Peepers in the road.

On August 17, 2023August 11, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights8 Comments

I was heading for another chiropractor appointment in Ybor City early one morning and I saw a Mom with her babies standing in the middle of the road. I drove down the road they were on and they were not going to move. Since I had a few minutes before my appointment I pulled over into a parking spot and got out and shooed them back on to the sidewalk. They reluctantly allowed me to move them over.

At first they all ran and hide under Mom.

Then the babies started to wander around nearby.

After my quick appointment I drove back down the street and there they were, back in the middle of the street again. I guess they feel like they own the streets (they are protected here) and spend a lot of time in them. I was just being a tourist trying to shoo them over to the sidewalk.

I found another Mom nearby with several bigger babies.

The boys were still strutting around in the same spot as last week.

This Mom had 6 babies.

Driving down the main street (7th Avenue) at 9:30 in the morning, most of the restaurants and shops had not opened up yet.

Baby cluckers everywhere

On July 22, 2023July 13, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I found a new chiropractor to try in Ybor City who came highly recommended so I headed over for a visit. I threw my camera in the car just in case I saw some baby chickens in the streets in Ybor. This part of Tampa is full of chickens and roosters. The story is that they are direct descendants of the chickens that lived here with the neighborhoods earliest resident’s over 100 years ago. They roam freely in the streets and are protected.

After my early appointment I drove a few blocks over to Centennial Park where most of the chickens hang out. I found several families and didn’t even have to leave the car. This Mom was busy with 10 babies to keep track of.

Roosters were strutting everywhere.

Another Mom with 7 babies.

I’m not sure if this is a juvenile or just a really small chicken. She was alone.

The boys were hanging around together.

The statue of Nick Nuccio, a former mayor of Tampa, He was Tampa’s first mayor of “Latin” (specifically Sicilian) descent. Most people think of Ybor City as just a history of Cubans and the cigar factories but there were just as many Sicilians back in the early 1900’s.

It was fun seeing all of the little babies and since I had several appointments I took a ton of pictures so there’s more to come.

Summer clucking

On October 2, 2021September 12, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

In early August I headed over to Ybor City early one morning to see if there were any summer baby chicks running around. I found two hens each with two babies. It’s weird to think there are wild chickens running around near downtown Tampa but I think they have been a long time. They say that the chickens have been here over 100 years, since the first Ybor city residents were living here before downtown really existed and there were small farms in the area.

They were so cute to watch. The chicks were curious but did not stray to far from Mom.

Ybor City

On August 20, 2020July 31, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights2 Comments

Continuing from my last post about the chickens in Ybor City, a broader picture of the cute courtyard bar where the chickens hang out in the morning.

Ybor City is a neighborhood in Tampa that was started around 1885 by a group of cigar manufacturers and boomed until the Great Depression. It slowly declined and stayed in neglect until the 80’s when artists started to move into the area. Now it’s filled with bars and restaurants and a few shops. It’s a neighborhood with it’s own personality.

It was quiet and empty on a Sunday morning.

A few buildings are vacant including this old Coyote Ugly bar.

The heart of Ybor City is the Columbia Restaurant. Opened in 1905 and still owned by the same family, it’s the oldest restaurant in Florida and takes up a city block. I grew up eating here with my family when we use to come down to Florida from Alabama to visit my grandparents. It was my Dad’s favorite restaurant. I still bring my sisters here when they come to visit and Brett and I come several times a year.

Eclectic stores along the street.

This is the best time to be in Ybor, when it’s just me and the chickens.

Looking for chickens

On August 18, 2020August 18, 2020 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I wanted to get out of the house for a walk on a Sunday morning in early June so I headed over to Ybor City near downtown Tampa. I got there well before 8am thinking I would be the only one there but there were a few joggers as well as some people cleaning up the streets. The bars and restaurants had just recently opened up and everyone was hanging out in the streets the night before. I brought my camera along to see if I saw any baby chicks. The first outdoor bar I passed, wedged between two buildings, had chickens running around.

Key West has their roosters running wild around town. Well so does Tampa in Ybor City. They were cruising the parking lots looking for dropped food.

There was lots of baby chicks over at the small park in Ybor. They are so cute when they are that tiny and they were sticking close to Mom.

My Corner of the World

Baby chicks on the street

On September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights2 Comments

More on my morning walk at the farmer’s market in Ybor City in Tampa. There were baby chicks running around everywhere at the small park near downtown Tampa. I guess the chickens in the streets brings charm to the old part of town kind of like it does in Key West.

Some of the statues and charm in the Ybor neighborhood.

Strutting in the street

On August 24, 2019August 2, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

On a hot Saturday morning in July I decided to head to the Saturday morning farmer’s market in Ybor City near downtown Tampa. I have never been and didn’t think it would be too crowded due to the heat and summer rains. Just wanted to wander around. I had heard there were chickens and roosters running around loose in the area but never have seen them there when we just pop over to eat at restaurant. The park where the market is held is over run with them. They were everywhere.