Make room for me!

On November 23, 2024November 22, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

One of my favorite spots, the Safety Harbor fishing pier, was closed after Hurricane Debby did damage to the pier. The birds had taken advantage of the closure to turn the pier into their new home, somewhere they can hang out between feedings and not be disturbed. I had heard there were hundreds of birds on the pier so I headed there one morning with my camera. I quickly realized this needed to be an afternoon shoot. I had forgotten I would be shooting directly into the sun (even though it was mostly cloudy this morning). As I stood there for a few minutes I noticed the birds would all take off at the same time, leaving the pier in an orderly fashion.

Flying in front of the bridge.

The light was so bad in the morning so I came back later that afternoon. The birds were still there and even more showed up. I realized that a lot of the birds were black terns.

Looking from the side I could see tons of black terns, many royal terns and a few laughing gulls mixed in.

The black terns were in all stages of molting. Some were almost all black and some had just a little black on their heads. They are only all black during breeding season. They are known as “marsh terns” since they breed in freshwater marshes in the most northern part of the USA and Canada. They only stop over here for a short time during migration on their way back and forth from the north to central America. I’ve seen a few at a time over the years and this was the most I’ve seen at one place.

“Make room”. They seemed to yell when one was trying to find room to land.

Farther down near the end of the dock I could see a lot of royal terns (with the orange beaks). There were a few laughing gulls and they are much bigger than the black terns. I could also see a few sandwich terns (with a tiny bit of yellow on the tip of their beaks).

Lift off across the pier.

They would all circle around and land back on the pier.

Zooming in I could Tampa across the bay.

Summer storms

On October 26, 2024December 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was the morning of August 4th. Tropical storm Debby was heading our way and by the time it got here it was a hurricane. We didn’t get a direct hit but it skirted by and caused flooding along the coast. I was out for a morning walk at the causeway nearby, enjoying the cooler breezy weather before the storm.

By the time my walk was almost finished the dark clouds and rain were moving in.

The tide was super low. I was able to walk under the bridge which is rare.

An interesting thing to see on the causeway. Is it art or junk?

I also took a quick walk at the marina.

Early the next morning after the storm had come through I drove over to the nearby Oldsmar pier. The tide was higher than usual and I could tell it had come up over the pier.

The pier was lined with dead baitfish that had been stranded up on the pier when the tide went back down.

The tide was up through the mangroves and into the grass but stopped short of the parking lot.

The surprise was seeing frigatebirds cruising along the shoreline. This was the first time I had seen them this far north of St. Pete. I only see them down at Fort Desoto Park at the southern most point of St. Pete. There were at least 6 and I took the above video with my phone. You can hear the wind blasting. I noticed they were getting closer to the pier and was glad I had put my camera in the car.

The sky was dark gray but they stood out pretty well.

A few flew close to the piers.

Other fly-bys included a great egret, an osprey and a black tern.

Hurricane Debby was the first of three hurricanes to hit the west coast of Florida this season. Debby made landfall early on August 5th near Steinhatchee (in Florida’s Big Bend region) as a category 1. Less than 2 months later Hurricane Helene would make landfall in Perry, just 40 miles north of Steinhatchee as a category 4. You can read my post about Helene here.

There’s an old Florida saying – “Floridians favorite day of the year is not Christmas, Thanksgiving or 4th of July. It’s 11/30, the end of hurricane season.”

So glad to see the eagles again

On October 27, 2022October 2, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

I finally caught the bald eagle in the tree at the Oldsmar pier. I had stopped by several times with my camera before finding him sitting high up there. He didn’t stay long, taking off not long after I had arrived.

As he left, he flew by so close that I couldn’t fit his wings in. I still haven’t figured out if this is one of the eagles that has a nest in my neighborhood or somewhere else. There is a another nest nearby but that couple did not use it this past year. He always flies north towards my neighborhood when he leaves which is why I’m thinking it’s him.

Walking on the pier I noticed another eagle sitting in a tree at the far end of the park. He was facing the water and wasn’t very visable from the sidewalk but I caught the above from the pier.

A few of the other birds at the pier. I think that tricolored heron was keeping his eye on the sky in case the eagle was heading towards him.

A cormorant cruises by the pier.

The black terns were still there.

The next day I was heading up to Tarpon Springs for a walk and I saw 2 eagles on a tower. I pulled over into a parking lot and shot the above. It wasn’t until later when I cropped up the picture that I realized the eagle on the right is a dummy. I don’t know if they put the fake up there to attract or repel other birds. The real eagle on the left didn’t seem to mind. Now I laugh when I drive by there and see that fake sitting up there.

Storms and an eagle

On October 13, 2022October 4, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I was out for an early morning walk and stopped by RE Olds Park (named after Ransom Olds who invented the Oldsmobile and developed what is Oldsmar now) to see if there were any storm clouds moving in. After walking the pier I looked up in the big tree at the end of the pier and saw an eagle sitting there. I was bummed I didn’t have my camera. I took the above with my phone. I was glad to see it back here. Last fall I saw them here pretty regularly.

The storms were far away this morning but I could see a little bit of lightning so I didn’t stay long on the pier. They were coming off the gulf coast.

A few days later I stopped by the pier again with my camera and of course there was no sign of the eagle. This time there were storms out in the bay and over land. The sun was out over the park but there wasn’t any rainbows.

I caught some great blue herons cruising by.

I was surprised to find black terns here. I’ve only seen them at Gandy beach before. There was a small flock of them flying around trying to get bait fish. They were in all stages of molting with a few still having mostly black feathers. By now they are somewhere in South America for the winter.