Visitors in in late January

On June 3, 2026June 3, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

There was another chance of seeing northern lights in late January in central Florida and of course I was out in the backyard. I didn’t see any northern lights but could see the stars.

One afternoon I was across the street at the pond looking for ducks and this anhinga popped up in front of me with a fish. She seemed proud of her catch and showed it off for a few minutes before throwing it in the air and swallowing it.

Across the pond, another anhinga was drying off in front of the blooming bottle brush tree.

A hawk flew over my head.

One morning I was on my way to the grocery store and down our street was a flock of Canadian geese. They migrate through the area but I don’t see them often. Luckily I had my camera in the car and pulled over to get the above. They were gone when I got back.

A few days later I went for a walk and when I got down to the other end of our street I saw sandhill cranes. I ran back and got my camera. One of them was trying to get a leaf off his beak.

As they passed by me I noticed one of them had a big scratch on his neck.

I was across the street and there wasn’t any car traffic but people are always walking their dogs here. I saw a couple coming with their dog and motioned for them to please go around me but no, they just walked along that side of the street and let the leash out so the dog could chase after the cranes. Off the cranes went. Up and over the trees and out of the neighborhood. Ugh!

In the backyard, a house finch was waiting for the bluebird to finish before he jumped in.

I don’t know what this squirrel was eating as he sat right in front of the window.

Dancing cranes on the bike trail

On April 22, 2026May 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I had another sighting of the elusive fox squirrel on the Pinellas County bike trail near Brooker Creek Preserve at the end of December. There were two but one stayed hidden high up in the tree.

I don’t see deer often on this trail so this was a treat to see her looking at me.

Three sandhill cranes walking along the trail.

A kildeer flies by.

This mockingbird had an overgrown beak. This was the first time I had seen this.

A pair of kestrels were in the cow pasture. One was on the utility wire and one took off from a dead snag right when I saw him.

On my way back to the car I saw the three sandhill cranes again. This time they were starting to dance around. They usually do this to flirt but there was three of them and they seemed to be agitated over something on the ground.

One kept picking up what looked like a hollow dead branch and danced around with it. Maybe it was two males trying to impress the female? They did this for quite a while then just stopped and started walking away. What a funny thing to watch.

Grazing near the trail. Is this a miniature horse or a pony?

Heading home I took a less traveled back road and slowed down when I saw a doe on the shoulder. She crossed right in front of me.

Sunflowers on a cloudy day

On October 13, 2025November 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants4 Comments

I made another trip to a sunflower farm at the beginning of June. Jimmy Mc’s farm is closer to home and was a quick trip. They only have a small sunflower field and a few cows. Brett came as well since he had not been to this farm before. It had rained most of the night and I wasn’t sure if we would get rained out but at least it was cool.

One of the cows came over to the fence to see if we had sunflowers to feed him but it looked like he already had plenty to choose from on the ground. Maybe he remembered me from last year when I fed him some sunflowers and came over to say hello?

Just past the sunflower field I could see turkeys running for the woods.

This was the last day of picking season and many of the flowers were getting old but I still managed to find several handfuls to take home.

Some of the little critters out in the field.

As usual I try and check the ones I take home for hitchhikers but I had so many that I barely looked. When I got home and was getting them in vases I found one that had to go outside but not before taking a quick shot. The green lynx spider is good to have in the garden since they eat a lot of moth larvae that are pests.

Playing around with my phone camera. I used stage lighting on portrait mode to take the above.

As we walked to the car I noticed the great blue heron sitting along the edge of a small pond. It looked very peaceful.

Then I noticed these guys strolling around to my side of the pond. Sandhill cranes with 2 almost grown juveniles (with the orange beaks). They were just cruising around out on the farm. Two years ago I saw them here as well so I’m wondering if it’s the same parents.

A quick video of them yelling as they walked by.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Sandhill cranes everywhere

On June 21, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In early April I was out biking on the northern part of the Pinellas County bike trail (the part that runs through cow pastures and a horse farm). Sandhill cranes are common here and I usually see several pairs. The first pair I saw was far out in a horse pasture right at the beginning of the trail. I stopped for a few minutes and noticed they had 2 tiny babies. They looked to be under a week old. Unfortunately they were on the sunny side of the trail.

A horse started walking towards them (really heading to the pond) and the parents started yelling. The horse stayed on the far side of the pond and then wandered back towards the stables. The little babies stayed close to the parent, right under his legs.

Turkeys were far across the cow pasture.

Farther down the trail I passed by another sandhill crane couple. They did not have any little ones.

While I was taking pictures of the cranes I noticed the bushes around the area were covered with these small snails. There were tons of them all over the bushes and sticks. I don’t remember seeing these here before.

Towards the end of the trail I found another crane couple. They were standing in the shade right along the trail. I stopped my bike and started taking shots of them.

They started flirting and dancing around. I stood there for about 10 minutes hoping they would mate but then some people walked up behind me with dogs and got too close so the cranes so they took off flying across the pasture and over the trees. I was crushed but not surprised. There’s a lot of foot traffic here as well.

Cattle egrets along the fence.

As I was leaving I saw the crane family again and they were a little closer to the trail but I figured they wouldn’t leave that pasture and get on the trail until those babies were bigger.

Cruising past cow pastures

On January 29, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The Upper Pinellas Trail runs through cow pastures. It’s usually a nice quiet bike ride and sometimes I get to see something cool like maybe a new bird. In early November I got there just after the sun was up.

It was peaceful on the trail this weekday morning.

A kildeer was close to the trail. They are plentiful on the cow pastures and most of the time I hear them before I see them. It’s rare for them to get close to the trail.

Far out I could see turkeys and sandhill cranes hanging out together. There must be good bugs in that area.

The eagle couple hadn’t started nesting yet and they were together on one of the utility towers along the trail.

I saw a lot of pine warblers this morning. They were busy catching bugs.

I heard the sandhill crane’s loud chortle from across the pasture as they flew by.

A few deer were scattered along the back fence line.

Gopher tortoises have homes deep in the dirt along the trail. Most are sleeping far down in the hole and are hard to see but this one was half out. I could just barely make out his eye through the grass. Gopher tortoises are protected in Florida and are a threatened species. They are land animals and we lost a lot of them when Hurricane Helene came through and flooded many of the parks so every one of these are important.

I had heard there was a rare alder flycatcher at the beginning of the trail. I have never heard of one in Florida. They migrate through the central part of the states so this one was a little too far east. There were several other people there looking for him so he was easy to spot.

There was a large flock of cattle egrets flying back and forth across the pasture. I’m not sure what kept causing them to get spooked and fly away. Maybe the eagles were cruising by.

Transporting in late August into September

On December 14, 2024January 21, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

It was a busy summer transporting injured birds around to the different rehabbers in the Tampa bay area. In late August this barred owl made the trip from the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay to Moccasin Lake Park Raptor Sanctuary along with a screech owl. Both had injured eyes and were going to see a vet nearby that specializes in injured eyes.

While I was at Moccasin Lake Park I stopped in to see some of the resident and rehabbing birds in the hospital. There were several kestrels there and a few had missing eyes.

This peregrine falcon also had an injured eye and was waiting to see a vet. I don’t see these guys often out in the wild.

A few days later the same barred owl along with another one made the trip back to the Raptor Center. Both will eventually be released. The injured eye should heal.

Also in my car that day was a great horned owl that had his injured wing reset by the vet. Once his wing heals he will be released.

In early September I had 3 red shoulder hawks in my car on their way from the Raptor Center to Penny, the rehabber in south St. Pete. They had all been injured and rehabbed and Penny was going to release them. I only got a shot of one since they were boxed up and I wasn’t about to open those boxes with healed hawks in them.

A box of baby squirrels also made the trip.

The next day I got a call asking to transport an injured crested caracara. I’ve only seen these guys a few times out in the wild and I was happy I could do this transport but sad that it was injured. He was found in central Florida. They rarely venture near the Tampa bay area and can be found along cow pastures in central Florida. They are a type of falcon although they act like vultures eating mostly roadkill but will also eat live small animals.

Leaving the Raptor Center with the caracara I had to stop and roll down my window and take a few shots with my phone of a sandhill crane family that was down the street.

The lost baby squirrels never end. This still hairless guy made the trip to Penny and he had a baby dove with him.

A young possum and an older baby squirrel also made the trip.

By mid-September I had another carload heading to a rehabber. A barred owl and a huge red tail hawk are pictured. I also had 2 red shoulder hawks.

And a tshirt full of baby squirrels that had just been dropped off at the Raptor Center while I was picking up the birds.

A few days later 3 boxes of baby squirrels made the trip to Penny, the squirrel expert, in south St, Pete. It was close to the end of baby squirrel season and hopefully these were the last lost ones.

Lots of critters at Myakka River State Park

On August 17, 2024August 7, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals3 Comments

I saw lots of critters during my visit to Myakka River State Park in mid-May. The park is so big that I drive through and stop off at different ponds or trails and take short walks. The above limpkin was on the bank under the bridge where a lot of alligators hang out.

I saw these ladies up ahead and pulled over and got out to snap the above. They were grazing right near the road. There was a baby with 2 does.

I parked and walked along an elevated trail that runs along the big tickseed field. I was hoping to see deer farther out in the field but all I saw was an eagle and some vultures on the utility poles. I shot the first 2 from the beginning of the trail. The poles were sitting right on the trail and as I got closer the eagle just looked at me for a second and then ignored me. He was pretty high up.

Cute little pigtails!

There was a family of feral hogs along the road.

I saw another family farther down the road. There were twins here but the 2nd one stayed far in the woods with some does.

I got to the boat ramp and got out and hiked closer to the big lake. Far out I could see a sandhill crane couple with older kids as well as a few limpkins.

This vulture was digging up something in the muck. Probably left over dead fish.

Right before leaving I saw another baby. Mom was already far back in the woods and the baby was taking his time catching up with Mom. It’s weird how the fawns are out in May here but less than 2 hours north in the area where I live we don’t see them until mid to late July.

Cranes and eagles on the bike trail

On February 19, 2024April 19, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In early November I went out for a bike ride on the north part of the Pinellas Trail, along the cow pastures. It was still warm and the sun was coming up later in the morning.

I passed the usual sandhill crane couple (at least I thought it was). There’s always a couple in this part of the cow pasture but there’s another couple that hangs out farther down the trail so it could be either couple.

Pretty colors along the trail including the beauty berry in the bottom shot. It was all over parts of the trail. The only birds I’ve ever seen eating them are catbirds, mockingbirds, blue jays and cardinals. They should have been feasting on them this morning but I didn’t see a single bird on any of it.

A swamp sparrow was checking me out while I was taking pictures of the plants.

I rode up on the back of this utility tower that sits on the trail and saw the eagle couple sitting high up in the tower. I stopped and pulled out my camera and started taking pictures and it looked like they were having a conversation.

It looks like the male had been flirting but not very successfully. He put his foot on her but stopped. Maybe he was asking her why she had another headache?? I rode to the front of the tower.

I stood there for at least half an hour hoping they would actually mate. They nest in the towers farther down the cow pasture. You can really see the difference in the size when they are together with the smaller male on the left. Female eagles (and most raptors) are larger in size. Some think it’s due to carrying eggs as well as being able to defend the nest and babies. I finally gave up and rode farther down where I saw a juvenile eagle alone on a tower.

The juvenile eagle sat on the tower for a few minutes and then took off over the trees.

There are several gopher tortoise nests (or sandy holes in the ground) along the trail but I don’t often see them outside of them. This big one was cruising around in the cow pasture.

Shots with my phone along the trail. It was a quiet morning and the trail was almost empty so I felt like I had the whole place to myself.

Riding through the cow pastures.

On December 30, 2023December 27, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The weather was too nice to be indoors in early October so I grabbed my camera and backpack and threw my bike in the car and headed north to ride along the cow pastures. I didn’t see a lot of cows on this morning. Most of them were on the other side of the pastures and behinds trees.

Eastern bluebirds are common along this bike trail. I caught one with a nice juicy worm.

A sandhill crane couple were heading into the pond for a drink. Or maybe to look for bugs along the grass.

The purple tievine was blooming.

Some tiny critters along the trail.

There is a big barn at the beginning of the bike trail with horses far out in a pasture. It backs up to another barn with horses. As I was heading back to my car I noticed two horses across the pasture that seemed to be having a conversation over the fence. I couldn’t tell if they were showing off to each other or flirting. The one on the other side of the fence was really showing off the teeth.

Two sandhill cranes were right up against the fence near the parking area. I stopped and took the above with my phone.

Taking the long way home

On November 13, 2023April 11, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals6 Comments

I was out running errands one morning this summer and I had my camera in the car so I took a long slow back road to get home. There wasn’t much traffic on this road so I pulled over to get some shots of the yellow tickseed blooming and the clouds moving in.

I found a cow pasture with a sandhill crane family feeding on the bugs in the cow patties. The couple had a juvenile with them.

A cow was poking her head through the fence to get to the good grass.

A swallow tail kite flies overhead while I was pulled over taking pictures of the cow.

Meadowlarks were singing along the cow pasture.

Why did the vulture cross the road? I saw this vulture sitting on the road up ahead. Then I saw a few more along the ditch so I pulled over.

They were feasting on what looked like a cow leg. So many questions! Did the cow get loose? Did the leg fall off a truck? I didn’t see any cow pastures on this part of the road. Where did it come from? Or was it something else? A wild hog? That would be a pretty big one if so. Vultures are nature’s cleaning crew and they were doing their job.