Yellow birds at Fort Desoto

Posted on April 13, 2015 by dinajohnston

All above are white eyed vireos. Fairly common during migration.

All of these are of a hooded warbler. The park was filled with these bright yellow birds with black hoods. They were not shy and would not freak out and fly into the bushes. They remained on the trail as long as no one got too close.

I saw one prairie warbler at the park.

A single yellow throated warbler. I don’t see these too often.

It poured the last Friday in March. I never get that lucky. Usually, it pours early in the week and by the time I get out to the parks, the birds are gone. This time I got up early on Saturday and headed down to Fort Desoto. Not a big fall out but still enough birds to keep everyone entertained. I think there was possibly more people than birds though. I’m hoping this is only the first fall out for spring migration this year. It’s still early.

Little birds being watched by big birds.

Posted on February 2, 2015 by dinajohnston

My first blue headed vireo. From a distance I thought it was a northern parula and wasn’t going to take the picture. I was thinking it was too far away and dark which it was but was glad I took the shot after all.

Keeper of the sign.

Common yellowthroat hiding in the reeds along the lake.

“Sing, sing a song. “

I thought this was an immature yellow rumped warbler but now I’m not sure.

White eyed vireo.

The usual titmouse looking cute.

This red shoulder hawk was on the wooded trail and watching the blue headed vireo. I think he is still a young one since he didn’t have a lot of color in his head.

This one was sitting out over the lake watching all of the little birds flying around. He may have just been soaking up the sun since it was fairly cool that morning.

A few birds on my walk around Chesnut Park in early January. It was a cool morning (45 degrees when I started) but warmed up fast. I didn’t think I was going to see much but the little birds came out as the sun started peeking out of the clouds.

Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday

On the boardwalk at Lettuce Lake Park.

Posted on June 16, 2014 by dinajohnston

The first thing I saw when I got to the boardwalk was a swallow-tail kite flying by. I heard they were nesting across the lake. I would need a canoe to even get remotely close.

A great blue heron flyby.

Juvenile night heron along the boardwalk.

A white eyed vireo.

I thought this was a brown thrasher but the grey eyes are throwing me off. Brown thrashers have orange eyes. Any ideas?

The swamp was full of these flowers. They were growing in the shade.

Built in Christmas ornaments on this fir tree.

Is that a yawn?

Another bunny.

He was on the side of the road. I pulled over and took these pictures before leaving.

I hadn’t been to Lettuce Lake Park in months. The lake was full and the swamp under the boardwalk was full of water. I saw very few wading birds. I heard a lot of northern parulas all over the park but they were all high up in the trees. No sign of the barred owls this trip. I’ll keep looking.

Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday

Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

A few more from spring migration

Posted on May 20, 2013 by dinajohnston

I was told this is a Tennessee Warbler. It looks like it from my Stokes Birding Guide.

If so, it’s a lifer for me.

White eyed vireo singing in the morning.

He was chirping away.

This was my last indigo bunting sighting of the season. These were taken in mid-April.

I saw this guy for a flash of a second so this was all I got. It was the only time I saw a hummingbird at the feeder during all of those trips to the park this spring.

Swallowtail on the flowers.

This guy was jumping around while we were trying to take pictures of the bunting.

This has been a long drawn out migration season. Last spring there were tons of birds in two weekends and then nothing. This spring it’s been a small handful of birds each weekend starting at the end of March and fizzling out near the end of April. I saw a few new birds this spring and met a ton of new people. It’s amazing the bird traffic at Fort Desoto. People come from all over the country during April for a “bird vacation”. Most of the travelers I spoke with were hitting parks all around Florida. At least at Fort Desoto, when you walk out of the woods, you’re on the beach and your “bird vacation” can become a few hours of a “beach vacation”.

Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday

Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

Little yellow birds invade Fort Desoto

Posted on April 9, 2013 by dinajohnston

Hooded warblers were everywhere. They were walking around in the grass and posing for everyone. I saw this bird last year but never got a shot so this is my first official hooded warbler shot.

Prairie warblers aren’t too common. There were many of these on the east beach trails.

After I cropped this up I realized there were tiny white bugs all over the leaves. I think that’s what he was eating.

White eyed vireos are common during spring migration.

This one was trying to hide in the fir trees.

Yellow throated warblers were common around the ranger’s house this weekend.

My very first prothonotary warbler.

He was posing for me right when I hit the trail that morning.

Central west Florida had a small fall-out this past weekend. A big storm came through the Tampa Bay area on Thursday and by Friday afternoon, people were posting great migrating birds all over the area. The most populated seemed to be at Fort Desoto so I headed down there early Saturday morning. I skipped the beach and went straight to the woods. I spent over 4 hours looking for little birds in the bushes and trees. Of course, everyone else had the same idea so it was pretty crowded on trails. Everyone was so nice pointing out things they had seen. I do not know my little birds very well and usually shoot first and look up species later. Saturday I left knowing all but one bird that I had taken pictures of. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of new people and ran into a few old friends I haven’t seen in a long time. I also saw a few red and blue birds that aren’t cardinals or blue jays so I’ll post those later.

Check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for

Dina's Wildlife Adventures

Tag Archives: white eyed vireo

Yellow birds at Fort Desoto

Little birds being watched by big birds.

On the boardwalk at Lettuce Lake Park.

A few more from spring migration

Little yellow birds invade Fort Desoto