Sidewalk fun

On July 15, 2026July 15, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Bright colors just after sunrise during my mid-March walk in Safety Harbor.

I usually walk along the waterfront but this morning I headed down Main Street. The sun was peeking through the old trees. The first tree is behind the library and the 2nd tree is the 350+ year old Baranoff oak tree. The tree is named after Dr. Salem Baranoff, who is known for owning the Safety Harbor Spa Hotel and a community leader. He died in 1977 at the age of 90 but his tree lives on.

The sun was coming up down Main Street this Monday morning and the reason I was walking here was because the Sidewalk Chalk Festival was the weekend before. It’s always fun to walk the street and look at all of the artwork left behind.

The above 2 were on boards instead of the sidewalk and I think that parrot was my favorite one.

Just a sample of the 40 drawings on the sidewalk. I was drawn to the Florida themes this morning.

I noticed this old building for sale. There’s a gift shop in the bottom floor. It was built in 1914 as a hotel and was one of the few buildings that survived the fire of 1917 that burned most of Safety Harbor and survived the destructive hurricane of 1921. It will be interesting to see what happens to it after it’s sold and if you’re wondering, it’s $4M!

Around the yard in early March

On July 13, 2026July 13, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Bluebirds were working on a nest in the nest box in early March like they have done the past few years but they haven’t actually nested in it. Next spring I’m going to move it much higher and to the other side of the tree.

A juvenile red shoulder hawk was sitting right outside the window.

I slowly opened the back door to get a shot with my camera and he flew off and landed on the cart path. He quickly ate what looked like a cricket and then took off again, flying so close that I cut him off.

I heard cedar waxwings in the trees in the front yard and ran inside to grab my camera. I saw some birds flying across the street (next to the pond) and when I walked over I realized they were brown-headed cowbirds. We don’t see them often here.

After snapping the cowbirds I heard the waxwings again. I turned around and saw them flying towards me.

They landed in a tree right over my head and stayed for a while. It was such a treat to see these beautiful birds right on my street. They only come through in the spring and some springs we don’t see them at all.

Things blooming in the yard in early March.

I bought a small basil plant thinking I would be cooking more but I forgot about it and it grew quickly and started blooming. I’ve heard that once they bloom the leaves become bitter so I haven’t used them. It smells good when I walked outside though.

Green lacewings are highly beneficial feeding heavily on aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mites. I usually don’t see them until the middle of summer so this one was early.

Inside flowers from Valentine’s Day.

I was still spending quite a bit of time at the pond across the street watching the black bellied whistling ducks. It was fun to watch them all fly in at the end of the day.

Swallow tail kites had arrived.

The clouds in the back turn bright orange when the sun sets.

It’s twins!

On July 11, 2026June 28, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

Since I only saw one of the baby barred owls in early March I had to go back and see if I could see the twins together. I got to the park before the sun had come up over the trees (and it was a cloudy at first) and sure enough, they were both looking out of the nest. That small hole was getting crowded as the babies were getting bigger.

Mom was sleeping far back in the leaves.

After an hour the sun was finally on the nest which made the babies fall asleep.

I took the above with my phone and it was zoomed in so you can see how tiny the babies looked with the naked eye (follow the yellow arrow). The nest is across a creek and the trail in front was fenced off.

We realized that there was a squirrel nest in the bottom of the same tree. Two tiny squirrels that were almost grown kept poking their heads out.

Turkey vultures greeted me as I got back to the parking lot.

More floating marshmallows in the fog

On July 8, 2026July 8, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was another foggy morning at the end of February when I stopped at Crescent Lake Park in downtown St. Pete to see if the white pelicans were still hanging around. There wasn’t quite as many as my trip a few weeks before but there were still a lot of them floating around the lake.

In one corner of the lake they were taking baths. It was fun to watch them splashing around and preening. It’s weird that a bird that lives in water still has to take a bath.

I noticed small groups dotted around the lake that were diving for food. White pelicans are surface feeders and herd the fish in together while dunking under to grab them. It’s almost like a ballet when they duck down together with their butts bobbing. Brown pelicans fly up and then dive down alone to catch their fish so it’s very different to watch them.

The groups were all doing different things. From bathing to feeding to napping.

Here they come! Right in front of me.

It was still foggy when I left an hour later but I could see that bright blue water tower across the lake.

A weekend in south Florida

On July 6, 2026July 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Vacation4 Comments

In March Brett has some relatives from Canada visiting the Fort Lauderdale area so we headed to south Florida for a long weekend. We stayed in Dania Beach and while we weren’t actually on the beach we had a great view from our room. We could see the planes from the airport taking off and the cruise ships out in the port.

I caught a video of the now defunct Spirit airlines taking off.

I was up early one morning heading to breakfast and stopped at the window in the hallway to catch the sun coming up.

From the other end we could see the sunset and the guitar hotel lit up at nearby Hard Rock Hotel.

We had some time one morning before meeting everyone for lunch so we went for a walk around the hotel.

We saw a lot of myna birds. Even though they are pretty they are invasive to Florida. They are destructive, driving out native birds and damaging crops and fruit trees in the area. Their population in south Florida has exploded and we now have some in the Tampa Bay area.

A view of the sawgrass marshes as we headed home on Alligator Alley.

Almost home as we were about to cross the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Watching the national bird growing up

On July 4, 2026June 20, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In early February I stopped by the eagle’s nest in my neighborhood to check on the babies. I didn’t see any adults around but when I looked farther down the utility field I could see Margie (the Mom) and Mickey (the new boyfriend) sitting together.

One morning one of the adults was sitting on the other side of the nest tower yelling.

Mom flew in with food and started feeding the young ones. It looks like she was eating first and at this point I think the babies are eating on their own so one must have waiting for Mom to finish before digging into the leftovers.

When Mom flew up near the top of the tower the oldest started flapping his wings. He still had a lot of pin feathers but was getting a workout. It was so great to see them almost fully grown and flapping.

Mom flew over to the other side.

I was visiting more at sunset since I could get a better view of the babies from this side.

A pileated woodpecker landed in the tree in front of me one morning while I was waiting for the babies to wake up.

Phoebes were common in this area during the winter.

A doe stops to look at me for a second as she walked by along the utility field.

This kestrel was busy grabbing crickets from the field and was eating them right in front of me.

More to come on the eagle family. Have a great 4th of July!

🎵 “Baby, you’re a firework” 🎵

On July 1, 2026July 1, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights6 Comments

These are all firework shots from my past. The two above were taken in 2020. Since we were all spending so much time at home I knew there would be a lot of people shooting off fireworks on the nearby Courtney Campbell Causeway. I got out on the causeway right before dark and was able to get a parking spot near the boat ramp. Luckily I was coated with 2 coats of OFF because the bugs were crazy along the water. People were shooting the fireworks right over my head in the parking lot.

I got a good spot on the water and set up my tripod and got shots of the fireworks going off all up and down the causeway.

Zooming out I could see the fireworks in my neighborhood to the left.

The next year I decided to go to the top open parking deck at the airport. I thought I would be able to see tons of fireworks from all over Tampa. Everyone seemed to have that same idea because the deck was packed. The football stadium was all lit up and I could see fireworks going off near there.

Most of the fireworks were very far away and you couldn’t hear the boom so that was a little disappointing but there was a nice breeze up there and not many bugs.

The next year I stayed home and stood in my driveway to see fireworks.

There were lots of parties in my old neighborhood in Tampa and everyone was shooting them off. Above is a quick video from my driveway.

In June of 2023 Brett and I were in Orlando staying near Disney. After dinner we got back to the hotel and could see fireworks going off (on the left) at one of the theme parks and nature’s fireworks (on the right) from our window.

This song by Rhianna will be one of the most played song this weekend:

“You just gotta ignite the lightAnd let it shineJust own the nightLike the Fourth of July

‘Cause baby, you’re a fireworkCome on, show ’em what you’re worthMake ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”As you shoot across the skyBaby, you’re a fireworkCome on, let your colors burstMake ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, awe”

A short walk among the blooming

On June 29, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants1 Comment

The butterfly garden at Folly Farms in Safety Harbor was exploding with color when I visited in early March. The big freeze a month earlier didn’t seem to harm most of these plants.

Cool artwork in the garden.

The garden is full of whimsical things including the bee house in the 2nd shot above.

A butterfly sitting still as I took the above with my phone. I think he was warming up in the sun.

There’s a short trail along the back area of the gardens and I took a quick lap before heading home.

Birds and babies at the zoo

On June 27, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, zoo animals2 Comments

In early March I made a trip to Zoo Tampa hoping to see baby Marabou storks. I was a few weeks late. There was only one and he was pretty grown up but still that “baby” cute.

Shoebill storks were building a nest. These guys are difficult to breed and the only one born in the USA was here in 2009. Here’s to a hopeful nest.

Fun birds in the aviaries.

Yummy lettuce for breakfast.

A rare colobus monkey was born in early December.

The gibbons had 2 young ones. They are everyone’s favorite animals, watching them swing around and you can hear them hooting all over the zoo. Their pouch under the chin swells when they are hooting.

I took so many videos of them in action. Turn up the volume to hear their call.

A face only a Mom could love

On June 24, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

In early March word got out that there was a barred owl nest at Largo Nature Preserve. I made it over there a week later and the nest was easy to find. It was sitting right on a main trail just off the parking lot. There were 2 babies but after standing there for over an hour I only saw one. These were all taken with my 600mm lens and cropped up so we were actually across a creek from the tree.