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.

Two more lifers in one morning.

On June 29, 2024July 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Above is the only picture I got of the yellow breasted chat. I had heard there was one here at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs last spring but I never made it up here to look for it. This year I had to go since I had never seen one before. It had been reported for 3 days before I got there. Early the first morning I looked for 2 hours with 2 other people and had to leave for a dentist appointment with no sighting. People reported it later in the morning so the next morning I went up a little later (around 8:30am). There were at least 20 other people looking in the area it had been seen the day before. After over an hour it made a brief (above) appearance. After waiting another hour I gave up and went for a walk around the rest of the park. It looks a little like the yellow throated warbler but without the black stripes.

There was a Cape May warbler bouncing around in the area where the chat was. This was a banner spring for Cape Mays. They were everywhere.

I found other usual spring migration birds around the park including a prairie warbler, a hooded warbler, a white eyed vireo and a northern parula.

My 2nd lifer of the morning was a Lincoln’s sparrow. He was on the other side of the park from the chat and was scratching around in the dirt along the mangroves near the water.

Above the Lincoln sparrow was a prairie warbler posing nicely in the bushes.

I saw the painted lady butterfly while we were waiting for the chat to show up.

A quick walk

On December 21, 2021December 6, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants4 Comments

So much yellow in November.The little critters were loving the goldenrod when I was at Possum Branch Preserve in mid-November. The pop of yellow was really pretty growing along the canal there.

A few of the birds I found. A white eyed vireo and a great egret hiding from the wind in the muck.

I don’t see these guys very often even though I know there are a ton of them.

The moon was still up in the late morning.

Stopping at the fishing pier nearby, the dark clouds were moving in.

Fall migration at Chesnut Park

On December 7, 2019June 27, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

There were a few migrating birds at Chesnut Park in late October. I saw a lot of black and white warblers.

White eyed vireos hang around all winter.

A lone pine warbler was busy feeding in the moss.

A female magnolia warbler is not very common here.

Pretty things at Bok Tower Gardens

On November 19, 2019November 19, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals5 Comments

Lots of little critters at Bok Tower Gardens in late September. Very few birds. The best one was the white eyed vireo. It was a good morning to work on my butterfly shots.

I found this butterfly couple flying around. Only the top butterfly was flapping. Assuming they are mating?

I was looking for bugs and saw this big eye staring at me from behind a leaf. After climbing around under the leaves for a few minutes he stopped and took a nap on a stalk. He was not much bigger than my thumb.

Little birds at the boardwalk.

On March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I’m thinking this is a pine warbler. Fairly common but confusing. Looks like a lot of other female yellow birds.

A very common but pretty white-eyed vireo.

I think this is an immature pine warbler in the 2 above.

Blue headed vireos are becoming common this time of year.

This little chickadee was being too cute. He came down close to the boardwalk looking to see if I had a handout. All of the above were taken at Chesnut Park on a Saturday morning in early January. Someone had left seed on the boardwalk before I had gotten there and the birds were very active.

On the way home I stopped by another park to see if the owls were nesting again this year. She was up in the nest still on eggs, taking a nap. This couple gets a little later start than most owls in the area.

Linking to My Corner of the World.

Lots of the same at Chesnut Park

On February 12, 2018February 13, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Lots of deer in early January.

Lots of squirrels but that bottom looks a little rough.

Lots of little birds but nothing new.

Red shoulder hawks hiding along the trails.

Eagles flying far away across the lake. Both an adult and a juvenile.

Found these two ducks at a quiet end of a pond. I’m thinking they are pets that got dumped here. Someone left food in a small plastic container. I just hope they know enough to stay away from the gators.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

The usual suspects at Lettuce Lake Park

On December 13, 2017December 13, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

The parks are full of white eyed vireos and phoebes right now.

“Common” yellowthroats are pretty common as well.

Doves get no respect even though they have pretty pink feet.

Limpkin eating a snail.

These are actually pretty cool bees, although I wouldn’t want to disturb that nest.

Gators and lizards.

Muhly grass in bloom.

Linking to Wednesday Around the World

My favorite little birds.

On February 27, 2017February 28, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

My favorite little titmouse coming to check me out.

My next favorite blue-gray gnatcatchers. They would be my favorite but they are so annoying the way they don’t sit still for a second.

Other usual birds at the park: white eyed vireo, cardinal, eastern phoebe, female red winged blackbird and the always present red bellied woodpecker.

It’s hard to ignore the cute squirrels.

Stuff at Chesnut Park in early January.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing

Going home with “warbler neck”

On November 2, 2016October 30, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Summer tanagers were posing for the crowd.

Black and white warbler with a bug.

Redstart hiding in the shadows.

Blue gray gnatcatchers eating bugs.

A rare yellow billed cuckoo was the star of the day. I had seen one once before at Circle B Bar Reserve but there were many birders there that had their first sighting of one. He was high up in the tree but everyone was able to get a good shot.

The one of many palm warblers that hang out here in the winter.

White eyed vireos will be common to spot this winter.

I was told the two above were Nashville warblers. Can anyone confirm?

A brief glimpse of a Tennessee warbler.

My first Philadelphia Vireo. He was hanging around the cuckoo.

“We got fall out!” was the term used on the bird forums. Fort Desoto Park was covered in birds that had stopped for a rest on their way south for the winter in early October. I got to the park around 8am and many people already looking up in the oak trees at the picnic area. I spent several hours taking tons of pictures and had “warbler neck” from staring straight up into the trees for so long. A nap after lunch got rid of that. It’s not often you get a day where you can stand under a tree and see so many different birds.