Around the yard in December

On April 15, 2026May 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

The squirrels were getting frisky in the backyard in mid-December. Don’t they know it’s not mating season? Actually early December is the start of their winter mating season so I may be seeing some tiny ones soon. Just what we need, more squirrels digging up the backyard.

It was good to see that the neighborhood turkeys survived Thanksgiving as they cruised through our backyard. There is almost no turkey hunting in Pinellas county due to the density and urban nature of the area and there are no public hunting areas so these turkeys are generally safe in our neighborhood with the exception of being hit by a car.

A juvenile little blue heron looking for a snack (lizard) along the sidewalk to our front door.

I hate it when the grackles come to the feeder (which isn’t often) but they are pretty.

Black bellied whistling ducks in the rain. I was standing outside with a big golf umbrella watching them as they found a little puddle to drink from.

I was adding some red lights to the back along the roof when this guy fell down. I’m glad he didn’t land on me because neighbors from many streets over would have heard me scream. I know they are out there but he caught me by surprise.

Blooming in the front yard in December.

Brett and I took the long way around the neighborhood after dinner out to see some lights. We saw a lot of deer out feeding.

This is not a great video since it took Brett a while to stop and I was filming from the moving car but the coyote couple passed by us on the sidewalk. The green eyes glowing belongs to the black coyote that almost blends in. It was really cool to see them in the dark but they kept moving fast.

Seeing turkeys on my bike ride

On November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Some days in July were just too hot to go for a walk, even in the shade. One hot morning I hopped on my bike and went for a spin around the neighborhood.

I always look around when I stopped for a break at one of the many ponds. This guy was hiding in the duckweed but he was pretty far down from the sidewalk. Most of the ponds (if not all) have an alligator in them so you have to pay attention.

I only saw one deer this morning and I haven’t seen many since then. We used to see them in our backyard every once in a while and it’s been months now.

Mushrooms were popping up everywhere due to the summer rains.

Color along the sidewalks.

The turkeys have been hanging out in the utility field and I hope they are hiding this week. I only saw 2 this morning but occasionally I see 5 or 6 together near here.

They were not skittish as I got off my bike and took the above video with my phone.

This is the first time I’ve seen a gopher tortoise in the neighborhood. I guess they may be hiding their burrows on the far end of the utility field.

This hawk was not skittish either. He let me walk up to this pole he was sitting on and he still didn’t fly off. He gave me this “What do you want?” look.

Sunflowers on a cloudy day

On October 13, 2025November 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants4 Comments

I made another trip to a sunflower farm at the beginning of June. Jimmy Mc’s farm is closer to home and was a quick trip. They only have a small sunflower field and a few cows. Brett came as well since he had not been to this farm before. It had rained most of the night and I wasn’t sure if we would get rained out but at least it was cool.

One of the cows came over to the fence to see if we had sunflowers to feed him but it looked like he already had plenty to choose from on the ground. Maybe he remembered me from last year when I fed him some sunflowers and came over to say hello?

Just past the sunflower field I could see turkeys running for the woods.

This was the last day of picking season and many of the flowers were getting old but I still managed to find several handfuls to take home.

Some of the little critters out in the field.

As usual I try and check the ones I take home for hitchhikers but I had so many that I barely looked. When I got home and was getting them in vases I found one that had to go outside but not before taking a quick shot. The green lynx spider is good to have in the garden since they eat a lot of moth larvae that are pests.

Playing around with my phone camera. I used stage lighting on portrait mode to take the above.

As we walked to the car I noticed the great blue heron sitting along the edge of a small pond. It looked very peaceful.

Then I noticed these guys strolling around to my side of the pond. Sandhill cranes with 2 almost grown juveniles (with the orange beaks). They were just cruising around out on the farm. Two years ago I saw them here as well so I’m wondering if it’s the same parents.

A quick video of them yelling as they walked by.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

The backyard in late May into early June

On October 6, 2025November 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

We’ve had 2 bunnies in the backyard since May. They both still come every few late afternoons, although not always at the same time. The first shot is the smaller bunny which I think may be offspring of the bigger one.

We had several juvenile tufted titmouse visit. They still have a little bit of cream in the corner of their beaks and don’t look so scruffy as the adults. I’m assuming they nest somewhere nearby.

We had a lot of juvenile cardinals as well.

Bluebirds have become regulars to the dried mealworm feeder and I can’t stop taking pictures of them.

We had a pair of brown thrashers in the backyard for a few weeks.

I saw the Carolina wrens hopping around and watched them go into my neighbor’s patio as the juvenile was still following the parent with the bug. The parent was teaching the young one to look for bugs but the young one just wanted to be fed.

My hanging shrimp plants were doing well. The hummingbirds get the nectar from inside the white part of the bloom.

I found some lacewing eggs on my jade plant that is up against the sunroom window. Those tiny white dots turn into something that looks like a moth but are a pretty green. I had the dots along the window as well but still haven’t seen any of the actual lacewings in the yard.

This is the first time I’ve seen one of these. A green coneheaded planthopper.

Taken through the window, a squirrel looking at me with an acorn in his mouth. I think he was afraid I was going to watch where he hid it.

I saw the turkeys through the window but since they were across the fairway I snuck out the back door and was able to get the above from the patio.

Later I looked out the back window and this one was right in front of our patio. I took the above through the window as she stared at me for a few seconds and then left with her friends.

Sunset going down behind the pond across the street.

Things in the yard and neighborhood

On August 11, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

We have a little spot of dirt in our front yard that gets full sun so I planted sunflower seeds and a few weeks later they started coming up.

Near the end of April this one was the first to start blooming.

A tiny Eastern amberwing dragonfly was flying around the sunflower plants.

A titmouse was showing off his snacks. I’m assuming he had a nest somewhere high up in the tree. I kept seeing him fly up there but couldn’t tell where he was going.

A moth through the window. Taken with my phone.

This blue jay was driving me crazy. He kept eating the suet and digging around in the plants for bugs. He lets me get really close. I took the above with my phone.

Critters on the flowering plants in the front yard.

I was sitting at the kitchen table working on my computer when I looked up and saw a hummingbird flying around in front of the window. I pulled out the old window feeder that I hadn’t used in a long time and made some extra food and put it on the window. By the next day she was coming to the feeder. If I was standing still in front of the window when she flew in she would continue to feed as long as I stood still.

A video of Fred flirting with me through the window.

It was almost time to take the suet feeder down. It’s just too hot once May comes and even through the package says they don’t melt, they do. The woodpeckers will just have to eat the regular sunflower seeds instead for a few months.

I kept hearing a peeping noise when I went out to water the plants and saw a downy woodpecker hanging around a spot high up in the oak tree in the backyard. I saw the woodpecker fly away and walked over and saw the above juvenile looking out from a hole underneath a branch. So I did what any normal bird nerd would do, I went inside and got my camera and dragged my patio chair under the tree and waited for the parent to come back.

The parent came back several times. There were two juveniles in the hole but only one popped out at a time. It must be tight in there. I could see the red on the young one’s head so I knew it was a boy. There was also a female.

Both parents stayed busy bringing in food but they would stick their head far into the hole to feed the kids so I couldn’t get a shot of them feeding it.

I knew that the babies were about to be too big for that hole and a few days later I saw them chasing the parents on the trees.

A regular visitor to the backyard.

I was out running errands and on the way home I saw these 3 on the sidewalk in front of the utility field down the street. I pulled over on the nearby parking pad and got out with my camera and crossed the street. Then they started crossing the street and heading right for me. These guys were strutting around like they owned the neighborhood.

I realized there were 2 females behind the trees on my side of the street. The males got close to the females but the females ignored them and went into the woods.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Sandhill cranes everywhere

On June 21, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In early April I was out biking on the northern part of the Pinellas County bike trail (the part that runs through cow pastures and a horse farm). Sandhill cranes are common here and I usually see several pairs. The first pair I saw was far out in a horse pasture right at the beginning of the trail. I stopped for a few minutes and noticed they had 2 tiny babies. They looked to be under a week old. Unfortunately they were on the sunny side of the trail.

A horse started walking towards them (really heading to the pond) and the parents started yelling. The horse stayed on the far side of the pond and then wandered back towards the stables. The little babies stayed close to the parent, right under his legs.

Turkeys were far across the cow pasture.

Farther down the trail I passed by another sandhill crane couple. They did not have any little ones.

While I was taking pictures of the cranes I noticed the bushes around the area were covered with these small snails. There were tons of them all over the bushes and sticks. I don’t remember seeing these here before.

Towards the end of the trail I found another crane couple. They were standing in the shade right along the trail. I stopped my bike and started taking shots of them.

They started flirting and dancing around. I stood there for about 10 minutes hoping they would mate but then some people walked up behind me with dogs and got too close so the cranes so they took off flying across the pasture and over the trees. I was crushed but not surprised. There’s a lot of foot traffic here as well.

Cattle egrets along the fence.

As I was leaving I saw the crane family again and they were a little closer to the trail but I figured they wouldn’t leave that pasture and get on the trail until those babies were bigger.

The yard and neighborhood in late January

On April 21, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

There hadn’t been a lot of different birds coming to the feeder in the backyard in late January. The usual tufted titmouse were always there.

It had been drizzling all day when I looked out the window late in the afternoon. I saw tons of robins on the golf course. They were too far away to try and take pictures through the window so I grabbed my big umbrella and camera and went out the back door. Yes, I was that neighbor standing on the edge of the golf course taking pictures of birds in the rain.

The robins had the entire fairway to themselves and they were taking baths (even while it was raining) in the puddles that had formed.

Looking around I realized they were all over the fairway. They stayed all afternoon and were gone by dark.

I noticed the little soaked pine warbler in the backyard as I headed back in.

Squirrels being cute. I think these are both young ones born this past late fall. They were half the size of the adult Mom that was also hanging around.

We had a bunny in the backyard for 13 days. It came late in the afternoon or right before dark. We had some dirt spots in the back near the patio so Brett threw some rye seed out so it would be green through the winter and not get muddy if it rained. Once the seed sprouted this bunny showed up and ate through most of the rye grass. He was having a feast so Brett through some more seed out to replace what he ate. These were taken through the window. He was very skittish.

Taken through the window, this great egret was hunting around the bushes and came up with a lizard.

My Christmas cactus didn’t start blooming until late in January.

Sunset down the street at the utility field.

The turkeys were heading out on the field right before sunset.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Around the yard and neighborhood in December

On March 24, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was early December and I was seeing the eagle couple in my neighborhood pretty regularly.

My first robins showed up in mid-December. I was putting the garbage can out one morning and heard them in the trees in the yard so I ran inside and grabbed my camera. There were only 3 of them and they stayed high up in the trees. They didn’t stay long. This was the first of several visits from them this winter.

We had 2 turkeys cruising through the yard one morning.

This red bellied woodpecker was taking sunflower seeds from the feeder and sticking them in the palm tree outside the window. Was he storing them up for the winter? I wanted to tell him the squirrels would find them and eat them.

All of the usual winter birds were visiting including black and white warblers, yellow throated warblers and house finches. The downy woodpeckers are here all year round.

The hermit thrush is a special visitor. He only stopped by once this winter. There was one that came by for a month last winter. I wonder if it’s the same one. He eats bugs so he doesn’t go to the feeder but maybe he likes the bath.

By mid-December the eagles were spending a lot of time together on the utility tower that the nest is in.

A few days later I was running to the store and saw them flying near the nest so I stopped since I had my camera in the car. One of them came flying to the nest with a big stick. I’m sure the nest needed some work after the hurricanes from the fall.

I was about to leave when this juvenile little blue heron flew right in front of me. He must have been a late summer baby because he was still all white. They turn blue as they molt their feathers in the first year. I’m glad he caused me to pause because then the eagle came back with more nesting material.

It looked like he had a part of a bald cypress branch. He dropped it in the best spot athough I’m sure she’ll re-arrange it later.

My camelia bush was just starting to bloom.

Sunset across the street in mid-December.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Around the neighborhood and backyard in October

On February 22, 2025February 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In late October I saw a lone eagle on the utility tower in my neighborhood. He was calling for someone. I had been seeing one around the area but this was the first time I had seen one on the tower where they nest.

A few days later both eagles were on the tower nest and they were having a conversation. What do you think they were saying???

Coming home I ran into the turkey family again. They were just hanging out on the road.

On my way to the store I stopped by the utility field in our neighborhood and saw two deer hanging out in the far corner. One of them had a big booboo on her neck.

Bluebirds were still coming to the bird bath in the backyard.

Yellow throated warblers were also coming to the bath.

The feeder was busy in October with pine warblers, Carolina wrens (who are here all year long) and house finches.

Palm warblers showed up by the tons and we have so many in the backyard. They come right onto the patio looking for bugs. They are not shy.

I saw the pileated woodpecker flying into our oak tree and ran outside with my camera to get the above. They stay high up in the trees and it’s hard to get them from the window.

Our hibiscus bush was in full bloom.

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.