Rescues transports in late March and early April

On June 13, 2024June 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants9 Comments

It was near the end of March and I was heading to Penny’s (the rehabber) house in south St. Pete to pick up some osprey. I got into a little traffic jam waiting for peacocks to cross the street before her house. These birds are everywhere now.

Heading back to Tampa, it looked like I was going to be driving through a storm.

I made it to the Raptor Center with 2 osprey that were going to be released. They had come in injured and both were going home. I didn’t even open the boxes to get a pic. Someone else was picking them up from the Raptor Center and taking them to central Florida (near Lakeland) to be released.

A few days later I got the text that there was a baby duck that had been brought into the emergency vet office. I picked it up along with the screech owl below that had been brought in and drove them to the Raptor Center in Brandon.

Nancy was checking the owl’s crop to see how skinny it was. It was pretty malnourished but should be okay once she got it eating again.

April started off with me picking up a tiny baby blue jay at the emergency vet and taking it to the Raptor Center. What a mouth!

Later that week I took a barred owl with an injured eye and a screech owl with an injured nose from the Raptor Center to Moccasin Lake Nature Park where another rehabber works out of. Barbara was going to take the barred owl to a vet that works with wildlife the next day. They wanted to make sure his eye would be okay long term. The screech owl was going to rehab at the park where other injured screech owls were living.

Moccasin Lake Park has a raptor sanctuary where permanently injured birds reside. While I was there I was able to spend some time in the hospital room. This little screech owl had the cutest little hum.

This red shoulder hawk had an injured eye and feet. He had just come back from the vet. He was going to be getting well here at the hospital.

The park also has some great hiking trails and a turtle pond. It’s a little bit of nature in the middle of Clearwater and right off of a busy road.

Wild peacocks roam the park here as well and this guy was admiring himself in someone’s bumper.

Some of the permanently injured birds here include a kestral and a swallow tail kite.

The above eagle is missing any eye so he’s always looking to one side.

These two live here. One is blind in one eye and the other is missing a wing. You can hear them having a conversation with the volunteer.

I stopped by the nearby Safety Harbor fishing pier before heading home. It was a beautiful afternoon and not hot yet.

A few days later the barred owl with the injured eye made the trip back to the Raptor Center. The vet had cleared his eye and after a few more days of Nancy putting drops in it the owl will be released.

Fun things in Safety Harbor

On April 29, 2024May 12, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was a beautiful cool morning in February when I headed out to Folly Farm in Safety Harbor. I didn’t think there would be a lot of birds there but I can usually count on seeing little flying critters.

There was a red shoulder hawk sitting right out in the open in the middle of the butterfly garden. He was all fluffed up and looked a little chilly. A few minutes later I saw him fly over to a palm tree next to the nature center.

I could see a nest and another hawk sitting in the nest.

The other hawk kept flying back and forth with sticks, bringing them to the nest. He found a big one on the roof of the nature center and it took him a while to figure out how to fly it over to the nest. He first tried to pick it up with his beak but he couldn’t balance it so eventually he realized he could take it over in his talons.

After a bunch of trips with nesting material he took a nap in the top of the palm tree.

On my way home I stopped at the fishing pier in Safety Harbor for a walk.

There was a lone ring billed gull down in the muck under the pier.

The fountain in front of the marina.

The pink trumpet tree on Main Street was in full bloom.

My first eagle passenger

On April 13, 2024April 9, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

An early morning transport had me driving an injured red shoulder hawk and a black vulture from the Raptor Center in Brandon to Penny, the rehabber, in south St. Pete. I didn’t get a picture of the vulture. He was in a box and was jumping around a lot so didn’t want to open the box. I think he was being released soon.

A few days later I got an emergency call to see if I could pick up an injured eagle that was being rescued. It was only 15 minutes from my house so I jumped in the car and met George from Birds In Helping Hands who had just grabbed the eagle. The eagle had been on the ground in someone’s backyard and they called it in.

George put the eagle in a crate and put it in the back of my car. My first eagle passenger put up a little fight at first so I thought he might be okay. The entire drive to the Raptor Center I was hoping it wasn’t rat poison which would have been bad. When I got to the Center and Nancy went to take him out of my car we realized he did not survive the trip. I was crushed, fighting back tears. His crop was torn wide open so he hadn’t eaten in a long time. Nancy thinks he must have eaten a fish with a big fishing hook in it and it tore through.

The rescues and transports continue. A huge white pelican was rescued in someone’s yard by Carol (on the right) and brought to the nearby Raptor Center. I met her there and then transported it to the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary. Two hawks (in the boxes) made the trip as well and went to Penny on the way home.

There’s a constant stream of screech owls getting rescued. This was found on the ground not too far from my home and I got it from Barbara, the rescuer, and drove it out to the center.

February 1st brought another trip to a rehabber with a red shoulder hawk and a crow. Most of the birds are quiet in the car but that crow was cawwing all the way there.

Baby squirrel season had already started here. There were 3 in the box. The one mostly covered under the towel had no fur yet. There were 2 tiny bats that were found on the ground as well. Bats can carry rabies but it’s very rare for a person to get a rabies from a bat. I didn’t open the box. Penny opened it when I got to her home. She’s been vaccinated for rabies and rehabilitates bats.

A few days later I transported a great horned owl with a bang on his head and an injured beak and a turkey vulture that was sick.

Two days later another box of baby squirrels went to Penny. This box also had a tiny baby bunny in it (on the orange).

A wood stork with a broken wing also made the trip. He was heading to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park to live once he healed.

In the middle of February a sick sanderling was found in central Florida. Someone brought him into the Raptor Center and I drove him from there to the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary out on the beach. They are experts with rehabbing shorebirds so he was in good hands.

The sick/injured wildlife never ends here so I have more to share but I’ll save that for another post.

Ending the year and starting another with injured birds

On February 17, 2024February 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Look at that beautiful face! This poor barred owl had been shot but was making a quick recovery. In late October I picked him up at the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay in Brandon and drove him down to a rehabber in St. Pete. Soon he will be ready to fly free.

A vulture also made the trip. Penny was pulling him out of the back of my car and checking him over. He was found sick and should be released soon.

So many vultures were either sick or getting hit by cars. They feed in the roads eating roadkill so they are sometimes risking their lives for a meal. No one slows down anymore. I made several trips to pick up injured turkey vultures to take to rehabbers in early November.

The above river cooter had been hit by a car Thanksgiving week. A good samaritan picked her up and brought her to the Raptor Center. Overnight she laid an egg. The next morning I drove the cooter and her egg to the Swamp Girl Adventures near Orlando.

This poor red shoulder hawk had an injured eye. Someone found him in their yard and brought him into an emergency vet who called the Raptor Center. I picked him up right away and drove him to Penny in south St. Pete.

The week of Christmas this common loon was found on the ground in the middle of Florida, no where near water. Loons winter here in Florida but in water. I see them often in the gulf or bay on my walks. Loons don’t have the ability to take off from land so if they are on land they are stranded for some reason. He might have gotten blown off course by a bad storm that had recently hit Florida. I drove him from the Raptor Center to Seaside Seabird Sanctuary on Indian Shore beach. They are loon experts and will hopefully have him swimming in the gulf in no time.

I had some time before heading home so I did a quick walk around the seabird sanctuary and followed the above pelican out to the beach. The sanctuary gets a lot of wild birds hanging around looking for a free handout. It was a beautiful but cold windy morning so I got a very rare shot of an empty stretch of beach.

I made a quick trip back to Penny, the rehabber, on Christmas eve with another injured vulture.

The day after New Year I drove a great horned owl that was about to be released down to Penny’s as well as a tiny bat that was found on the ground in someone’s yard. He was named Pop Tart because he was brought in to the Raptor Center in a Pop Tart box. Bats can’t take off from the ground. They need to drop down a few feet to get lift before taking off so if a bat is on the ground it’s probably sick. They eat their weight in mosquitos every night so they are very beneficial to have around. Many people put up bat boxes in their neighborhoods to keep the insect population down. We have a box nearby and I love going out to get the mail right before dark and seeing they flying around.

An afternoon bike ride

On January 27, 2024January 17, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In late October I went out for a quick bike ride around the neighborhood. We had a few cooler days but it was mostly still in the 80’s in the afternoons. I found a small promise of cooler weather ahead in these few red leaves.

I saw this yellow blooming plant all over the utility field. I looked it up and it’s rattlebox (also known as rattleweed, cat’s bell and showy crotalaria). It’s not a native plant and is invasive. It blooms in the fall here.

The little critters love the flowers.

The seed pods are toxic once they dry out.

This looks like bladderpod (or bagpod) but I didn’t see any orange flowering so I’m not sure. The pods are most likely toxic as well.

An Eastern phoebe was sitting on a bottlebrush tree.

Little critters along my ride.

I only saw this tiny gator on my ride. There are bigger ones here but they must have been hiding.

I saw a red shoulder hawk sitting on a light post near some woods and stopped to get a shot but he took off right as I started to snap. He flew into a tree and I walked over to see if I could find him and realized he was with a friend. It was that time of the year where all of the raptors were mating up. I wondered if this couple nested in this small stretch of woods but it would be hard to find them in there.

Backyard critters in August

On November 20, 2023April 11, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

It was early August and the hummingbirds were still coming to the backyard. There were at least two that I could see. They would buzz by each other on the way to the feeder. They were also both feeding on the shrimp plant hanging near the feeder. They would come to the plant early in the morning and then the feeder later in the day. The bottom picture is a young male. He was just getting a few red dots on his throat.

One morning I saw him fly up to the top of the oak tree. I ran upstairs and was surprised I could find him again up there. I could just barely see him sitting high up through the window.

A squirrel doing a sploot on the bird box and another one was eating what looked like an old pine cone.

A juvenile male cardinal was scratching around under the bird bath. Dad was close by and was feeding him. He was just starting to get that black mask around his eyes and beak like Dad.

I saw a lone doe across the fairway.

A little while later she was taking a break.

Since this is turkey week, I’m posting tons of turkey pictures. I was seeing them a lot in August. One morning they were on the golf tee out our back door.

I heard Harley, my cockatiel, screaming and looked outside and there was a hawk on the ground right in front of our door. He must have been hunting lizards. He saw me and took off.

We had an armadillo in the backyard one afternoon. The first shot I took with my camera through the window across the yard. A little later I saw him scratching around under the ferns near our door. I went out and took the 2nd one with my phone. He let me get pretty close, although I wouldn’t get tooooo close. I’ve read they don’t have great eyesight so he probably didn’t even see me.

I was taking the garbage out one morning and saw the above gulf fritillary caterpillar on the plant. Of course I went and grabbed my phone to take a picture.

The neighborhood eagles were back in late August. I stopped one morning and got a shot of one of them sitting on the nest tower. There was still some of the old nest left but they had their work cut out for them to get it ready for nesting season.

Late August brought some much needed rain although we are still in an extreme drought. We only had a few nights with summer skies. Both taken from the driveway.

The usual visitors in July

On October 21, 2023October 19, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I looked out the window and saw a Carolina wren sitting on the outdoor chair in the backyard. Later I saw one singing on the hanging plant holder. I wondered if it was the same one.

The cardinal was not happy when the dove flew in and got a drink of water while he was taking a bath. He stopped and moved over the the rim to let the dove drink.

I got another look at the molting cardinal. What a scruffy looking bird.

The ruby throated hummingbird was feeding on the flowers in the backyard. I still had the hummer feeder out but it was good to see her feeding on the plants.

We occasionally have white ibis coming through the backyard. They are usually in groups and pick through the bugs but one day I saw one picking around near our pavers alone. I realized it was missing a foot. I cracked open the back door to take the first shot above and it came up to the door. I broke my hard fast rule of never feeding the wildlife other than the smaller birds and ran in and got a few raw green beans and some of the Nutriberry balls I feed my cockatiels. I threw them on the pavers and closed the door and the ibis ate all of it. I always keep an eye out for it when the many ibis come through the area. I have yet to see it again.

A great egret eating a lizard in front of the window.

I heard Harley (my youngest cockatiel) screaming his “There’s something scary in the backyard” scream and I ran over and saw the above red shoulder hawk taking a bath in the bird bath. I grabbed my camera and started snapping. He saw me and took off quickly. I’m surprised he didn’t knock over the bath.

Other critters in the backyard, taken through the window. We haven’t had a lot of deer come through lately but I did see the lone doe stop by.

A new hobby

On July 20, 2023July 30, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Brett and I were sitting at home late on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, not doing much since it was so hot and my foot was bothering me, when I started surfing through Facebook and saw a post from a rescue group needing a transport for a sick bird. I have been following Raptor Center of Tampa Bay on Facebook for a while but I really wasn’t paying attention until I saw the transport request. They needed a pick up of a sick red shoulder hawk at a 24 hour emergency veterinarian and brought to Nancy, the rehabber out in Brandon. I thought “I could do that”, sent them a note that I was coming and jumped in the car. Someone had found the hawk sitting on the side of a busy road and stopped to pick him up and took him to the vet. When I got to the rehabber she pulled him out of the box and said he was a juvenile and was very undernourished. He didn’t even fight her. She was going to try and nurse him back to health.

A few days later the Raptor Center needed another transport. This time from Nancy’s home in Brandon where the Raptor Center is located to another rehabber in south St. Pete. Since there isn’t one big rehab center in the Tampa area for raptors they get placed in smaller rehabs around the area. Penny in St. Pete had room to rehab these critters so off I went to pick them up. The original hawk I had transported earlier was the first one loaded in my car. He looked comfortable and ready for the 45 minute ride.

The bat was found by someone who kept it for a week, feeding it powered milk and ground mealworms. One thing I learned is you should never feed any animal cow’s milk (except cows). Even cats really shouldn’t have milk.

Four baby screech owls made the trip. I think all of them had fallen out of the nest or the nests couldn’t be relocated. Look at those eyes!

Two juvenile crows came along as well. These guys were scratching the box so I didn’t even peek in. Nancy took this picture.

The rehabber in St. Pete lives near the Bay Pines National Cemetery where my parents are buried so I stopped in before heading home.

They decorate with flags for Memorial Day weekend and they were still there a few days later.

The flags go on forever.

A quiet morning out.

On June 6, 2022May 24, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was a gorgeous morning to be out on the beach in early April.

Far out in the water I could see a willet with a snack.

Terns were cruising by.

Laughing gulls were pairing up.

The rare kittiwake was still on the pier, a week later than when we first found him.

I still kept seeing the same warblers on the trails, a hooded and a black and white. I kept telling myself it was still early for migration here.

After a quiet morning at Fort Desoto Park I headed home but not before stopping by Possum Branch Preserve for a quick walk. Two red shoulder hawks were sitting on the big dead snag outside of the preserve. I guess the hawks are pairing up as well.

A green heron trying to hide in the marsh.

It was pretty quiet at this park as well. I started taking pictures of butterflies since they are starting to be more plentiful. At least I got a good walk in before heading home for lunch.

Critters in the yard in January

On March 7, 2022March 7, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals2 Comments

Brett was in the car, backing out of the driveway on the way to work when he called me. He says “There’s deer in the front yard”. He was afraid if he got out of the car and came back in to tell me they would leave. I went flying out of the house with my camera to see them cruising through our yard and around to the back. This will never get old.

One morning I was walking by the back window and saw a hawk sitting on the bird feeder. Ugh, well that’s not going to get me any songbirds. Again, I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. He didn’t even flinch as I walked up to the feeder. I finally waved my arms at him and he flew over to a nearby tree. I think he was trying to catch some lizards.

A few of the visitors to the birdbath in January. The yellow throated warbler has been hanging out for a while now. He will probably head north soon for the summer.

This looks like a new visitor. I’m not sure what this is. It’s a juvenile. It’s got the beak of bunting or a goldfinch. Or, maybe it’s a house finch? The yellow around the head is throwing me off.

Right before dark as I was closing the curtians I saw this dove sitting on the bird bath every night for a week. It was a chilly week so I was wondering if he wanted to come in to warm up? One night I could see the moon coming through the trees so I ran out and shot the above.

I added sunflower seeds to the feeder and finally got a bluebird on it. My neighbor has a feeder full of sunflower seeds (and one with mealworms) and he always has a lot of bluebirds.

I’m always amused at the antics of the many squirrels in the backyard. I think this one was taking a nap in the sun except he was upside down. He stayed there for a while.