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.

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 beautiful sunrise

On January 15, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In mid-October I was out a little earlier than usual for a walk. I stopped at nearby Philippe Park to catch the sun coming up over the water. I didn’t stay long and headed to the waterfront in Safety Harbor for my walk.

It was a beautiful morning out.

The birds were just starting to get active as I shot the above video.

Over on the tiny beach a dog was having the best time going for a swim.

Walking along the boardwalk I see this damaged dock part stuck to the mangroves. I guess it will be here for a while.

The sun was coming up high by the time I reached the end of the boardwalk.

Back at the parking lot before leaving.

I decided to stop back by Philippe Park again before going home to see if there was a lot of damaged trees from the hurricanes. The ones down on the road had already been moved but the grass areas were covered with downed trees. It’s going to take the rangers months to clean it all up. I was glad to see the owl nest tree still standing and I’ve heard the owl couple are back nesting in it already.

Sleeping in a barn

On January 8, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

Brett and I spent 2 nights in a renovated barn (on the 2nd floor) near Vero Beach. We got there late in the afternoon and looked around a little before heading to the beach for dinner.

It was a little weird driving down a long dirt road after dark to get back to the farm.

The next morning I was awake early and could hear the horses down below. I got up and ran to the kitchen window and saw the above. The sun hadn’t come up yet. I quickly changed and ran out to see what was going on.

The horses were being let out of the barn. We were able to walk around the farm so I ran back upstairs and had a quick breakfast with Brett and we went out for a walk down to the main road.

We were also able to feed the animals and I had brought a bag of apples with us from our hurricane stash so the goats got a treat for breakfast.

Most of the cows were far out in the pasture but one Mom with 2 little ones came close to the fence for a drink of water.

The sun coming up through a spiderweb.

We walked out on the main dirt road and passed by a farm with a No Trespassing sign that said “Don’t even think about it”. Who would want to walk around on that cow poop filled pasture?

It was a beautiful farm. I don’t think they actually grow anything but they do board horses. They also had chickens and a few pigs.

The next morning I was up a little later. Some of the horses were already out of the barn.

A few were still in the other barn and I gave them all of the apples we had left since we were heading home soon.

We had a great time and even though we were sleeping in a barn it had all of the comforts of home.

A last trip to the beach for the summer.

On September 23, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was early June and I was back out on the beach at Fort Desoto Park early in the morning. It had been 2 weeks since my last trip and I was hoping to find the baby oystercatchers again to see how much they had grown.

The first thing I spotted was a lone roseate spoonbill.

Then I found 2 of the baby oystercatchers. It took me a while to find them since they blend in so well. At first they were sleeping but then one got up and walked around.

I realized there was another area roped off near the lagoon. Closer to the water I could see both oystercatcher parents with the 3rd baby.

After a few minutes later both parents started to take a nap.

The smallest baby was wandering around while the parents slept. At this point I plopped down on the sand to take a break as well.

Eventually the parents and 3rd baby made their way back to the lagoon and joined the other 2 babies. They all walked around for a few minutes and then hunkered down for a nap again so I headed down the beach to see what else I could find.

This is a common sight along this area of the beach. Beach patrols go out and mark off turtle nests. They can usually find them by the drag of the Mom’s weight back to the water and the big hole her body makes as she lays the eggs. All of the nests are recorded and dated and they keep track of when they may hatch. Since they hatch at night and the park is closed at night the babies aren’t usually disturbed trying to get to the water.

Someone’s artwork in the sand.

I was there early enough to have the beach almost to myself. There was a few other photographers there as well.

When I was leaving I found these nanday parakeets near the parking lot.

I didn’t make it back out to the park this summer. It’s just too hot and there hasn’t been much sighted during this time. I’m hoping the white pelicans will be back in October and I’ll make the trip if I hear they are back.

Out on the beach before the tourists.

On August 19, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was early in the morning when I headed to Fort Desoto Park in late May. I had heard there were baby oystercatchers in the lagoon the day before so there was a good chance I could find them somewhere near there. The park opens at 7am and I was over the bridge before the park at 6:55.

I was not alone in my quest. Word gets out fast around this area and there were several other photographers also heading to the lagoon. We didn’t find the oystercatchers there (they are on the move once their babies are born but they couldn’t have gone too far). There were a lot of other great birds in the lagoon though. I snapped a few shots before heading to the north tip. The sun was just coming up over the bushes and you can’t see the lagoon from the other side. There were so many different birds here. Great egrets, a reddish egret, a snowy egret, a tricolored heron, and several spoonbills were all feeding in this swampy corner.

I saw the white morph reddish egret feeding on the way to the north tip. I hadn’t seen this bird since last August and I forget how beautiful and graceful he is.

Boats out on the gulf include a small flat fishing boat and much bigger boats.

I did find the oystercatcher babies but more on them later. Before leaving the park I always stop by the fishing pier to see if I can find anything interesting. This great blue heron had taken a fish from a fisherman and the great egret was trying to steal it from him. The great blue heron swallowed it quickly.

A snowy egret had snatched someone’s bait.

A quick video of the snowy egret being chased by the other birds to steal his snack.

Out on the beach early in the morning before the tourists get here, although it’s a long hike out to the tip and the tourists usually stay close to the parking lot.

Tombstones and tickseed

On August 8, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Tampa bay sights6 Comments

In mid-May I headed down to south Sarasota for my annual trip to Myakka River State Park to see the tickseed blooming. I left early in the dark since the traffic going through Sarasota is so bad now. What use to be an hour trip from my old house in Tampa is now an hour and a half if I don’t hit traffic so I wanted to be early enough to miss the morning rush hour. I got down to the exit in record time and since I had 20 minutes before the gate opened at the park I stopped in at the nearby Sarasota National Cemetery. So many tombstones. All members of any Armed Forces can be buried here. The cemetery is fairly new, opening in 2007.

The Patriot Plaza amphitheater opened in 2014 for memorials and ceremonies. It was quiet before 8am this morning, only a few maintenance men and myself.

As I got closer to the park I noticed what looked like a prescribed burn along the road. I was hoping that wasn’t the case in the regular part of the park.

Just past the entrance I pulled over and got out and shot the above with my phone. The sun was up but it was cloudy or mostly hazy. This is what the two lane roads look like as you travel across back roads in central Florida. The road looked like a mantenance road to nowhere. This is part of the park which is over 37,000 acres but visitors are not allowed in the outlying areas.

Once in the park I pulled over at the first field to see the tickseed. Yellow flowers forever. It is native to the area and grows wild. Since this is an undisturbed prairie it grows all along the fields here.

I also stopped where everyone else stops. The first bridge you come to in the park that goes over the river. There’s always a lot of alligators in this area and you can see them from high up on the bridge. I spent several hours at the park until the heat got the best of me. I took tons of pictures so more on those later.

A new duck and the usual

On July 20, 2024July 12, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

It was early May and I was heading back to Fort Desoto Park. The sun was just coming up as I crossed the Bayside Bridge before heading into downtown St. Pete.

Right before the park there is a big pond that sits on the road with houses on the back side. Frigatebirds spend summers here and sleep on the big mangrove islands behind these houses. You can’t see where they sleep from the road. You would need a kayak and be out on the water before daylight to see them leaving their roost. But, if you catch the timing right you can see them flying over the big pond early in the morning getting a drink of water before cruising around for the day. It’s rare to see them upclose so I pulled over and got out the car and spend a few minutes watching them swoop down to the pond. They didn’t stay long and headed out over the bay.

As I watched them soaring I realized the moon was still up.

There wasn’t a lot of migrating birds on the trail so I went to the fishing pier to see if there was anything interesting. I was just expecting a few dolphins but I got a lifer instead. There was a surf scoter spotted a few months back in south St. Pete along the bay but you needed a scope to see it and it was not there all of the time so I didn’t even try to find it. There was one spotted in Safety Harbor a few years back but I couldn’t find it after several trips. On this morning there was a female one floating right along the pier. It wasn’t hanging around but was swimming by and I was able to snap some shots of it as it made it’s way past the pier and around the island.

A ruddy turnstone was starting to get his pretty breeding feathers in.

There were a few dolphins around the pier as usual.

Someone had caught a tiny shark.

Flirting in the sunrise

On July 11, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I made so many trips to Fort Desoto Park, an hour away, in April and early May for spring migration. This park is where you can get the most bang for your buck to see birds (depending on what you are looking for). It’s 5 dollars to get in but I bought a seasonal pass since I knew I would be coming here a lot for a few months and it gets me into several other parks as well. In late April I headed back again. This time I wasn’t expecting anything new but you don’t know if you don’t go.

My first stop was the east beach area since this has been where the best birds have been this spring. It was just after 7am when I got out to the beach.

After snapping a few sunrise pictures and before heading to the trails I took a few minutes to see what was going on where the terns have been hanging out. There was a lot of sandwich terns this morning. They are a little smaller than the royal terns and have a small yellow tip on their black beaks. I caught one couple starting to mate but she didn’t want to have anything to do with him.

Many of the royal terns were flirting.

One couple started mating. After about 30 seconds she tried to throw him off but he was persistent.

It was a busy morning with a lot of migrating birds but more on those later. I stopped by the fishing pier before leaving and caught this boat coming into the bay.

Two lifers on the same morning

On June 27, 2024July 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

In mid-April I made another trip down to Fort Desoto to look for migrating birds. This time I was looking for a specific bird and I got to the park right when it opened at 7am and went straight to East Beach. The sun was just coming up near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I had to take a quick shot while I was walking down the beach trail with several other people looking for the same bird.

A very rare piratic flycatcher had been seen on the trail for 2 days in a row. I made it down to the park on the 3rd morning not expecting much. This bird migrates from south Mexico to central America and this is the only one that we know of to have been in Florida (a few sighting have happened in Texas). There were 4 of us staring in the bushes where it was seen the afternoon before. The sun had not come up over the bushes yet but when we saw movement I snapped, not sure if it would be the only time I saw it since it was a lifer for me.

About a half hour later it started to move around in the top of the bushes and we got better views. It moved around from the beach trail to the privet trail and we all kept walking back and forth trying to keep up with it. A little later a large crowd of birders had come to see it so after getting a ton of shots I moved on. The above were taken with my 400mm lens and extremely cropped so we were pretty far away.

Near the flycatcher an osprey was trying to eat his breakfast and didn’t seem to mind the crowd passing by.

As I was walking to my car I saw some people staring up in a tree and walked over to see my first warbling vireo. Another bird that’s not supposed to be in Florida and should be in the western part of the country. He looks a little like a red eyed vireo but the accents on his face aren’t as pronounced.