An early morning walk

On February 21, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

There was a mist over the wetlands as I walked out on the trail at the Roosevelt Wetlands. It was mid-November and a cold morning although it warmed up fast. The mist and dew made it easy to see the spiderwebs.

The muhly grass had lost their pink blooms and now just looked like white feathers in the mist. The sun was coming up as I walked along the trail.

It’s common to see a spotted sandpiper in the fall and winter here.

A Savannah sparrow was trying to hide in the reeds.

The northern harrier that spends winters here was so far away this trip.

A tricolored heron flies by and lands in the water.

Some type of wasp? I haven’t seen one of these before.

A bunny hides in the shade. If I get any closer he’s going to dart into the bushes.

The sun through the pink grass

On February 2, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In early November I was at the Roosevelt Wetlands near Clearwater early enough to catch sunrise. The native muhly grass along the trail entrance was blooming pink.

The goldenrod was in full bloom as well.

The sun was slowly coming up over the landfill as I made my way down the trail towards the other side of the lake. Yes, this preserve sits next to the largest waste plant and landfill in Pinellas county. As long as the wind blows away from the lake it’s fine. It’s a hot spot for birds most of the year.

I made my way over to the trail that runs along side the lake. Local birders call this “warbler alley” but it was a quiet morning.

One of the northern harriers that spend the winters here was cruising the top of the landfill, looking for a meal.

I found a house wren hiding in the bushes.

A loggerhead shrike sits up high in the sun.

A pied grebe staring at me.

A phoebe was flying in and out of this tree.

A rare scissortail flycatcher was seen in the park and I missed it on this morning but the next day I heard it was hanging around the other side of the waste plant and I stopped by the next day to catch it sitting on a stick for a while.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

A hot quiet walk at Roosevelt Wetlands

On September 3, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

In early May I made my last trip out to the Roosevelt Wetlands for the summer. There is no shade here and not many critters during the dead of summer. I was standing near the parking area and could see across the lake to the waste plant mountain. All of a sudden tons of birds took off across the open mound. I’m not sure what scared them, mostly gulls and terns. There’s a lot of hawks in the area and I think most of the eagles are gone for the summer.

Cattails along the trail.

After staring into the reeds for a while I saw a bittern’s head pop up. He stayed hidden after he saw me.

Little critters along the trail.

A bunny hops across the trail, trying to hide fast before I pass him.

Color along the trail in the form of tickseed.

I saw a purple gallinule heading into the reeds and noticed a baby was right behind her. I was able to get a quick shot before the baby disappeared.

A female grackle posing. When I cropped this up I noticed the ladybug on the bottom right.

Standing near the waste plant, looking across the lake to the parking area. It’s a long walk back when it gets hot and the wind blows from the waste plant area.

A little blue heron flies by.

The northern harriers and winter ducks have all gone north for the summer. There was no sign of baby black necked stilts which is the highlight of late spring. Critter traffic comes to a halt through August so I took a long break from visiting.

The usual at Roosevelt Wetlands

On May 3, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Spotted sandpipers are common here. They only get their spots on their bellies in the summer when they are breeding. This was the first bird I saw as I walked out on the trail at Roosevelt Wetlands in early February.

Northern shovelers are also common here in the winter. I saw 2 couples in the small pond. This couple was busy bathing when I first saw them and they flap to get off the excess water. I’m not sure why ducks need to take a bath when they live in water. I guess they want to keep their backs clean as well.

Another couple was trying to stay hidden in the reeds. I might not have noticed the female since she blended in but the male really stuck out with his mixed colors and yellow eyes.

Ring neck ducks are also common here in the winter.

Two male painted buntings! I had briefly seen one on my last trip here and was surprised they were still here and there were two. They were on the far back corner up against the waste plant and they flushed when I first saw them. I stood half hidden in the bushes and they eventually came out in view.

A great blue heron fly by.

The Indian blanket flowers along the trail were still blooming in the winter.

A tricolored heron flies into the reeds.

A red winged blackbird was calling his mate.

An osprey nest platform sits on the beginning of the trail. It was early for them to be nesting but on my way out one was sitting on the top giving me the eye as I walked under his nest.

Winter ducks and a new bird

On March 22, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

It was the week of Christmas and I was out for a walk at Roosevelt Wetlands. I wasn’t expecting to see too much. Fall migration was mostly over and the winter ducks may not have arrived yet but you never know. I first saw a coot. They look like common moorhens but they have a white beak instead of a red one. They are only visiting for the winter.

I found a lone female northern shoveler hanging out with some blue-winged teals.

The ring-neck ducks are common here in the winter and are a tight group.

Monarchs can be found here all year round.

A surprise painted bunting was hanging out by the back fence. This was the first time I have seen one at this park. He was shy and stayed hidden in the bushes most of the time I was there.

A yellow-rumped warbler was getting a snack.

Walking to the other end of the wetlands, just me and my shadow.

As I walked back towards my car the infamous male northern harrier flies right over me head. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t see him on this visit.

All of a sudden another bird flies toward him. At first I thought it was a kestrel that had been flying by earlier.

When they passed each other I realized the other bird was a sharp-shinned hawk. They are not very common here and this was my first time seeing one. I wished I had paid more attention and gotten some better shots of him.

It was beautiful morning out.

Looking for a ghost

On February 26, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Right before Thanksgiving weekend I was back out at Roosevelt Wetlands (next to the county waste plant in Pinellas county). I was hoping to see the northern harriers that spend their winters at the reserve. I had heard they were back but didn’t see them the week before.

Dragonflies were still out and about since it hadn’t gotten cold yet.

The usual winter birds were there including tons of blue-gray gnatcatchers and eastern phoebes.

A great blue heron flies by and lands in the marsh in front of me.

A wood stork cruises by.

Some friends and I walked to the other end of the marsh. It was an hour later and we still hadn’t seen any harriers. We got about half way back and Lorraine decided to take the middle trail back to her car. I was standing around watching the little birds when I saw her waving her arms from across the trail.

The male harrier (also called the gray ghost) had just flown by.

After flying down the channel outside of the reserve he circled back and came right over my head. I was glad I hung back to watch the little birds and was glad I saw her waving at me.

Sunrise through the pink grass

On January 20, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

At the beginning of November I went to the Roosevelt Wetlands to look for the northern harriers that had showed up for the winter. The last time I was at the wetlands was in early October and the muhly grass had not turned pink yet. Muhly is a Florida native plant and turns pink in the late fall. We had it growing across the back of our house in Tampa since we had full sun there but we don’t really have a good place to plant it at our townhome. It’s more shade than sun. I miss seeing the pink.

The sun was just peeking out as I walked out on the trail. The muhly grass looked pretty through the sunrise.

Farther down the trail I saw a usual winter visitor, a spotted sandpiper (his belly has spots when he’s breeding in the summer). We don’t usually see them here with their spots on.

Other usual birds included a blue gray gnatcatcher and a loggerhead shrike.

A red-winged blackbird was sitting still for me.

The goldenrod was still blooming.

The sun was up when I made my way back to my car.

Looking through the pink.

I didn’t see the harriers on this trip but I eventually made it back and found the male, more on him later.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

The usual suspects.

On December 11, 2024January 21, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was not that early in the morning at the start of October when I went for a walk at the Roosevelt Wetlands. The sun was already high in the sky over the marsh.

All of the usual birds were there including a green heron and two tricolored herons.

Another usual bird, a female anhinga, was drying off her wings.

I was hoping to see some winter ducks but it was still a little early and most of the ducks were mallards.

There was a lone blue winged teal. Hopefully more will show up soon.

A loggerhead shrike in his element, sitting on a wire.

A male anhinga (on the far right) was crashing this tricolored heron convention.

Another usual thing here is a white peacock.

Most of the parks along the coast were closed due to flooding from Hurricane Helene and Roosevelt Wetlands was one of the few open in early October. The water levels were high but the trail was still dry. I was hoping to find some fall migraters or early winter birds but only the usual suspects were here.

More baby stilts

On October 12, 2024October 7, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

At the end of June I was back at Roosevelt Wetlands looking for more baby black necked stilts. I found the 3 babies that I had seen 3 weeks earlier. All 3 were there but I couldn’t get them all together in one shot. They were much older but still had the dark gray feathers and paler pink legs.

It looks like they were just starting to figure out the flying thing.

A few usual things were there as well including a skimmer, a moorhen skipping across the water and a single black bellied whistling duck.

I did find another set of triplets farther down the trail. They were maybe 2 weeks old and still had a lot of fuzz.

Another stilt was on a nest. This was a little late but maybe they were trying again. This might have been the couple who had their original nest flooded out.

A kildeer deep in the reeds.

There were tons of white peacock butterflies along the trail.

Aren’t all babies cute?

On September 21, 2024September 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I had been going to Roosevelt Wetlands every few days to see if there were any black necked stilt babies. There had been several couples nesting across the pond so even if babies had hatched it might be hard to see them. On the first day of June I got lucky. There was one family with three little ones feeding not far from the trail. They are so cute when they are that little (aren’t all babies cute?). Both parents stayed close by as the little ones were running around exploring.

A little blue heron wandered a little too close to the area and one of the stilt parents flew towards him and did a few dive bombs. At first the blue heron was not going to move but eventually he headed a little farther away.

There was a moorhen family also feeding in the area and a few times the moorhen Mom tried to run off the baby stilts.

Across the pond I could see another stilt couple that were on eggs. They were nesting on a little spit of dirt in the pond and sadly I had heard a few days later that after a few days of rain the nest got flooded and lost. They usually nest before the summer rains but this couple must have started late.