Gator day at the park.

On February 5, 2019February 5, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals2 Comments

I had my first real close encounter with a big one recently at Circle B Bar Reserve. I’ve been visiting this park for over 10 years and until recently, I always joked that the gators were fake. They never seemed to move, just sleeping on the other side of the pond. I was at the park early and the water levels along the trails were high. The first picture was taken with my 300mm lens so I wasn’t that close. The second one was taken with my phone. That’s my shadow at the bottom. There were people coming up behind me and once the big guy crossed the trail, we all headed down together. Our theory was safety in numbers. By the time we got to were he had crossed, we saw him swimming half way across the lake.

Another big one on the same morning, taken with my 300mm lens.

A few tiny ones on the trail.

One of the “really” big ones across the lake, on the other side of the bank.

Otherwise, it was a slow morning with the usual turtles and warblers.

It finally looks like fall in late December.

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They all look alike

On January 7, 2017December 29, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

This one looks like a female common yellowthroat. Although, it also looks like a female hooded warbler.

The above two looks more like a female hooded warbler.

Possible pine warbler.

Or these could be a pine warbler.

This is an easy one. A yellow throated warbler.

A palm warbler.

All of these little yellow guys look alike. Especially the females. Pine, Palm, Prairie or Polka Dots??? I can’t keep them straight. Next spring I’m going to take the time to write down what they are as I am taking pictures if someone there knows. Sometimes I have different people telling me the same bird is something different so that’s even more confusing. These were all taken in mid-November at Chesnut Park. It was a busy day for little yellow birds.

Common and uncommon birds at Chesnut Park

On December 12, 2016December 13, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Above are some of the common birds you see in the winter here. An Eastern phoebe, a catbird, a black and white warbler and a blue-gray gnatcatcher.

Another common year round bird, the pileated woodpecker. Most of the time I usually hear them screaming from high up in the trees. This one came down a little closer.

A house wren is not that common.

Yellow throated warblers are common in the winter but they tend to hide up in the palm trees and under the palms.

I think these are all pine warblers.

Not a common bird for me to see, a black capped chickadee. There were several high up in the trees near the boardwalk.

A very strange but not uncommon bird flying over the lake.

Lots of little birds flying around Chesnut Park in early November (a few big ones too).

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Lots of little birds and a few big ones

On February 13, 2016February 13, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Black and white warblers are hard to get. They stay close to the trunk in the shade.

Downy woodpeckers usually let you get pretty close.

Yellow throated warblers always stay up high. This one was hiding under a palm leaf.

I’m not sure what this one is just from this picture. Looks a little light underneath to be a palm warbler but too pale to be a pine warbler (which was reported in this area).

A female black and white warbler. She was curious, checking me out (or probably looking for a handout).

Blue-gray gnatcatcher with a tiny bug.

Female red-winged blackbirds are pretty. They have just a little bit of peach around the face.

A little blue heron in the middle of a pond.

You could just barely see the great blue heron sitting on the nest high up in the pine tree. So far the last 2 years they haven’t had babies here.

All the way across the lake, I could see the eagle couple up in a tree.

An early January walk at Chesnut Park.

Saturday's Critters

Residents birds and birds passing through.

On October 5, 2015October 6, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography16 Comments

Yellow-throated warblers are moving through, heading south for the winter.

I think this is a northern parula. They are common right now but this one looks a little scruffy

A male cardinal eating a berry.

The female cardinal is wondering why he isn’t sharing his berry.

The two above pictures are a yellow warbler.

The titmouse and cardinals are year round residents at Chesnut park. The other ones are just passing though. On their way south for the winter. Although, when I took these in mid-September it did not feel like winter would be coming any time soon. Fall migration is in full swing here in Florida but I feel like I’m missing it with work and vacation. Brett and I spent some time in Flagstaff, Arizona hiking in late September. We had beautiful cool weather so I felt like I had a tiny taste of fall. I’m working on the tons of pictures I took now so I’ll be bombarding you with those soon.

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Yellow birds at Fort Desoto

On April 13, 2015April 13, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

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.

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Little yellow birds invade Fort Desoto

On April 9, 2013April 9, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography15 Comments

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.

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