Around the yard in late September

It was late September and I was taking the trash bin to the end of the driveway and I heard whistling over at the pond. I ran in and grabbed by camera and went over to the pond across the street and there they were, black bellied whistling ducks. Both adults and juveniles were there (juveniles born this summer would not have pink bills yet). I snapped a bunch of pictures and then left them. They were gone later that afternoon.

A few days later I looked out the back window and saw a lone bird in the bath. At first glance I thought it was a northern parula but I decided to look closer. It was a female chestnut-sided warbler. She was really pretty with that lime green on her head but I kind of wished it was a male. They have the orange/chestnut sides. I’ve only seen him once last year at Fort Desoto and only got a blurry shot of it.

The turkeys were coming through the backyard and I caught them scratching around in the yard debris that was still piled up.

The day after Hurricane Milton came through a prairie warbler was in my tree. This is the first time I’ve had one in the yard.

A lone buck was grazing around the debris in the backyard.

Early that morning I was out front cleaning the yard and had my phone in my pocket. These 2 red shoulder hawks landed in the tree across the street and started mating.

It was a little late for nesting season so maybe they were just glad to see each other after the storm.

Right after the hawks came by a bald eagle flew high overhead.

The little froggies were still coming around and were hanging out on my Christmas cactus.

In the spring I planted a handful of sunflower seeds in a sunny spot and had tons of big sunflowers bloom. Late in the summer I planted some more hoping they would bloom for fall. This is the only one that bloomed. It survived the storm with only one petal missing.

The yard was covered with not yet ripe acorns.

Driving along the neighborhood we could see a lot of trees down. Some had pulled up sidewalks with it. Luckily none around us hit any houses or cars.

One morning I was coming back into the neighborhood from the grocery store and saw the turkeys up ahead. I pulled out my camera to get a shot but they had already started running so I started videoing them as I drove by. They were moving pretty fast. I’m not sure why they started running but they all of a sudden stopped.

The view across the street after the storm.

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A frog invasion and seeing Jane Goodall in person

Two does came grazing through our backyard at the end of August. They were getting sips from the newly formed ponds. One looked really skinny.

It had been raining almost every afternoon through most of the summer. At the end of August we had a baby frog invasion. They would show up on our windows after the rain. One day I went outside with my macro lens and they were not skittish.

They were pretty tiny with most being smaller than my thumb. As cute as they were these were not good frogs. They are cuban frogs and are very invasive. They eat the native green tree frogs but will also eat a ton of mosquitoes.  Many locals would say I should have killed them all but I just couldn’t do it. I’m thinking the birds including ibis that we get in our yard will eat a lot of them. I’ve seen many ibis with tiny frogs in their beaks.

Most days we have white ibis cruising through and we had the turkeys coming through in early September.

The doves with their pretty pink toes like to sit on the bird feeder hook waiting for dropped bird seed.

We had a tiny young ring neck snake in our foyer. He must have slid in from the front door or the garage door, maybe when we were bringing in boxes or groceries. He’s harmless and we need snakes to eat the rats so I put a plastic container over him and slide a piece of paper underneath and was able to get him out the front door.

On another note, Jane Goodall was in the area with a speaking appearance and I was able to go with a friend. She is know for her long term research on chimpanzees in Tanzania. She is also known for her conservation work and brought her Roots & Shoots program to the St. Pete Tropicana Field for 2 days. Roots and Shoots is her youth program that has kids working on local conservation projects. One night she gave a speech and filled a good portion of the baseball field.

At 90 years old she gave a great speech. Two quotes I wrote down were “When nature loses, we all lose.” and “Every one of us makes an impact every day.”.

She showed a video clip of when she was releasing a chimp back into the wild and the chimp came back to give her a hug. She spoke about that day and everyone had tears in their eyes.  You can see the video here on Youtube.  

 

It’s gobble gobble day!

These guys were hanging around in the corner of our neighborhood most of the summer. I would see them cruising around in the front and backyard every few days. These two were by themselves when they stopped for a visit in the backyard in July. I think these are both males with those “beards” hanging off their beaks.

I saw this family of 6 often as well. They were cruising through the backyard and would stop and scratch for bugs around the feeder. This is the Mom with her 5 babies that were almost fully grown by July.

In late August the family was playing around in the front of our little subdivision.

A few days later I was at the pool and heard them scratching around right behind my chair.

Another sighting as they were heading onto the golf course. I haven’t seen them since late September so I hope they went into hiding for the holidays. Yes, it’s legal to hunt turkeys in Florida but there are regulations and you can’t hunt on private property so ours should be safe but people seem to bend the rules a lot lately.

A big storm moving in to the area in early September.

After the storm the sun turned the sky orange and purple as it went down.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Around the yard in mid-July

I looked out the kitchen window and saw a squirrel in the small tree in our front courtyard. I realized he was eating one of the almost dead sunflowers. He sat there and ate it while I ran and got my camera. I guess he was eating the sunflower seeds. He looked so happy like he had just won a prize.

In mid-July we had a heavy storm and the temporary pond across the fairway filled back up. Late one afternoon I saw a spoonbill feeding in the pond and went out with my camera. Luckily there wasn’t anyone playing golf that late and I was able to stand in the fairway and get some shots of the spoony and his friends without getting too close. There was also a snowy egret, a little blue heron and a juvenile little blue heron (the white one above).

A quick video of them feeding that I took with my phone.

The hummingbird was a regular visitor to the feeder and the shrimp plant.

These two turkeys came cruising by and stopped long enough for me to sneak out back and shoot the above from our patio.

We had a rabbit come by and feed on our ivy in the patio. I took these through the glass door. He saw me but kept eating for a while. I didn’t mind him eating the ivy. We are always cutting it back.

A few days later I was doing some clean up in the front and saw this tiny bunny up against our front door. I snapped the above and texted a rehabber to make sure he was old enough to be on his own. She said he was fine. Later I saw him hopping around the courtyard but haven’t seen him since that day.

Those weird fungus looking things on my back glass door that was actually lacewing eggs turned into this. They are beneficial to the yard and will eat tons of little bugs including mealybugs, aphids, spider mites and whiteflies.

A pretty mushroom after the rain. The squirrels usually eat them.

I was at the pool in our subdivision and this dragonfly landed on my towel and stayed long enough for me to pull my phone out and snap the above.

Afternoon lightning I shot from the garage.

July skies from the front yard.

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A ride through the neighborhood

At the end of May I took a spin on my bike around the neighborhood. I had been seeing the swallow tail kites flying high around the golf course and as soon as I took off one came cruising over my head.

Down the street I found a pair of black bellied whistling ducks in the pond. Last year there were babies in the area so I was hoping that would happen again this summer.

There were 2 turkeys in the utility field.

I stopped at another pond and found a bunch of mallards. An alligator was sun bathing a little farther down.

I never noticed this carrotwood tree before. Maybe I hadn’t seen it blooming. I stopped because I had seen a woodpecker fly into it but when I stopped and got off my bike the woodpecker took off. I wonder if they eat the fruit. Of course it’s not native to Florida and is considered invasive. It was probably planted many years ago when the golf course was put in.

Another turkey farther down the road. This one was not skittish. I got off my bike and took the above with my phone.

Deer feeding along the cart path.

This was the last time I saw an eagle in the neighborhood. They usually leave some time in May (most of the ones in the area are now showing up for the winter season),

Visitors to the yard in April

I was out in the front yard in early April taking a picture of the crazy blooming gardenia bush. The smell was amazing. It was early in the morning and I saw some movement across our driveway and turned around to see the below.

The turkeys were just cruising across the yards. I caught them with my phone as they walked across my neighbor’s driveway.

Hummingbirds started showing up at the end of March. For the last 2 years it was mid-April before they came.  I saw one buzzing around the shrimp plant and put the feeder up. The first few days I saw a male with his ruby throat blazing with red. Since then I have only seen females.

A doe was feeding just outside the back door right before dark. I quietly opened the door and took the above standing in the doorway. I was afraid if I walked out I would spook her.  I haven’t seen any deer coming through the back in a while since this time.

I was replanting some pots in the back when I saw something on the bird bath out of the corner of my eye. I thought I must have been dreaming. A prothonotary warbler in my back yard?  I was sitting on the pavers and looked over at my camera on the chair near the door. I knew if I got up it would leave. So I got up and it did leave but I sat in my chair really still with my camera and about 15 minutes later it showed up again. He spent a few minutes taking a bath and then left. What a beauty!

While I was sitting in the chair a northern parula also stopped by.

As well as a house finch.

The tufted titmouse got a bath right after the prothonotary warbler left.

There wasn’t any rain for weeks and it was so hot. Even the bluebirds were stopping by almost every day for a bath.

One morning I looked out the back window and saw a turtle walking across the golf course. He was heading for a busy street instead of turning right towards the other pond so I ran out with a towel and grabbed him and put him closer to the pond. There wasn’t anywhere for him to go even if he crossed that street without getting hit.

We had some new butterflies in the backyard on the big oak tree. A painted lady and a polygonia.

A lizard showing off for the ladies.

Those creepy spiky caterpillars that were all over the backyard a few weeks earlier turn into the above.  A tussock moth.

No clouds for weeks. Sunset from the front yard.

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A productive bike ride in the neighborhood

I was heading out of my street on my bike one morning when I saw a black bellied whistling duck sitting on the side of the lake across the street from our home. This was the first time I’ve seen one in our neighborhood.

I pedaled around to the big open utility field and stopped to take some shots of the above deer. I don’t see bucks often so I had to stop and get a shot of him even if it was across the field.

Yes, more turkey shots. I was cruising around and saw some turkeys up on a roof. They must have had a pretty good view from up there. Eventually they started coming down and pecking around in the grass.

I ran into some nanday parakeets that were feeding on someone’s feeder.

My 2nd neighborhood fawn sighting. This Mom only had 1 baby. They crossed the street and went behind someone’s house that backed up to some woods.

I was waiting at a stop sign for traffic to move (but really just taking a rest) and heard a black bellied whistling duck. I looked over and there were 2 sitting under a tree near the main road into the neighborhood. I started snapping some shots and realized they had babies with them. There was a pond nearby but they were not that close to it.

They headed down into the ditch and made their way towards the pond. Of course they went to the pond that had houses around them so I lost sight of them. I didn’t want to walk into someone’s backyard (as tempting as that was). These were taken across the street and heavily cropped. Those babies stayed close to Mom. A third whistler showed up as they were heading to the pond. I wonder if it was the same one that was in the lake across from our house. I didn’t see it there again.

Heading back home I ran into more turkeys on the other side of the neighborhood.

September in the yard

I looked out the back window one morning and saw deer on our patio. One was so close. I took these with my camera through the window. I knew they would take off if I opened the door but I think they still saw me.

One walked over to my Christmas cactus (that wasn’t blooming at the time) and started eating it. I took a video of if and above is one of the stills. She demolished it. It was a small one and wasn’t doing very well so I didn’t try and stop her. I replanted the pot with petunias.

Bluebirds taking a bath.

Across the fairway I could see a spoonbill sleeping under a tree. I went outside and snapped the above from our little yard. A little later I saw it feeding in the newly formed pond from the much needed rain we had. I didn’t see anyone on the course so I snuck across to get a little closer.

I sat down under a nearby tree and watched as the spoonbill was feeding. A juvenile little blue heron and a few white ibis were also there.

The young turkey showed up with Mom again. I went outside and took these. They didn’t seem to mind me sitting in the grass nearby. They stayed for a while, pecking around the yard.

I saw another lone turkey taking a nap (or a dirt bath) nearby.

I finally saw the twins in my neighborhood. I was coming home from running errands and had my camera in the car. I pulled over right before my house and snapped them heading into the woods at the end of our street.

The view from across the street in mid-September.

I took these with my phone from the upstairs bathroom window. This was the only night we had a good lightning storm this summer.

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It’s turkey week on the blog

I’m continuing with turkey week. Only these aren’t recipes for what to cook for today’s Thanksgiving festivities. These are wild turkeys in my backyard. (Full disclosure – I am not a vegetarian. I’ll probably be eating a little turkey later today, one bought from a store). A Mom with her lone baby was feeding around in our backyard one afternoon. I went outside with my camera and was sitting in the patio chair taking these.

As I was watching baby I could see the older juvenile turkeys across the fairway. They started heading over to our side of the cart path and towards the tree island behind the building next door.

The Mom and baby started to make their way over to where the older turkeys were. I was wondering if the older turkey family would let this baby hang out with them or chase it away. I’m hoping Mom was ready to get her baby out of there but she was heading right for them.

I followed Mom and baby over to the newly formed tiny pond from the recent rain. The adults were feeding in the water, scratching around in the muck. The Mom of the juvenile turkeys was standing close by watching them feed in the water. I didn’t get too close and was taking these with my 400mm lens.

Mom and baby kept their distance. They were watching for a few minutes and then left and headed over back towards my home so I followed them back.

A few minutes later the older ones cruised by my neighbor’s yard and went around the building and left.

I eventually went around to the front yard to look for the older turkey family and saw a yellow crowned night heron and a limpkin in the lake across the street.

The sun going down through the trees.

Red clouds in the backyard later in the week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

SkyWatch Friday

More from my early April bike ride

Pedaling by the stables on the bike trail.

I found a pair of kildeer far out in the cow pasture.

A Savannah sparrow posed for me on the fence.

I spotted some turkeys on the far side of the cow pasture.

Critters taking a nap along the pond (these were both cropped up).

This is the first time I have seen a snapping turtle on this trail.

My first ever sighting of a Sherman’s fox squirrel. They are only found in Florida and south Georgia. I have heard of sightings of them farther north of Tampa and had heard there were some seen along this trail but I hadn’t seen them until this morning. There were 2 and they stayed far on the other side of the cow pasture so these are heavily cropped. They are bigger than the abundant gray squirrels we have in our backyard.

A red shoulder hawk had something furry in his talons and when I stopped to get my camera out he turned around to hide his prey. I quickly snapped the above and then left him to his meal.

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