Winter birds and the moon

On December 26, 2024December 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I could still see the moon when I was at Chesnut Park in late October early in the morning. Only the front part of the park was open due to the hurricanes we recently had.

It was quiet but I managed to find a few interesting birds (although nothing new). Catbirds are very common in the winter but the white eyed vireo and the male common yellowthroat are a little bit harder to find.

The grackle was singing in the sun, showing off his beautiful feathers.

The park is full of squirrels sometimes being cute.

Two weeks later the rest of the park opened and I was happy to be walking on the back boardwalk again. The trees looked a little barer and apart from the tons of fallen logs in the swamp the park looked the same. The water levels in the park were still high but it stays high coming off the rainy summer anyway.

I could still see the partial moon high over the lake.

The views around the lake were a lot clearer with the storms moving out a lot of the bushes and reeds that had grown up high along the edges.

Twins on a hot morning.

On November 9, 2024November 9, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals5 Comments

I had a lot of fawn sightings this summer. In late August I spent the morning at nearby Chesnut Park. I wasn’t planning to walk around with my camera since it was so hot but I had it in my car. When I first drove in I saw the above crossing the street and pulled over and got out for a minute as this Mom and her baby went by.

Then I drove around to park to start my walk and there were twins! I pulled over before the parking lot since they were grazing right along the parking spots.

Trying to get the good leaves from up high.

The twins started to head into a small clearing in the woods and I was able to get the shots above through the trees. After a few minutes they started to make their way into the deeper woods so I left to start my walk.

Cool trees along the boardwalk.

It was quiet along the lake. Not even a whiff of a breeze.

A tiny alligator next to the dock. You can see the oil slick next to him. There are lots of boats on this lake.

Walking back to my car in the shade.

As I was walking back next to the lake a few deer came running in front of me, heading to the woods.

An early morning walk

On October 25, 2021March 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I left the house in the dark in early October, heading north to Chinsegut Wildlife trail. It’s only an hour away but feels like a completely different place. I made some quick stops along the way, taking shots of the light coming up over the trees and through the fog.

Right before the trail I saw this old building. At first I thought it was a house but it might have been some type of small factory or type of barn. There were trees growing in the middle of the building. I had to stop and get a shot of it. As I was taking some pictures with my phone, some crows flew out of the building. I thought “Is it Halloween already?”

When I got to the conservation center to park the sun was just coming up. I hadn’t been out for a long walk in a while and it felt good to be out in the woods.

Due to a lot of recent rain, things were pretty swampy. I had on a lot of bug spray so I was able to linger a while and listen to the swamp sounds.

It looked a little like fall with a few red leaves but I would suspect that they are really from the trees being so flooded for a while.

I found a sandhill crane family near the parking area and junior was almost grown up. He didn’t quite have a full red head yet though. They walked around for a while, picking off some bird seed in the ground feeder and then eventually headed into the woods.

Little critters at Chesnut Park

On September 7, 2021August 11, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Little critters at Chesnut Park.

You can always find cardinals on the boardwalk here. That first one is a very young one. He was hopping around from branch to branch but I don’t think he could fly far yet.

A very young northern parula with a snack.

A cormorant preening on the side of the lake.

Lots of titmouse coming to see if I have a handout for them.

The sun hadn’t made it over the trees yet when I was ready to go home in July. After an early quick walk it was too hot to hang around much longer.

Chesnut Park

On August 30, 2021March 11, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Heading into Chesnut Park I always have to stop at the baseball field if there are deer in the outfield. They only hang out there very early and are usually gone into the woods before 8am.

This little blue heron was blocking the boardwalk out to the dock. Do I walk past him and spook him or just wait? I would usually wait but there is always someone coming up behind me that’s not going to wait. He jumped down in the reeds and quickly pulled up a crawfish.

I saw 2 Limpkin heads poking out in the reeds and looking closer realized they had babies with them. I waiting until they hit a clearing and was able to snap a few shots of them.

Color on the boardwalk in June.

Walking through the tree path.

The view from the parking lot. The small pond was very quiet this morning.

A trip to Chinsegut.

On July 15, 2021June 17, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

The bluebirds must nest here at Chinsegut Wildlife Park since there were some very young ones here the morning I visited in mid-May. The 2nd one looks like a juvenile. There were several behind the ranger’s office so I’m thinking next year I need to go earlier and keep an eye out.

It must have also been chickadee day because there were tons of them along the trail. I counted 10 at one point. Not a wide variety of birds here but there were a lot of the few species that were.

This red headed woodpecker couple were following each other around. I think that top one has a snack so maybe the other one was just trying to get the snack. Or, maybe they were still flirting and would be starting a nest soon.

Butterflies were everywhere along the trail. They loved the thistle.

The weeds were getting high as the heat was setting in.

I love the trees here but if you walk on the lesser traveled trails, you might get a face full of spider web.

I checked out the other backroom before leaving (they have two unisex ones). This one had an eagle and a great blue heron painted on the wall.

I think this may be my new favortie park. It’s quiet and hardly anyone there early on a Saturday morning. It’s about an hour north from my house but a lot of the parks I visit are at least 45 minutes to an hour so it’s not a bad ride (and I don’t have to get on crazy I4). The park is relatively small (compared to Circle B Bar Reserve where you can walk for 6 or 7 miles) but I like the area. The original owners named it Chinsegut which is an Inuit word for “spirit of lost things”. I don’t think I’ll get too lost though since it’s easy to navigate and there are main roads around it if you walk too far.

Beautiful red heads

On June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

The view during my walk at Chinsegut Wildlife Area in April. Lots of shade walking along the trail.

I saw a couple of red headed woodpeckers go by. One landed in a tree right in front of me. I don’t see them in the Tampa bay area so it was a treat to see several here, only an hour north of Tampa.They have to be one of the prettiest birds around here.

I found one working on a hole. Maybe he’ll nest here.

Later sitting at the nature center I could see one across the field with a bug in his beak. I jumped up and walked over and he caught another bug.

I want to get back here to see if these guys nest. So many birds, so little time.

Hit the ladies room before heading home. The bathroom wall was really fun.

On the trail in early November

On February 1, 2021March 5, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

The yellow flowers were out in full force in early November at Circle B Bar Reserve.

Usual birds along the trail. That anhinga has something stuck on his beak. Hopefully he was able to scrap it off. He would be really hard to catch since his is flying and was on a stump in a lake full of alligators.

An eagle flew over my head along the trail.

Later I saw a young eagle sitting on a tree far off the trail close to the lake.

This one was close to the trail. Probably waiting for foot traffic to stop so he could cross.

A tree next to the lake was full of cormorants.

Scenes from the trail on this beautiful morning.

Baby bluebirds

On November 17, 2020March 2, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I was lucky to catch these two juvenile bluebirds hanging around the playground area at Chesnut Park in early September. I know they nest there every year but I never see bluebirds at this park. They were flying around from the tree to the ground. They’re really pretty with those bright blue feathers.

Chickadees are usual birds at this park. Yellow throated warblers are as well during migration season but the pine warbler on the bottom is a little more rare to see.

After a quiet morning at Chesnut Park I stopped by Philippe Park on the way home. The park was busy with dog walkers and joggers and lots of families hanging out but I found a quiet spot along the water and hung out for a while.