Critters and storms in the yard in late August

On January 3, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Skies in the back and front yard in late August. We were getting rain almost every afternoon.

The juvenile bluebirds were still hanging around. We had at least 8 from 2 different families coming to the feeder and bath.

A lizard was molting.

Fred, my regular visitor to the back window, was also molting and I ran outside with my phone and was able to get a video of him trying to get his molt off his face. He let me get really close and I was tempted to try and pull it off his face but thought I would spook him so I let him do it himself.

More tiny frogs and a beautiful yellow moth.

When I see pileated woodpeckers fly into our oak trees I run outside with my camera. They are usually too high up for me to get shots through the window. This guy was sticking his tongue into a hole looking for bugs.

This is either a young juvenile blue jay or an adult that is molting.

Doves soaking in the bath.

A tiny rainbow at the end of our street.

More red after a storm.

We had some dead fish floating in the neighborhood ponds from all of the chemicals used on the golf course that run into the ponds after repeated heavy storms. The great blue heron wouldn’t even eat the dead fish.

Visitors to the yard in early August

On December 13, 2025January 3, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The summer storms in early August brought out the tiny baby frogs. After a shower they showed up on the windows and cactus plant.

Bigger ones show up also but they come all the time. One afternoon I found one on the side of the house and one was in the bird house hanging on the wall outside.

The squirrels were getting frisky. I took the above through the window. I didn’t want to go out and interrupt their fun on our patio.

Bluebirds in the backyard.

The ibis missing a foot came back to visit. He walked up on the patio when he saw me through the window. I threw out some bird seed for him. He seems to be doing okay though.

My first 5-lined skink in the backyard. He was resting on Brett’s flip flop that was right outside the back door. He eventually ran under some leaves and was gone.

I think this blue jay was letting me know they needed more seed in the feeder.

Dark skies in the backyard.

Beautiful colors after the storms

On November 19, 2025November 19, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Lightning from the bathroom window in late July.

Beautiful summer skies from the front and back yard in late July. When it storms late in the day and the sun comes out right before dark bright colors appear for a short time.

The little frogs come out after a storm. They show up on the windows and the walls outside.

This is Fred. He has a specific hump on his neck and back and sleeps on the old white trellis during the day. If he sees me walking up to the window he jumps over to the window and acts like he wants to come in.

Summer skies in the yard

On November 3, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

The best thing about the quick late day summer showers are the rainbows that follow. I saw the sun peeking out after a storm and ran out the back door to catch the above.

The clouds were swirling over our driveway one afternoon in late June.

I was able to catch lightning through the upstairs bathroom window.

Sunset over the pond across the street.

The juvenile bluebirds (with the white spots on their wings) were growing up fast. There were two families that were feeding at the dried mealworm feeder most of the summer.

Bunnies were still coming by to eat the grass late in the day. One day I saw a one near the patio and then later I looked out the window for him and didn’t see him. At first I thought he left and then I saw movement right below the window. He ate through most of that spider plant.

The hummingbird was feeding on the shrimp plant.

I was keeping my eye on her as she left the shrimp plant and flew up near the top of the oak tree. I was able to run upstairs and catch her through the bedroom window. She sat up there several days in a row after feeding.

This young Carolina wren was taking a break on the patio (which has since been cleaned) and was eating bugs from the patio but I think he thought that leaf was something yummy to eat as well.

Someone in the neighborhood is feeding the ibis. This one saw me standing in the door and walked right up to it looking for a snack. I took the above with my phone.

I was out doing yardwork at the end of June and heard what I thought was a swallow tail kite calling. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and was back out right as this one was sailing overhead along the golf course. Luckily there wasn’t anyone on the course and I was standing on the tee getting shots. There were 3 of them cruising over the trees and circling back over the back yard.

I realized that one of them had a frog in his talons.

A juvenile landed in the pine tree in our backyard and was screaming at the parent. He wanted the parent to bring him the frog and the parent wanted him to come after the frog and learn to feed himself. The parent with the frog made several passes over the pine tree, yelling at the young one. The juvenile finally flew off and followed the parents over the trees and they were gone.

Storms moving through the front yard as the sun peeks out right before sunset.

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

Critters around the neighborhood

On October 4, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

We had rain all morning in the neighborhood in early June. Once it stopped I was ready to get out of the house so I headed out on my bike for a quick spin.

Since it had just stopped raining I took a quick detour on the golf course behind our house thinking there wouldn’t be any golfers coming through for a while. I ran into a limpkin and a great egret.

The sun was out by the time I made it around the neighborhood and I slowed down when I saw a head pop out of the pond. He climbed onto the bank but didn’t go any farther. There were several people walking their dogs and they all saw it before getting too close.

Early one morning I was going to the grocery store and saw 2 figures from far away on the left side of the road. I slowed down and realized it was 2 coyotes. One was black. I had heard about a black coyote in the neighborhood but this was the first time seeing one. Black coyotes are not rare but are uncommon in Florida. They get their color from a genetic mutation known as melanism. The black one crossed first, right in front of me. I was glad no one was behind me because they would have been honking to hurry up.

The brown one crossed next and stopped in front of me and had to scratch an itch. I didn’t have my camera which was just as well since I wouldn’t have been able to get it out quick enough but my phone was right there.

They both sauntered across the golf course and disappeared behind some bushes.

Watching the rain coming at me

On March 10, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

It was a yucky day on Black Friday of Thanksgiving weekend. I usually avoid shopping areas on this day and decided since it wasn’t nice outside I would head to a small beach in between Tampa and St. Pete. As soon as I got there I could see skimmers (in the first shot) and oystercatchers (in the 2nd shot) cruising by.

The sandbar was visible since it was low tide and I could barely make out the pelicans, gulls and terns enjoying the quiet over there.

A Forster’s tern was taking a bath.

The little beach was full of royal terns with a few laughing gulls and other terns.

A cute Wilson’s plover has a snack.

Ring billed gulls only spend the winters here and I’ve seen just a few at every beach.

I was actually at the beach to look for this guy. The saltmarsh sparrow was a lifer for me. This was the first time I had heard of one being in the area but there had been a few coming through years earlier. He had been spotted a few days earlier and was still there on that rainy morning. They hide out in marsh areas with high vegetation and I waited a while before seeing him pop out for a few minutes.

I could see the rain moving across the bay and heading for me. On a sunny day this little beach off Gandy bridge would be packed and would have made the sparrow harder to find since he would have been hiding farther away in the bushes.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Afternoon storm passing by

On November 6, 2024December 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights8 Comments

It was mid-July and we were starting to get regular afternoon storms. I went out for a late afternoon walk at the Safety Harbor fishing pier, hoping to see some lightning or a rainbow. I could see the rain moving across the northern part of the bay.

The sun was trying to peak out as I walked around the park next to the fishing pier.

There are lots of mangrove crabs along the boardwalk but they are usually skittish. This one let me take a picture with my phone.

A night heron blending in with the mangroves.

Color around the marina.

Watching the storms come in

On October 24, 2024December 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights9 Comments

More storms moving in during my walk in early July on the Dunedin causeway. I love when the skies are all moody and it keeps the heat down.

I could see storms coming from Clearwater beach so I headed down to the marina to see if I could spot some lightning or a rainbow. Neither made an appearance.

This was the last time I saw the purple martins. The nest boxes survived hurricane Helene but I haven’t been able to check if they survived Milton.

A dolphin makes a brief appearance as he heads towards Clearwater.

A green heron was taking a break on someone’s boat.

The rain was quickly headed for the marina so it was time to go home. All shots were taken with my phone.

Tides go up and down

On March 21, 2024March 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights7 Comments

It was mid-December and a bad storm was coming later in the night. I went out that morning for a walk in Dunedin and took the above at the Weaver Park fishing pier. The tide was super low with the impending storm. The small floating dock at the end of the pier was almost on the ground. I walked down the steep ramp and it felt weird looking up at the poles next to the dock.

The sun was trying to peek out but it never did make an appearance.

The storm came through in the middle of the night and brought a lot of flooding and downed trees. The next morning I headed out to the Safety Harbor fishing pier and found that the parking lot was under water. I parked farther away and went for a walk along the waterfront. The fishing pier was closed so the city could inspect it for damage just in case. While it opened later that morning I have recently heard they are going to tear down the old pier and build a new one some time this year.

The tide was up pretty high, almost to the sidewalk.

When I was walking along the nearby mangrove boardwalk I found a night heron hiding in the mangroves, away from the wind.

This wasn’t the highest the water has been but I’m sure it gave the people who live nearby a little scare. I love stormy days in the winter since it makes it feel like winter here but not the flooding they sometimes cause.

Around the house

On September 12, 2022September 4, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

We had stacked up the outside chairs next to the hanging plant when we were having the house painted and the squirrel found it really easy to sit there and eat the plant. Half of the purslane plant had been eaten before I realized what was going on and caught him red handed.

This guy visits the backyard occasionally. I call him Notch.

I hadn’t seen a northern parula in a couple of months and then this guy showed up in early August. I was able to get a shot through the window right after it stopped raining.

This young cardinal had caught a lizard.

We had a lot of Carolina wrens in the backyard in early spring when they were nesting and then they disappeared. Then in early August we had a few show up again.

I was out riding my bike with my camera and saw this guy crossing the street. I was able to get a few shots of him with this huge meal before he took off down the creek so I don’t know if he ate it. I would have never thought there were fish that big in the small pond nearby.