Before I left Fort Desoto Park on a recent Saturday morning, I headed over to the East Beach turnaround area which faces the Sunshine Skyway bridge. I thought I’d check out the little beach area to see if there were any interesting shorebirds there (still looking for that avocet). This is what I saw as I was driving toward the beach so I know there would be no birds here. It wasn’t super windy but just enough that these guys could kiteboard.
They were cruising all across the water.
I got out of my car and walked down to the water to get some closer shots as the guys were coming by. When I got down to the beach area (it was low tide) I saw the below.
Thousands of little fiddler crabs covered the one corner of the beach.
It’s hard to get them close up. They are very skittish and start running for the mangroves when they see people.
As I walked out on the sand, they all started marching away.
He was shaking his claw at me like “Stay off our beach”.
I was thinking “If I was a bird, I’d be on this beach chowing on some crab legs.”
They have pretty colors.
The sand was also covered with big jellyfish globs.
You just never know what you’re going to find at Fort Desoto on a Saturday morning.
Check out more sky pictures at 
The windsurfers always make for colorful pictures (I’d just as soon see birds, as I know you would as well, but they are great pictures). And my gosh that’s a lot of those little sand crabs — you got amazing pictures because I know they skitter. You have good photo karma (aka, amazing talent and lots of patience). . Even nervous animals and birds pose for you.
Very nicely done! Thanks for sharing.
Loved seeing those tiny crabs and great close ups of them.
I like the birds too, but all the crabs are fun, the fiddler crabs are so funny with their big claw, little eyes sticking up, and I didn’t know they had magenta on their backs. Such cute shots!
Great shots of the fiddlers and jellyfish! There’s always something interesting to find at The Fort!
All those fiddlers! Amazing!
All great shots! Wouldn’t want to walk across the beach with those crabs out… feet might get pinched 🙂