Chestnut Park Exploration

John Chesnut Sr. Park

For what seems to be a recurring theme for my blogspot, this weekend I again wanted to share yet another outdoor great local Florida park experience. I know at some point I will venture into the city for more of the urban scenery, but for now I will continue to visit the forests, swamps, and boardwalks. I will forewarn you now - if this theme is tiring then disconnect your cable modem and stay away from my blog. My next entry will be brief, but of another local park escape. My reasoning is simple. Work weeks make it fitting to simply get away from people, familiar places, and public roads. These local parks are constant reminders of what make living in Florida worthwhile.

John Chesnut Sr. Park is a short drive from Tampa and is located in neighboring Pinellas County. Had it not been for owning a dog I doubt we would have ever found this park. Yes, shame on me. I too was one of those Tampa dwellers that really did not do much to get out and enjoy our parks. Before Marley (dog) there wasn't too much incentive to wake up on the weekends and just go to a park. If you are not into the photography thing or don't own a dog, I would suggest finding a reason to go. Heck, go through the nearest drive-through window of your favorite greasy fastfood restaurant and take your food with you to your local park. Once you are there and your food is gone hopefully the uniqueness of the park will be enough to keep you exploring.

Chestnut Park is perfect for visiting even if your visit has no purpose. To the north side of the park you will find a "paw playground." Watching dogs socialize and play can in itself be entertaining and a large reason to visit. To the south side of the park - where we spent our Saturday afternoon - are the trail heads that lead you to a boardwalk and observation tower. There is a good chance you've seen my boardwalk tower shots in a previous post. Since not too many people take the time to visit these parks, you can often sit up in one of these towers that overlook a lake or somewhat of a wildlife refuge and just chill out. If you sit long enough you'll get lucky and have some kind of Florida wildlife encounter. I usually spot some type of exotic bird flying by or hanging out in the tall tree tops over a swampy area. On this particular weekend there were a lot of ospreys and buzzards flying overhead. There were quite a few flying over Lake Tarpon, but they were not quite low enough to capture much feather detail. My Sigma 70-300mm @ f5.6 did an alright job of handling the action. If you don't see an alligator, snake, or other exotic critter on your first visit, be patient and try again. You never know what you might find in a Florida forest. Additionally, sometimes you have to look really close down inbetween the leaves to see something small crawling around.



Although this squirrel isn't really an exotic critter, his pose was enough to capture my attention.





This little redheaded woodpecker caught our attention with his chirping. If I were a naturalist I might quote you his species and could maybe even identify his sounds.





All palmettos start to look alike after a while. If you look closely, sometimes you might find a critter making a home.






A closer look doesn't always mean you'll find an exotic critter.





Admittedly, this was not the first time I had ever been to Chestnut Park. I am certain we'll take Marley to visit the paw playground again in the future. Having an relatively newfound interest in photography, visiting these parks again really makes the experience feel new and I'm happy to share them here.