Rainbows on the trail.

On April 26, 2022April 23, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Ladies first. I first saw a female painted bunting walking down the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve in mid-March. I was thinking even if I didn’t see a male one, the female is still a beauty!

Then this guy flew in front of me and stole the show. The male painted buntings are a rainbow of colors. They don’t even look real. This one was very accomodating, eating seed right along the trail.

He was gorging on the seed. I just stood there for a while and didn’t move.Luckily no one was coming up behind me on the trail to scare it away. I had my 400mm lens and these are cropped so he wasn’t that close but close enough for me to get some good looks.

A little farther down the trail I saw another one.

A third one popped up but he stayed farther in the reeds and a little bit more hidden. What a great morning this was. It’s rare for me to see one but to see three was a treat. They stayed on the trails for a while. I went back later and saw them again.

Spring migration was a bust

On June 21, 2021March 8, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

McGough Park in Largo is another spring migration hot spot so I stopped there in late April but all I got was turtles. After walking around for an hour and seeing very few birds I left and headed to Largo Nature Preserve.

Not many migrating birds here either but lots of other stuff. I thought the bottom shot was just a weird looking butterfly but then realized it was two butterflies. Not sure if they were mating or feeding on something but they stayed there for a while.

I caught this osprey cruising by me with a really big stick heading to a nest. What is that saying? “Speak softely and carry a big stick”. This is more like “Fly high and carry a big stick”.

A tricolored heron creeping around in the muck.

A big family and almost grown babies in the bottom shot.

This was the first time I’ve seen black bellied whistiling ducks here, much less any where in Pinellas county so I was surprised. They were on the golf course across the canal.

This lone spoonbill was busy feeding and wandering around looking for the best spot.

As I was walking the path something blue whizzed by. Wait, what was that? Finally, a migrating bird. It was a blue grosbeak and when I cropped this shot up I realized there was an immature orchard oriole with him (the yellow one on the right). The oriole took off and I wasn’t able to find him again.

The blue grosbeak had a lady friend with him (the brown one on the top) and they stayed in the area for a few minutes before taking off across the park.

This guy sleeps under the boardwalk. I took this with my phone but I was on the boardwalk at the time.

Are they red or knot?

On August 3, 2020August 4, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

It’s rare to see red knots in their bright red breeding colors here in central Florida in mid-May. About a third of them were already in breeding feathers. They usually stop over somewhere in Florida to rest during migration. They fly from the tip of Argentina to the Canadian arctic and then back again each year. They have one of the longest journeys of all migrating birds. We’re lucky to see them here at Fort Desoto although this was the first time I had caught them in several years.

Some were napping early in the morning and some were feeding along the shoreline

Although there wasn’t many people near the area, something kept spooking them and causing them to flush. It could have been an eagle that was cruising the area. These guys really need their rest so it’s important that kids or dogs don’t chase after them.

image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup Our World Tuesday Graphic

A few birds in mid-May

On July 9, 2020June 22, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

A female scarlet tanager getting a snack from the fig tree.

The male was not too far away.

I had heard this was a veery. I don’t remember seeing one before but everyone said they aren’t that rare.There were several in the oak trees.

I don’t remember what this was now. A female something? It was also feeding in the fig tree. Might have been an immature tanager.

Another femaile tanager hiding in the bushes by the fountain.

You can always find a ruddy turnstone on the fishing pier.They look really cool right now in their calico colors.

That dolphin photo bombed my “pelican on the broken tower” picture.

Cruising close to the pier.

A beautiful day for just being out.

I love the drive leaving the pier.

Fort Desoto Park was one of the first closed parks to open in early May. I made it there in the middle of the month and it was good to be outside at the beach. We had missed most of the migrating birds that had come through in late April but there was still a few hanging around the morning I was there.

SkyWatch Friday

This park should be called “Turtle Park”.

On June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Different patterns on the mangrove leaves along the boardwalk.

I finally was able to see a few migrating birds coming through in late April. Since the best place to see spring migration was closed (Fort Desoto Park) here in the area, we were thinking we wouldn’t get to see any birds coming through. Since some of the smaller parks were still open I was able to see a few birds. They were very skittish and stayed hidden in the bushes. Above are a hooded warbler, a redstart and an ovenbird (or at least I think it’s an ovenbird. May be a thrush of some type?).

I had not been to McGough Nature Park in Largo in years. It’s a small park that sits on the intercoastal waterway. I had heard there were a few migrating birds there so I headed out not expecting much. I had forgotten that the park has this great turtle pond. There’s a small dock that goes out over the pond and benches all around it. Turtles were all along the bank and it was very peaceful watching them hang out.

My Saturday morning “just being outside” shot from the boardwalk.

Our World Tuesday Graphic

“We have fall out”.

On June 25, 2019June 25, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The star of the spring migration weekend at Fort Desoto was the rose breasted grosbeak. They were everywhere, eating in the mangroves and not shy at all.

The blue winged warbler was also not shy.

More shots of the Tennessee warbler although we think there were several there.

A prothonotary warbler hopping around.

I had to take some phone shots of the crowd. “What are you guys looking at?” was what we heard from people passing by. We were in the far corner of the park so there wasn’t a lot of traffic. It was actually a lot of fun with people calling out what they see. Everyone was quiet and friendly.

A secluded spot at the park.

Fall out is an exciting term for birders. It means a storm came through earlier and the birds stopped to spend a few days in the park resting and eating before finishing their trip back up north for the summer.

Photographing New Zealand

Early May at Fort Desoto

On June 22, 2019June 24, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

High up in a tree, I watched this yellow warbler stuff himself with snacks.

There were still a few other birds in early May at Fort Desoto including the blackpoll warbler in the last picture.

Frigatebirds were flying high overhead.

At the east end of the park I could just barely make out Downtown St. Petersburg.

Birds at the fishing pier.

Recently I keep seeing parakeets popping out of trees.

The sand trails are covered with these grasshoppers.

image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup Our World Tuesday Graphic

Bright colors on a Saturday morning.

On June 18, 2019June 18, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Summer Tanagers only come through the Tampa bay area twice a year during spring and fall migration. The only place I can usually find them during that time is in the woods at Fort Desoto. In mid-April the woods were full of them including young ones that were just starting to turn red and still had some of their yellow baby feathers.

Female summer tanagers are all yellow.

A few of the orange and black birds were there including the orchard oriole and the American redstart above.

The female orchard oriole is also all yellow.

A cute little wood pewee.

A Tennessee warbler.

Also flying in the mangroves.

Most of the birds on this particular Saturday morning were feeding in the mangrove bushes along the road. Huge crowds had gathered to see the birds and the people who were coming into the park to fish or hit the beach were slowing down trying to figure out what we were all staring at. People would stop in their cars and ask us what we were looking at. “Birds” was the answer. They looked at us like we were crazy. It was a fun morning to be crazy.

Colors of the rainbow

On June 1, 2019May 19, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Yellow warbler.

My first blue winged warbler with a snack.

Lots of indigo buntings at the park this year.

Female indigo buntings don’t have any blue at all.

Scarlet tanagers have black wings.

Orchard orioles

Eastern kingbirds.

A rare western kingbird.

A painted bunting foraging for food on the ground.

We had great fall out the 3rd weekend in April for migrating birds. After a storm on Friday afternoon, I headed out to Fort Desoto park to see if any of the spring migrating birds had stopped by for a rest. Everyone else had the same idea. Even though there were a ton of people at the park there were lots of birds as well. It’s always fun running into old friends at the park in the spring and having more eyes to spot birds.This was the busiest weekend this spring and I spent most of the day there with lots more pictures to come.

The end of spring migration.

On August 18, 2018July 30, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

Cape May warblers above, a female and male.

A female Cape May on the fountain.

An immature male rose breasted grosbeak with mulberry juice on his face.

An ovenbird on the fountain.

A blackpoll warbler hanging around.

An indigo bunting.

Redstarts above.

Scarlet tanagers.

There were still a few interesting birds moving through Fort Desoto in early May, heading north for the summer. It feels like that was so long ago. I’m just finishing editing those pictures and soon the birds will be cruising through again, this time heading south for the winter. So many birds, so little time.