Watching the rain coming at me

On March 10, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

It was a yucky day on Black Friday of Thanksgiving weekend. I usually avoid shopping areas on this day and decided since it wasn’t nice outside I would head to a small beach in between Tampa and St. Pete. As soon as I got there I could see skimmers (in the first shot) and oystercatchers (in the 2nd shot) cruising by.

The sandbar was visible since it was low tide and I could barely make out the pelicans, gulls and terns enjoying the quiet over there.

A Forster’s tern was taking a bath.

The little beach was full of royal terns with a few laughing gulls and other terns.

A cute Wilson’s plover has a snack.

Ring billed gulls only spend the winters here and I’ve seen just a few at every beach.

I was actually at the beach to look for this guy. The saltmarsh sparrow was a lifer for me. This was the first time I had heard of one being in the area but there had been a few coming through years earlier. He had been spotted a few days earlier and was still there on that rainy morning. They hide out in marsh areas with high vegetation and I waited a while before seeing him pop out for a few minutes.

I could see the rain moving across the bay and heading for me. On a sunny day this little beach off Gandy bridge would be packed and would have made the sparrow harder to find since he would have been hiding farther away in the bushes.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Summer rescue transports

On November 2, 2024November 2, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Brothers from a different mother (and father). These three babies (bunny, squirrel and possum) all made the trip together to Penny the rehabber in south St. Pete. They were so cute all cuddled up together.

A sick crow also made the trip in late July.

At the end of July I headed out to the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay to pick up a carful of critters. This tiny baby squirrel was so cute with his feet sticking out.

A baby bird that had fallen out of the nest and couldn’t be renested also made the trip.

Two kestrels also made the trip and went to Barb, the rehabber at Moccasin Lake Park. They were going to be released.

Another carload of critters in early August. I first stopped at a rehabber nearby to pick a screech owl that was headed to the Raptor Center to be rehabilitated.

At the Raptor Center I picked up my first ever black skimmer. This juvenile had an injured wing that was wrapped up.

An osprey was making the trip to Penny, who is an osprey expert.

The tiniest bunny I think I’ve had it my car. Was it praying in it’s sleep?

It was mid-August and so many baby squirrels were being found. People find them in their yard when they either fall from the nest or the tree was cut down and now the nest is on the ground. The Raptor Center tries to work with people to help reunite the babies with their Mom but it doesn’t always work. All of these were going to Penny, also a squirrel expert.

A week later I had 3 great horned owls (only pictures of 2) and a barred owl in my car. They had all been to a vet nearby that works with wild birds and all were okay and heading back to the Raptor Center to eventually be released. I think they must have gotten rid of their breakfast all at the same time because they were pretty stinky in the car.

I picked up the screech owl at the Raptor Center and took it back to Barb. It was going to the vet the next morning for an injured eye.

More baby stilts

On October 12, 2024October 7, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

At the end of June I was back at Roosevelt Wetlands looking for more baby black necked stilts. I found the 3 babies that I had seen 3 weeks earlier. All 3 were there but I couldn’t get them all together in one shot. They were much older but still had the dark gray feathers and paler pink legs.

It looks like they were just starting to figure out the flying thing.

A few usual things were there as well including a skimmer, a moorhen skipping across the water and a single black bellied whistling duck.

I did find another set of triplets farther down the trail. They were maybe 2 weeks old and still had a lot of fuzz.

Another stilt was on a nest. This was a little late but maybe they were trying again. This might have been the couple who had their original nest flooded out.

A kildeer deep in the reeds.

There were tons of white peacock butterflies along the trail.

The beach and pier

On September 19, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

My last trip down to Fort Desoto Park in south St. Pete was the first week in June. Every year I tell myself I’m going to take July and August off from hiking with my camera and I usually don’t. This year I did with only a few outings so I’ll eventually be caught up. Above is a black skimmer coming off the water at the north beach.

A few fly-bys on the beach include a great blue heron and a night heron.

I always like to watch the big boats go by, wondering where they are going.

Up on the pier, the snowy egrets and great egrets were busy grabbing bait fish under the pier. They would do a quick swoop down to the water and grab a fish and head back up to the pier to swallow it.

Shaking off after getting wet.

A quick video while hanging out with the birds.

Small boats were getting close to the pier to pull up the bait fish before going fishing.

This guy was not shy and let me take this with my phone.

A hot walk at the wetlands

On August 1, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

I made it to Roosevelt Wetlands not long after sunrise in early May.

A least tern flies close by.

There’s been a couple of skimmers coming here to skim the lake. The bay is a couple of miles away and these birds are usually along the shoreline but occasionally they skim the lakes.

There are several pairs of black necked stilts nesting here. There were a few couples that weren’t on nests yet and were close to the trail. It’s early for babies so I’ll plan on coming here several times early in the summer.

A spotted sandpiper was in the muck. They usually only spend winters here so this one was late leaving.

Dragonflies on the trail.

Across the pond I saw this great old snapping turtle coming up for air. His back was covered in moss and he scooted along in the shallow part.

Color on the trail. The first one is Indian blanket flower. I planted a few of these in my front yard where there is full sun. They are drought tolerant and need full sun and I love seeing them all over the trail here. They don’t get watered here at all. Mine died immediately. The yellow flowers are tickseed. There’s just a little here and I was planning a trip down to Myakka State Park in mid-May when the park is full of it.

The sun was up pretty high as I walked back to my car. There is no shade here so it was time to go home.

One last look at Howard the pinkie

On January 25, 2024January 17, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

A few days after I had first seen the juvenile flamingo at Fred Howard Park (in Tarpon Springs) I was back out there early in the morning. I had to see if he was still there and sure enough, he was in the same spot. The temperature had dropped and it was chilly (around 55 in the morning) and I was thinking he should have left to head back south.

There’s always a lot of cormorants in this spot on the backside of the beach island.

The sun had come out for a short time and as I was driving on the causeway back to the main park I stopped to catch one last shot of the flamingo from the road. This was the last time I saw this beauty. I checked back several times but he must have finally moved on.

I also caught a skimmer doing what he does, skimmer the top of the water for bait fish. He was heading right for me but turned at the last minute.

I stopped by the Dunedin causeway before heading home and saw this big mix of shorebirds along the beach there. Most were skimmers but there were a few terns, gulls and dowitchers mixed in. The sun had gone behind the clouds and it was started to get dark.

A pair of blue winged teals flew by.

By mid-morning I could see the rain far north over land, where I had been an hour before. I was hoping to see some lightning but there was none this morning.

The sun kept peeking out between the rain clouds and I dipped on a rainbow as well.

Lots of shorebirds

On January 13, 2024January 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

While I was at Fred Howard Park waiting for the flamingo to wake up from his nap I noticed a lot of shorebirds on the back side of the little beach. I saw several black bellied plovers and one was walking towards me with a snack.

There were a lot of black skimmers and many of them were still juveniles, born this past summer. They don’t have the full black head yet.

This juvenile royal tern was still screaming for Mom to bring him some food. This was a common sight on the beaches in the early fall.

The royal terns were taking a bath.

There were a lot of dowitchers. They were poking around in the muck and weeds.

A marbled godwit looking for food.

A “gulp” of cormorants swimming close to the shore.

A cormorant came up out of the water with a big fish and the laughing gulls were attacking him. The cormorant dropped the fish but I don’t think the gulls got it.

Ever once in a while the skimmers would flush and take flight.

It was a nice non-sunny morning out. This was actually a chilly morning for early October. I think it was in the high 50’s when I got out to the park.

A summer bike ride

On October 7, 2023September 28, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was too hot to be walking around and my foot was still bothering me so I was taking a lot of bike rides at a nearby trail this summer. I wasn’t expecting to find much but I immediately spotted 2 bunnies right off the trail. Both were cottontails but one had cute notches on his ears.

The sandhill crane family was out in the cow pasture. Mom was digging for bugs in the cow poop. I don’t think Junior cared because he ate whatever Mom dug up.

This doe looked really pregnant. There were several other deer nearby hiding in the woods.

A lone skimmer came cruising the pond along the trail. The light was not in my favor but I did manage a shot of it scooping up some fish.

I took a break and was watching the cows. An almost grown calf stopped eating and was staring at me. Probably wondering what I was doing out here.

The dark clouds were moving in so I headed back to my car.

New birds in the muck

On September 9, 2023September 3, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Roosevelt Wetlands is a small reserve right next to the waste plant. It has a great trail that runs across the lake and is usually quiet. Just don’t go when the wind is blowing towards the reserve. I got there pretty early and first saw 2 skimmers skimming along the lake.

It looks like this moorhen bit off part of a lily pad.

A kildeer flew close by.

Some wintering birds were still there in early May. A sora rail and a spotted sandpiper.

Cute duck family.

A lesser yellowlegs was creeping around in the muck.

Two new birds in one shot. A white rumped sandpiper on the left and a semipalmated sandpiper on the right. These aren’t super rare birds for this area but for some reason I kept missing them. They were also creeping around in the muck.

A least sandpiper was also with the new birds. I had not seen one of these since 2012.

Another shot of the white rumped sandpiper.

A little sandpiper party.

Another shot of the semipalmated sandpiper.

I finally saw the gull billed tern. He flew by really fast and this was the only shot I could get of him. He circled around the pond and then left. He isn’t an exciting bird but a new one for me.

The only new bird I didn’t see that was sighted there before was a stilt sandpiper. Maybe next time.

Sleeping shorebirds

On January 28, 2023January 22, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was a quiet morning on the Dunedin causeway and I noticed a lot of sleeping shorebirds. After my walk I got my camera out of my car and started snapping the shorebirds. I found a lone black bellied plover mixed in with a lot of dowitchers. When I cropped this up I noticed the little dunlin on the right.

I usually only see large flocks of laughing gulls here so it was great to see all of the dowitchers sleeping together. Some were trying to nap and some were feeding. There were a few dunlins and ruddy turnstones mixed in as well.