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 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.

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.

A hot walk at the wetlands

On August 1, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

I made it to Roosevelt Wetlands not long after sunrise in early May.

A least tern flies close by.

There’s been a couple of skimmers coming here to skim the lake. The bay is a couple of miles away and these birds are usually along the shoreline but occasionally they skim the lakes.

There are several pairs of black necked stilts nesting here. There were a few couples that weren’t on nests yet and were close to the trail. It’s early for babies so I’ll plan on coming here several times early in the summer.

A spotted sandpiper was in the muck. They usually only spend winters here so this one was late leaving.

Dragonflies on the trail.

Across the pond I saw this great old snapping turtle coming up for air. His back was covered in moss and he scooted along in the shallow part.

Color on the trail. The first one is Indian blanket flower. I planted a few of these in my front yard where there is full sun. They are drought tolerant and need full sun and I love seeing them all over the trail here. They don’t get watered here at all. Mine died immediately. The yellow flowers are tickseed. There’s just a little here and I was planning a trip down to Myakka State Park in mid-May when the park is full of it.

The sun was up pretty high as I walked back to my car. There is no shade here so it was time to go home.

New birds in the muck

On September 9, 2023September 3, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Roosevelt Wetlands is a small reserve right next to the waste plant. It has a great trail that runs across the lake and is usually quiet. Just don’t go when the wind is blowing towards the reserve. I got there pretty early and first saw 2 skimmers skimming along the lake.

It looks like this moorhen bit off part of a lily pad.

A kildeer flew close by.

Some wintering birds were still there in early May. A sora rail and a spotted sandpiper.

Cute duck family.

A lesser yellowlegs was creeping around in the muck.

Two new birds in one shot. A white rumped sandpiper on the left and a semipalmated sandpiper on the right. These aren’t super rare birds for this area but for some reason I kept missing them. They were also creeping around in the muck.

A least sandpiper was also with the new birds. I had not seen one of these since 2012.

Another shot of the white rumped sandpiper.

A little sandpiper party.

Another shot of the semipalmated sandpiper.

I finally saw the gull billed tern. He flew by really fast and this was the only shot I could get of him. He circled around the pond and then left. He isn’t an exciting bird but a new one for me.

The only new bird I didn’t see that was sighted there before was a stilt sandpiper. Maybe next time.

The purple martins are back!

On April 17, 2023April 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I had heard the purple martins were back at the Dunedin marina so one morning I drove around to the front of the marina to see if I could get some shots of them in the bird house. I also found some other birds there as well. The spotted sandpipers will be going back up north soon

Pigeons get no respect but they are pretty when the sun shines on them.

A kingfisher was hanging out on the channel marker at the entrance to the marina.

All of the usual birds were there. Green herons, great egrets and pelicans.

The purple martins were busy moving in to the martin house. It looks like most of them were in couples and had staked out their spots. Last year I found them when the babies were almost fully grown and ready to leave to I’m hoping this year I can see some young babies.

The view from the purple martin house. You can see Clearwater beach across the water. It used to be a quiet little beach area with 2 story Mom and Pop hotels but not anymore. All highrises and the traffic is terrible. Parking is $30 a day. Only the tourists go to this beach now.

Out and about

On February 16, 2023February 7, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I found a great blue heron nest in the neighborhood. It sits high up in the pine tree over a small pond. I’ll be keeping an eye for babies but I won’t see them until they are pretty big since the nest sits far back on the branch.

I’ve been stopping by the neighborhood eagle nest almost every day hoping to see a baby head pop up. This was in mid-January and at this point I wasn’t even sure there was a baby although an adult has been sitting here every time I go by. I hadn’t seen anything being fed at this point. It was still early though.

I noticed the kestrel is back. There was one hanging out around the eagle nest all last winter so I wonder if this is the same one.

It’s a few days later and I see an eagle sitting on the nest tower. I couldn’t see another one but the mate might have been laying down on the nest. A turkey vulture flew close by.

I drove by the big open field in front of the utility towers near the back of the neighborhood and I could just barely see movement on a tower far down the clearing. I got my camera out thinking it was probably an osprey on that nest. The top shot was cropped up a little and I can see there’s an eagle on the nest. When I extremely cropped it up I could see a baby big enough to be sitting up on the nest. (There were 2 babies on this nest). I can’t get any closer to this nest since it’s sitting on Duke Energy property.

I could see a red shoulder hawk sitting high up in the tower in front of the eagles.

After seeing the far away nest I turned around and saw white pelicans flying high overhead. I waited a little while hoping they would get closer since they were just circling around. They came a little closer and then took off over the trees.

A few days later I stopped by RE Olds Pier to see if any eagles were fishing along the pier but all I found was a great egret and a spotted sandpiper.

The tide was so low that you could see an old crab trap out in the water. I wonder how long this has been sitting there with all of those barnacles on it.

The vertical oyster garden ropes that are hanging off the pier were exposed and are starting to get covered with barnacles. There may be some small oysters forming on it as well. They placed them here to grow oysters since they help filter and clean the water.

More from Myakka River State Park

On July 16, 2022July 10, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

While I was at Myakka River State Park in early May, I did see a little bit of wildlife. This young male deer was just off the road.

I lost count of the vultures and alligators I saw. I was there early in the morning before the majority of the alligators had started to lay out on the banks but I still saw a ton.

I saw this little bird walking around near the big alligator’s tail. Zooming in I saw that it was a spotted sandpiper. I hope he has good reflexes and can get away fast if that alligator whips around.

Far down the river I could see limplins looking for food. It looks like one of them has a snack.

I got out of the car and was walking across the parking lot to head to the boardwalk and this guy came out of the bushes and ran across the parking lot.

A swallow tail kite flies low overhead.

Just down the road from the park, this old barn must have some pretty good stories to tell. I couldn’t tell if it’s still being used but the ivy is started to take over the roof.

A late afternoon walk

On June 28, 2021March 8, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

At the end of April I went out late in the day instead of the morning. I had something I had to do in the morning but I didn’t want to miss a walk outside. I headed to Largo Nature Preserve not expecting much since it was hot. I caught the screech owl peeking out of her hole. I knew this was the tree that had a nest but hadn’t seen anything until now. I didn’t know at this point if there were babies. I waited a while but she just sat there staring off so I kept on going.

I did a quick walk along the boardwalk before heading out. It was interesting to see the spotted sandpiper on the boardwalk rail. Those guys are usually skittish and only here in the winter. Lots of dragonflies around and I saw a moorhen sitting on a nest.

A quick stop at Possum Branch on the way home. I had the entire preserve to myself.

Green herons were everywhere.

A black and yellow flash went by me and when it landed on a branch I realized it was a bobolink. It was with another male and a female that landed farther down the canal. They stopped for a few seconds before taking off again. It was the only bobolink I saw this season.

Little critters in the weeds.

The trails around the ponds were covered in this mimosa ground cover. The purple flowers were covered in moths and bees. You could see the tiny path where people had been walking on it. Quickly they will die off and the trail will get mowed again but the blanket of purple was really pretty this afternoon.

These yellow and white flowers are weeds and they were also everywhere.

Nature at the house

On March 2, 2021March 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

A few of the birds that visited our backyard in the recent months. A little blue heron on our dock, a great blue heron on our neighbor’s completed demolished dock (after Hurricane ETA), and the phoebe on our fence. I see the little phoebe almost every day. Maybe because I don’t have dogs he looks for his meals here. He eats flying insects instead of seed so he doesn’t visit my feeder.

The starlings have a nest on my neighbor’s boat lift.

An osprey sitting our a neighbor’s sailboat mast.

We usually get spotted sandpipers in the winter. They hang out in the muck at low tide.

A few creepy visitors include a mangrove crab and a spiny orb.

Squirrels constantly run across our screened porch which is cute but long term they pull out the screen and tear it up so sometimes we yell at them to get off.