy.

After spending an hour at the nature center feeders looking for the Scott’s oriole (see previous post), I headed out for a walk on the trails.

I made my way down to the lake which is mostly choked up on this side and there isn’t much water here. It’s all grown in and I would have to walk much farther down to the end of the preserve to find the real lake.

The sun coming up over the wild stuff growing in the water.

The sweetgum trees were finally turning to fall colors in late January.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

An easy new bird find.

On April 26, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I drove an hour north in late January to look for a rare bird. The sun had not gotten up over the trees as I was heading into the entrance to Chinsegut Wildlife Area.

Behind the nature center I found lots of bird feeders. The first birds on the feeders were goldfinches. The males don’t have their bright yellow breeding feathers yet so they are a little drab but still pretty.

Sitting behind the center I could see sandhill cranes flying far away.

A male (red feathers) and a female house finch joined the goldfinches.

Yellow rumped warblers were on the suet feeder. You can see by the one leaving on the right how they got their name.

Pine warblers sharing the suet.

Red winged blackbirds were enjoying the seed on the platform.

A pine warbler enjoying the jelly feeder.

The real reason I drove an hour north this early morning was to see the rare Scott’s oriole that comes in to feed on the jelly feeder. This is the first time I’ve heard of this bird being in Florida so it was a lifer for me. People had driven from all over the state to see it. These orioles live in the western half of the country, rarely coming east of Texas. He stayed hidden and only came to the feeder a few times this morning. So yes, it wasn’t like I was hiking around and looking hard to find it like usual. Other birders had been reporting it a few days before so it was an easy find to add to my list.

There’s a fairly large population of red headed woodpeckers here and one flew into a snag near the nature center and posed for a few minutes.

Sitting on the back deck

On September 23, 2023September 21, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In late May I spent a Saturday morning sitting on the back deck behind the Chinsegut Conservation Center. I wasn’t expecting to see many different birds but was hoping a few might still be migrating through. House finches are common here during migration.

I got a quick glimpse of an Eastern towhee.

All the usual birds that I could have seen in my backyard were there. Bluebirds, chickadees and downy woodpeckers were plentiful.

Here’s something I don’t see anywhere near where I live but I always see them here, a red headed woodpecker.

I was packing up to leave and I saw these out of the corner of my eye. A pair of Northern bobwhites came cruising through the back deck area. They stopped by the tiny pond for a few seconds and then headed into the bushes.

They were really skittish and disappeared quickly.

The view heading out on the trails. I didn’t walk too far this particular morning since my foot was still bothering me. It was nice to come and sit out on the deck for a while and watch all of the wildlife come through.

Just the usual birds

On June 5, 2023April 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I headed up north to Chinsegut Wildlife Area, north of Tampa, in late March. They have a great deck on the back of the nature center with lots of bird feeders off the deck. I was able to catch a few red headed woodpeckers on the way to the deck. The woods here are full of them and I usually see them when I visit.

The first birds I saw high up in the trees were these pale yellow ones. As I zoomed in on them I realized they were goldfinches.

I sat really still for a while and they came down to the feeders. I get one or two at my feeder at home in the winter but this was the most I had seen at one time.

I was hoping to see some different birds than the ones I already get in my backyard. Spring migration was just starting but the ones here were all of the usual wintering birds. There were lots of pine warblers, chipping sparrows, bluebirds, chickadees, titmouse and house sparrows.

A fuzzy caterpillar on the wall next to my seat.

And, they have tons of squirrels being cute, just like back home.

It was a beautiful morning and nice to sit out on that back deck and watch all of the usual birds flying in and out. Another trip in late April is in the plan.

A walk in the woods

On January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

The one that got away. I was walking down the back trail at Chinsegut Wildlife area and I hear a noise in the woods. Several deer were cutting across the trail way ahead of me and I just caught this buck peeking back at me before he took off into the woods.

I love coming here and seeing all of the red headed woodpeckers. They are everywhere here. And, this spring I AM going to get back up here to look for some woodpecker nests.

Another amazing thing about this place is that I was standing in one spot on the trail near the nature center and saw 4 different species of woodpeckers. Without moving I was able to get pictures of red heads and then I saw a downy, a red bellied and then a pileated. They were all hanging around the same area at the same time.

Of course I saw tons of pine warblers.

I did see an indigo bunting (either a female or immature male) at the feeder at the nature center.

My first common garter snake sighting. They are harmless and he was warming up in the sunny spot in the grass. I quickly shot this and kept going.

It was starting to look like fall in late December.

All of the different colors of birds

On November 6, 2021October 19, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In early October I went to see my favorite red heads. You can always find several redheaded woodpeckers flying around the short trail by the nature center at Chinsegut Wildlife center.

I missed the summer nesting season but I did see several young ones that didn’t have their red heads in yet.

You can usually find a red bellied woodpecker around the suet at the nature center.

This year I’m seeing pine warblers all over the place.

A prairie wabler that would not look at me.

I’m thinking this is a palm warbler?

I found some very young bluebirds.

And, there’s always a lot of chickadees here.

Beautiful red heads

On June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

The view during my walk at Chinsegut Wildlife Area in April. Lots of shade walking along the trail.

I saw a couple of red headed woodpeckers go by. One landed in a tree right in front of me. I don’t see them in the Tampa bay area so it was a treat to see several here, only an hour north of Tampa.They have to be one of the prettiest birds around here.

I found one working on a hole. Maybe he’ll nest here.

Later sitting at the nature center I could see one across the field with a bug in his beak. I jumped up and walked over and he caught another bug.

I want to get back here to see if these guys nest. So many birds, so little time.

Hit the ladies room before heading home. The bathroom wall was really fun.

Birds at Bok Tower Gardens

On November 3, 2014November 4, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I was sitting quietly on a bench waiting for the rufous hummingbirds to come back and this towhee came out from the bushes and started digging around for snacks in the ground.

He got pretty close to me but I was afraid he would get spooked if I raised my camera. He stayed right there as I took this picture.

This hawk was sitting in a tree close to the bench and right after I snapped this he took off. I heard him screaming and a kingfisher screaming close by.

I ran into the window blind that looks over a little pond and the hawk was chasing the kingfisher around the pond. I couldn’t get a good picture of the chase through the glass but was able to shoot the kingfisher sitting on a bird house in front of the window.

I headed to the other end of the gardens and heard the red headed woodpeckers calling close by.

They were banging away on the trees.

Something in this hole had his interest.

I saw three adults but I heard there were more there.

Zooming over my head.

This juvenile was all alone nearby. I’m not sure how long it takes for them to get their full red head.

A red bellied woodpecker with a big nut in his beak. Taken right into the sun.

A few of the birds I saw on my recent trip to Bok Tower Gardens. I saw several rufous hummingbirds flying around but could not get a shot of them in the shade. They did not sit still the entire hour I was watching them. They would fly high over the trees and then come back 10 minutes later. I guess that’s a good reason for another trip over there.

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