Under the bridge

On August 6, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

I made another trip to Sand Key Park (next to Clearwater Beach) before the end of April hoping to see some new migrating birds. I could see downtown Clearwater across the water from the back of the park.

Before leaving I stopped under the bridge to Clearwater Beach to look for dolphins. This is a known spot for seeing them and while the water was beautiful and calm I didn’t see any this morning.

Looks like someone was getting a sailing lesson out on the intercoastal waterway.

I did find a lot of migrating birds but nothing new. There were several blackpoll warblers that weren’t shy.

A lone male redstart.

It’s always fun to see the juvenile male summer tanagers molting from their baby yellow feathers to their adult red feathers. I’ve only seen one with this mixed color once before. He was hopping all over the trees and busy feeding but not shy.

A few other warblers were a yellow warbler in the top shot and a female Cape May warbler in the bottom shot.

Lots of butterflies along the playground trail.

I saw a lot of this plant on the backside of the park and didn’t realize it was a castor oil plant. There’s a lot of it here.

I passed through Clearwater Beach on the way home. It looks like they were having some type of fair, like they need another reason to bring even more people to this crazy overcrowded, nowhere to park beach.

So many young ones in the spring.

On July 27, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I found juvenile northern parulas on the boardwalk at Chesnut Park at the end of April. These two were awkwardly bouncing around in the bushes and Mom was nearby trying to get them to follow her. It looked like she was trying to teach them to feed themselves.

I also found several female common yellowthroats.

More females. These were blackpoll warblers.

A yellow throated warbler was feeding in the moss.

More juveniles. These are either yellow rumped warblers or yellow throated warblers. I never realized how many warblers nested here. There were lots of young ones learning to fly and eat.

This guy was just too cute to pass up.

A tufted titmouse has a yummy caterpillar.

Another female, the redstart was also along the boardwalk.

Black and white warblers are common here.

A pileated woodpecker landed close by and pecked a few times before leaving.

I only saw one deer this morning.

The cypress trees look like they are dying because they are covered in moss.

Flying across the water

On July 15, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was the end of April and the end of spring migration. There would be a few stragglers coming through until mid-May but the majority of the birds had already come through. You would have to hunt pretty hard to find the late ones and it was already so hot. A lot of Cape May warblers were still around. I took so many pictures of these guys this spring since they were so plentiful and not shy.

I only saw one black throated blue warbler on this morning at Fort Desoto Park.

I saw several more blackpoll warblers. The top 2 are males and the bottom shot is a female.

A redstart was high up in the trees.

After walking the trails I headed out on the beach. I had not gotten to the park in time for sunrise this morning. The terns were still active flying around with fish.

The couple above was flirting and the male had brought the female a fish (their version of buying her dinner or in this case breakfast). She walked around him a few times with it and then gulped it down.

He was ready to mate but she was playing hard to get. They flew off so I’m not sure what happened.

It was windy this morning and before leaving I stopped at the east beach turnaround to watch the kiteboarders for a few minutes. It’s always fun to watch them flying across the water. They make it look so easy but it’s really hard to keep that kite up and stay on the water. I took the above with my camera and zoomed in.

I took these 2 with my phone so you can see how far away they are. A lot of them just getting started near the shore. It’s hard to get them all in one shot since they are all spread out across the water.

Almost the end of spring migration

On July 13, 2024July 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I made another trip to Fort Desoto Park near the end of April to look for migrating birds. This one was easy to find. I heard the Chuck-will’s-widow was near the bay pier. She had been there for several days and people thought she was nesting since she spent most of her time on the ground. They are not rare for the area but they are hardly ever seen. You can see how she blends into the ground. The area where she was hanging out was all roped off so you could see her from a distance. This was my 2nd sighting of one. The first was at the Dry Tortugas on a trip to Key West several years ago. I zoomed in on the 2nd picture because she had the most amazing whiskers across her face. She disappeared after about 2 weeks. She probably thought the area was too busy.

The nearby osprey nest was busy. I walked up right as Mom was feeding the babies.

I saw a lot of juvenile indigo buntings near the fountain. I think the 2nd shot is a female.

More Cape May warblers. They were everywhere this spring. The top 2 are males and the bottom 2 are females.

This was my first time this spring seeing a blackpoll warbler. They usually come through here in the spring but I didn’t see this one until almost the end of migration.

A catbird sits on top of the fountain.

The nanday parakeets were in their usual spots along the east beach trails. This one was eating the mangrove grapes.

I don’t often see pileated woodpeckers here although I hear them along the trails. This one was digging something juicy out of the soft wood.

Lots of critters at Fort Desoto

On July 2, 2022June 20, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals2 Comments

Another trip to Fort Desoto Park to look for migrating birds. The first thing I found was a squirrel being cute on the agave plant. I was hoping there would be birds on those plants but no, I find a squirrel.

Cape May warblers were still around. I found both females and males.

I also found a northern parula and a blackpoll warbler (I hadn’t seen one of those in several years).

An osprey was checking me out making sure I wasn’t going to steal his fish.

Cormorants were diving for fish around the fishing pier.

It was a slow dolphin morning but I did manage to find one.

The starlings and nanday parakeets were fighting over wire space in the parking lot.

Early May at Fort Desoto

On June 22, 2019June 24, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

High up in a tree, I watched this yellow warbler stuff himself with snacks.

There were still a few other birds in early May at Fort Desoto including the blackpoll warbler in the last picture.

Frigatebirds were flying high overhead.

At the east end of the park I could just barely make out Downtown St. Petersburg.

Birds at the fishing pier.

Recently I keep seeing parakeets popping out of trees.

The sand trails are covered with these grasshoppers.

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Two firsts as spring migration winds down

On June 4, 2013June 4, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography17 Comments

Some type of yellow bird high up in the trees.

My first black throated blue warbler.

There were several of them at the park.

I think this is a female cape may.

A female orchard oriole.

My first blackpoll warbler with a berry in his mouth.

Another blackpoll getting ready to eat.

My second sighting of a cape may warbler.

Another female something?

Spring migration was winding down but I had heard there were still a few more birds at Fort Desoto so I headed down there after work one night in late April. I had about an hour and a half before dark so I stayed in one place to see what I could find there. I was at the mulberry bushes with several other people. Everyone was looking for the black whiskered vireo that had been sighted there for several days. No luck that night on the vireo but I did get some other first sightings in. There were several pale yellow birds there and everyone had different opinions about what female they were. After studying the hundreds of pages of these female warblers in my Stokes Birding Guide, I gave up. Any id’s would be appreciated.

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