At the beach

On July 4, 2021March 11, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

No, I did not take these this weekend. We avoid the beaches on holidays. We are fortunate enough to live here and can go to the beach any time so we don’t go during the busiest times. This was a beautiful Saturday morning in early May.

The wind was blasting and you could see all of the kiteboarders bobbing up and down across the water near the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

The usual birds near the fishing pier included a ruddy turnstone taking a break, a gull who was cruising the wind and a black bellied plover.

One last look for migrating birds at the ranger’s house came up empty. Only a young great blue heron and a white ibis in the fountain.

This osprey had built a nest right on the trail and was giving me the stink eye when I passed by. Luckily there isn’t much traffic on this trail when the heat sets in.

Late day walk at Fort Desoto

On January 30, 2021January 7, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I’m still going through my pictures from Fort Desoto in late October. So many shorebirds there at that time. Tons of gulls, terns and skimmers. The 2nd shot is of red knots, feeding before their trip south for the winter.

Many of the birds were taking baths before it got dark.

An uncommon herring gull.

Not sure what kind of snack this laughing gull has.

Some of the smaller shorebirds. Yellowlegs, dowitcher, a black bellied plover and a tiny snowy plover that was smaller than this pile of sand.

It’s weird to see turkey vultures on the beach. They were really in the muck at low tide. The one on the right had a small piece of fish under his foot that he was eating.

Great egret flyby.

This kid was throwing his frisbee into the birds. Why is it so fun to watch the birds flush? Someone walked over to him and asked him to stop and explained that the birds needed their rest before they migrate for the winter. He really just didn’t know. He stopped and went back to his family.

Heading home back into Tampa right before dark, I saw the moon coming up and had to stop and take a picture.

Shorebirds at Fort Desoto in May.

On June 17, 2019June 18, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

A lone marbled godwit on the beach with a snack.

He’s cruising the shoreline looking for more snacks.

Another one flies in.

At first, the original godwit tries to chase the intruder away but after a few seconds they find their own space and both start looking for snacks.

A black bellied plover was also looking for snacks. I think that’s a sand flea. Yum…

Farther down the beach I find some dowitchers trying to nap.

The laughing gulls are getting frisky.

An old shell on the beach. It was still alive so I moved it farther into the water.

image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup Our World Tuesday Graphic

Birds and boats at Fort Desoto

On August 23, 2018August 6, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

A rare yellow billed cuckoo high up in the tree.

Either a female or immature prairie warbler.

Hiding in hole. I was wondering if they nest in this hole.

Some of the shorebirds close to the trail, a ruddy turnstone and a black bellied plover.

I stopped by the fishing pier before heading home.

Far across the bay near Egmont Key.

Sailing past the pier, this old sailboat reminded me of my dad. He would have loved that boat. I turned it into a black and white photo so it would have looked like something he would have taken many years ago.

An early summer walk at Fort Desoto.

SkyWatch Friday

The usual things at Fort Desoto

On November 27, 2017November 28, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Quiet sleepy morning at Fort Desoto.

Pelicans were hanging out everywhere.

Shorebirds were everywhere.

Not much going on in late October.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

A new bird blown off course

On November 1, 2017November 1, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Right after Hurricane Irma came through someone had posted that they had seen a golden plover at Fort Desoto. I have never heard of a golden plover being anywhere near here and someone else had said they are never seen in Florida so this one must have gotten blown way off course from the storm. Everyone was questioning it until some expert birders had gotten pictures of it. After a couple of days I was able to run down to the park after work one night. I had about an hour before it got dark to find it. The bird was easy to find and close to were people had seen it days before. It was feeding along the rack line so I sat down on the beach and took some shots with my 300mm and extender. The little bird seemed curious and kept getting closer to me. I kept getting up and backing up. He looked okay and was running around feeding but I couldn’t help wondering if he was trying to tell me something. A few days later a rehabber picked him up and he’s been recuperating since then. I last heard he was doing much better and should be released soon. We get a lot of black bellied plovers in the same area. See below for recent pictures of those.

Two black bellied plovers above. The top is during the breeding season and the bottom is in the winter. The golden plover has a lot of brown on his head that shines.

A few things I saw near the golden plover that night. The tide was so low that you could see the crabs in the crab trap.

Linking to Wednesday Around the World

At the beach

On July 13, 2017July 13, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

The black bellied plovers are really pretty in the summer.

And so are the ruddy turnstones.

The sanderlings are also sporting their summer colors.

Grumpy snowy egret.

Sleepy cormorant.

At the fishing pier at Fort Desoto.

SkyWatch Friday

An afternoon walk on the fishing pier

On May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

There were not many birds on the beach near the pier. A few laughing gulls and this lone black bellied plover.

Looks like this is a couple of laughing gulls flirting.

The rare hybrid great blue heron/great egret made an appearance at the pier.

This osprey was eating some yummy fish on the light post on the pier.

Another osprey was also eating. These osprey have been hanging out on the pier a lot lately. They are not skittish and don’t fly away as tons of people are walking by just below them.

It’s been a beautiful afternoon but I was hungry and had a 45 minute drive home so I left to get some dinner.

SkyWatch Friday

Broken shells and shorebirds

On October 19, 2016October 7, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

Sanibel Island has a reputation for having a lot of shells on the beach. People come to visit to go shell hunting. We must have been there during a down time because all of the beach looked like the above. Mostly small broken shells. I guess all of the good ones get taken during the summer or you have to be there very early in the morning right after a storm. I did manage to find a few small ones though. The sanderlings and black bellied plovers spent a lot of time digging through the shells for tiny critters to eat.