Two trips to the wetlands.
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
1d ago
I heard there was a lark sparrow at Roosevelt Wetlands in north St. Pete. I have only seen one once years ago at Fort Desoto. The above was not it. The above is a common winter visitor, a yellow-rumped warbler. There were a lot of them at the wetlands and they are not shy and will pose for a pictures. The above is also not a lark sparrow. He’s an uncommon western kingbird. I haven’t seen one since 2019. He flew right in front of the crowd looking for the lark and posed on a big stick. Again, not the lark. The above is a Savannah sparrow, a fairly common bird. I did not find the lark on this ..read more
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A cold winter morning in St. Pete.
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
3d ago
European starlings get no respect here. They are treated like annoying pigeons. They are an invasive species here in the United States but they are pretty when the sun hits them just right. I found this one alone at Crescent Lake Park in St. Pete. I stopped for a quick walk and to see if the white pelicans were still there. This wood stork was feeding right in front of me. I did find the white pelicans and took a ton of shots of them feeding but more on them later. After a walk around the lake I drove 10 minutes over to the North Shore Park on the bay. As soon as I got out of my car I heard ..read more
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The Venice rookery
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
6d ago
While Brett and I were on our staycation in Manasota Key we spent a day in nearby Venice (just south of Sarasota). Our first stop in Venice was the Audubon rookery. This was my first visit but I had heard a lot about it during bird nesting season. I knew we would be too early to see any babies but I still wanted to stop by and see if it’s worth another trip down. The rookery is smaller than the one in north Tampa but great blue herons nest here and not in Tampa. There were only a few of them on the morning we were here but I was able to catch some flirting going on. This was the only couple ..read more
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Tides go up and down
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
1w ago
It was mid-December and a bad storm was coming later in the night. I went out that morning for a walk in Dunedin and took the above at the Weaver Park fishing pier. The tide was super low with the impending storm. The small floating dock at the end of the pier was almost on the ground. I walked down the steep ramp and it felt weird looking up at the poles next to the dock. The sun was trying to peek out but it never did make an appearance. The storm came through in the middle of the night and brought a lot of flooding and downed trees. The next morning I headed out to the Safety Harbor fish ..read more
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A wildlife boat tour
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
1w ago
While Brett and I were on our staycation on Manasota Key we took a boat ride/dolphin tour one morning. The boat wasn’t full since it was a little chilly so it was nice to have room to move around. We went down the intercoastal and out to Stump Pass to get out in the open water. We passed several boats that were still stranded from Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Idalia. Ian (in 2022) did a lot of damage in the area. They still hadn’t fully recovered and Idalia came by (in 2023). We passed an adult and a juvenile bald eagle that were sitting on a spit in the middle of the water. Looks like Junio ..read more
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Winter visitors to the yard.
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
1w ago
Pine warblers have been regular visitors to the backyard this winter. They don’t mind that the woodpeckers are on the suet feeder. A yellow throated warbler has stopped by only a few times this winter. He doesn’t stay around long. Getting a bite and taking a dip, then he’s gone. The backyard has been full of yellow rumped warblers. This year round Carolina wren found a good bug right up against our sunroom door. Squirrels being cute. It seemed too early for them to be frisky in December but I guess they are frisky all year round here. I was pressure washing the driveway and saw this guy ..read more
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Fall was finally here.
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
2w ago
We know it’s winter in central Florida when the coots show up at our ponds.  It looked like they were eating the grass they pulled up from the bottom of the pond. I was up on the observation tower at Chesnut Park when I saw this osprey in the trees across the boat canal. The spanish moss has taken over these trees. The spatterdock was blooming under the boardwalk. The trees around the lake were finally turning colors in late December. The bald cypress trees and red maples were finally showing off. We do get a fall here in the Tampa Bay area, just not until some time in December. This ..read more
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Staycation on a new beach
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
2w ago
Brett and I had a week long staycation in mid-December. We drove 2 hours south to Manasota Key, a barrier island off Englewood (south of Venice, Florida). We rented a old condo right on the beach and spent the week just hanging out. We got down there too early to go to the condo so we took a long walk next door at Stump Pass Beach State Park. The weather was mild, around 60 degrees, and we had the park almost to ourselves. Someone had made a shell tree. On the beach side looking towards town. It’s weird seeing an empty beach. The shelling was pretty good and I came home with a jar full of s ..read more
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A crushing blow to the eagle world
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
2w ago
In early January the eagles in my neighborhood were sticking close to the nest. Louise (the Project Eagle Watch coordinator for Pinellas County) and I were both keeping close tabs on the nest. We were thinking the eggs had hatched at this point but the babies were to small to see yet. Mom was always on the nest while Dad was flying back and forth. I still hadn’t been able to catch him with food but I hadn’t made it over to the nest early in the mornings. It looks like Mom is looking down at something. By mid-January I could just make out some fuzz between the sticks. Louise could see 2 babi ..read more
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Fish for breakfast?
FL: Dina's City Wildlife Adventures
by dinajohnston
3w ago
  The weather at the end of November and into December can go either way. It can be still warm and icky or turn cold and sunny. Luckily it was the 2nd one this year. Although I was still in shorts at the end of November it was at least cool and 72 degrees. The sun had already come up when I started my walk on the Dunedin causeway. I noticed a lot of young herring gulls on the beach side of the causeway and ran back to my car and got my camera. Herring gulls are snowbirds and only stay here during the winter. One had found a piece of fish floating along the shoreline. He played with it f ..read more
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