Fun things at Sand Key Park

On September 2, 2026August 25, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I was out at Sand Key Park in April right as the sun was coming up over the trees. I was hoping spring migration was getting better and I’d see a few more birds than I saw on my last trip here a few weeks earlier.

A nice surprise was seeing a black throated green warbler in the mangroves. I hadn’t seen one since 2017.

A few usual migraters were there including the blackpoll warbler and the American redstart. But, it was still a slow morning with only the few birds above. This year was a really slow migration so far.

Of course there are always tons of palm warblers and they always pose nicely.

A flock of brown pelicans fly high up in the beautiful sky.

A typical Florida shot, a great blue heron posing on a pine tree.

A Cooper’s hawk had a nest nearby with babies but it was well hidden so all I got was the Dad hanging out.

Blooming along the sandy trail included beach sunflowers, bitter gourd (or bitter melon) and morning glory.

I saw lots of rabbits this morning.

“Run bunny run!” I yelled as one took off into the bushes.

The end of spring migration.

On August 18, 2018July 30, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

Cape May warblers above, a female and male.

A female Cape May on the fountain.

An immature male rose breasted grosbeak with mulberry juice on his face.

An ovenbird on the fountain.

A blackpoll warbler hanging around.

An indigo bunting.

Redstarts above.

Scarlet tanagers.

There were still a few interesting birds moving through Fort Desoto in early May, heading north for the summer. It feels like that was so long ago. I’m just finishing editing those pictures and soon the birds will be cruising through again, this time heading south for the winter. So many birds, so little time.

More birds passing through

On June 1, 2016May 24, 2016 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

A very young Baltimore oriole way up high in the tree. He didn’t have all of his adult feathers in yet.

A black throated blue warbler.

A black throated green warbler.

A few blackpoll warblers in the mulberry bushes.

I think this is a female black throated blue warbler.

Brown thrashers were eating the mulberries.

Summer tanagers were in the oak trees.

This is either a female scarlet tanager or a summer tanager.

A lone indigo bunting.

Spring migration felt a little slow this year. It was much harder to find the birds at Fort Desoto. It felt like there were more people than birds in the woods. It was still a fun morning out. No new birds this spring but there’s always next year.

Migration can be a pain in the neck – Skywatch Friday

On May 15, 2014May 11, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

My first blackpoll warbler of the season.

Cape May warblers were everywhere.

Red-eyed vireo.

A first-summer male orchard oriole with mulberry stains on his chest.

I think this is a female orchard oriole.

I think this is a first year female Baltimore oriole.

Another red-eyed vireo.

I saw one northern Parula that morning.

Baltimore oriole.

My first black throated green warbler.

A male orchard oriole taking a berry break.

Prairie warbler doing some weird acrobats.

Bye,bye, orchard oriole.

A female rose breasted grosbeak.

It was a busy day in mid-April. A big fall out day. Spring migration was in full swing and I knew I’d come home with a neck ache from staring up in the trees all morning. I was right. Birds were everywhere but they did not sit still very long. There were almost as many people at Fort Desoto that morning. Everyone was yelling out bird names: “there goes a female blah blah”, ” I just saw an immature male blah blah”, ” has anyone seen the yellow blah blah?” All of the little birds were starting to looking alike, especially the yellow and brown ones. Let me know if I got any of the above wrong. People had driven from all over the state to check birds off their list. I met a ton of new people and ran into people I hadn’t seen since the last migration. It was catch up day. The next couple of weekends still had a few birds but not like this big weekend. I also saw a lot of little red birds and blue birds. More on those later.

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