Tag Archives: clearwater beach

Face to face with a dolphin

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Look at that face! It’s not often you get this close up to a dolphin. After our dolphin boat tour my sister and I stopped at the nearby Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter the dolphin who lost his tail (The movie Dolphin Tale was about him and filmed here). They rescue, rehabilitate and house (if needed) permanently injured dolphins, turtles, otters and other sea critters.

This huge turtle had lost his back legs.

This turtle was hit by a boat and lost his ability to submerge properly. He swims around with his butt in the air.

Some of the turtles that are rehabilitating and will be released soon.

A few of the smaller swimmers.

The ladies on the right got to feed the shark that was in the middle. He was obviously a docile shark since he’s fed several times a day.

This is Nicholas and he came right up to the window. He was found as a young baby stranded on Christmas Eve in 2002 and had 3rd degree sunburns on his back. You can still see the scars on his forehead all the way to his fin.

Debbie was sitting in front of the window and both dolphins came to check her out.

A very short video of a dolphin swimming in the big tank.

Before leaving we walked around on the upper deck where you can see Clearwater to the left and Clearwater Beach to the right.

A 2nd look at the western flycatcher.

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I went back to Sand Key Park (in Clearwater) in early February to see if I could spot the rare western flycatcher that has been hanging around there for several months. I had heard it was still there but finding it wouldn’t be easy. I didn’t get there super early. It was after 8 and just a few minutes after I arrived I saw it in the bushes. On my last trip I briefly saw the back of it and then searched for it for an hour without seeing it again so I was happy to see it so quick this trip.

There were usual birds there as well. A lot of catbirds and blue gray gnatchatchers.

After finding the flycatcher so quickly I decided to leave and stopped on the causeway to get a short walk in over the bridge.  Halfway up I stopped and took the above. Sand Key is on the left of the bridge in the distance and Clearwater Beach is on the right.

Since I was in Clearwater I stopped at Lake Bellview. I heard there was a canvasback duck there. It would not have been a lifer but I haven’t seen one in years. All I could find was redheads and ring neck ducks.

I did find a gadwall (the gray one in the middle) floating around with some ring neck ducks. I haven’t seen one of the those in years.

A cloudy windy winter morning

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A few days after I briefly spotted the rare western flycatcher I went back to Sand Key Park to see if I could get a better view. It was reported that he was still there but after looking for an hour I came up empty. The morning wasn’t a total loss though. The above ovenbird and house wren came out and posed for me. The house wren is common here in the winter but I don’t see ovenbirds often. He was a cutie!

I decided to take a quick walk on the beach before leaving. It wasn’t a nice day out and the wind was blasting.

The beach was pretty empty which is rare here.

There were several guys trying to catch some waves. They spent most of the time I was there bobbing on their surfboards but this guy got up a few times.

Off in the distance I could see someone getting ready to kiteboard. The old lifeguard stand is falling apart. It looks recently painted but the stairs had come off.

The clouds were getting darker and the water was choppy. Clearwater Beach is across the pass.

Cormorants all lined up under the bridge. I walked over to the intercoastal side of the park and walked along the sea wall under the bridge. I’ve seen dolphins here before but none this morning.

The snowy egrets were dancing around the top of the water and snatching bait fish.

The rainbow bird and a new one

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There were reports of a new bird in town. He had been there for several days so I headed over to Sand Key Park to take a look. The above looks like the new bird but it’s just a plain ole eastern phoebe. He was sitting out in the open when I got to the park.

I walked around the area and ran into another couple also looking for the new bird. They had just found it and it popped out for a few seconds. I managed the above quick shot before he went back in the bushes. The western flycatcher (formally know as the pacific slope flycatcher) should not be on this side of the country. He shouldn’t be on this side of Texas. Somehow he must have gone to far to the left when he was migrating south for the winter. He’s still there but it will be interesting to see if he leaves during spring migration. I spent another hour looking for him again but he stayed hidden in the bushes.

While I was waiting for the flycatcher to make another appearance this painted bunting flew right in front of me. What???  He sat there out in the open for a while. I didn’t see any females around or any other males.

He hopped around feeding in the seed for a while and was not shy at all.

There was also a ton of blue gray gnatcatchers.

I walked over to the end of the beach area and noticed it was starting to get cloudy. I could see the tourist pirate ship heading back towards the marina just past the bridge.

A quick snap of the view of Clearwater beach south end. It was cold and there wasn’t too many people out.

Soon there won’t be an inch of space left on Clearwater beach to build on. They keep tearing down the few remaining old 2 story Mom & Pop motels who don’t stand a chance anymore and are building high rises. Sleepy Clearwater beach now looks like Ft Lauderdale beach (and cost almost as much to park here).

The purple martins are back!

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I had heard the purple martins were back at the Dunedin marina so one morning I drove around to the front of the marina to see if I could get some shots of them in the bird house. I also found some other birds there as well. The spotted sandpipers will be going back up north soon

Pigeons get no respect but they are pretty when the sun shines on them.

A kingfisher was hanging out on the channel marker at the entrance to the marina.

All of the usual birds were there. Green herons, great egrets and pelicans.

The purple martins were busy moving in to the martin house. It looks like most of them were in couples and had staked out their spots. Last year I found them when the babies were almost fully grown and ready to leave to I’m hoping this year I can see some young babies.

The view from the purple martin house. You can see Clearwater beach across the water. It used to be a quiet little beach area with 2 story Mom and Pop hotels but not anymore. All highrises and the traffic is terrible. Parking is $30 a day. Only the tourists go to this beach now.

Out on the water

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I went for a long walk around by the Dunedin marina on a cool morning in late February (this was one of those perfect Florida winter days, sunny and 58 degrees). I had left my camera in the car and was walking along the front of the marina and saw all of the sailboats out in the water.I snapped the above with my phone and then hiked back to my car to get my camera.

There was some sort of sailing class or group out in the water. It looked like fun. It got me thinking I might need to take some sailing lessons.

I drove over to Weaver Park, just north of the Dunedin marina. From that long pier you can see most of Clearwater Beach.

Of course as I’m standing on the fishing  pier I had to snap pictures of the anhinga watching me and the osprey cruising by. I’m glad I had left my camera in the car. I wasn’t planning on taking any pictures this morning but you never know what you’ll see out there.

Starting vacation

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The Monday before Thanksgiving I headed to the airport to pick up my sister who was coming to spend the week with us. I had a few minutes before she got off the plane so I snapped the above of this beautiful tree near her concourse. Even though it was a bit early, it still put me in the vacation spirit.

It was beautiful outside so after lunch we headed over to Clearwater beach. It’s always fun being a tourist in my own town when she comes to visit. We ended up at the Clearwater marina later that afternoon and watched the fishing boats come in (it was something we use to do with our parents when we were growing up and came here to visit our grandparents).

We decided to stay for sunset even though the clouds were moving in quickly. The sky looked like it was on fire as the sun went down. While we were there we thought we might as well have dinner on the beach too. A great way to start the week.

Things have changed.

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The non-profit Clearwater Marine Aquarium opened on Clearwater Beach in 1972 in a former water treatment plant. They opened as a research and learning center and by 1980 they started rehabilitating dolphins. I don’t remember going there as a child when we use to come down to Clearwater to visit my grandparents but I do remember visiting a few times with my parents when they retired down here in the early 90’s. When Brett and I moved down here 19 years ago I got an annual pass and took my Mom there to see the dolphins a lot. She was in a retirement home and was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. She lived close by and it made for a fun morning out for her. She loved just sitting and watching the dolphins and turtles swimming around. Back then you could park at the front door and walk right in. No parking decks or lines to get in, You could also get pretty close up to the dolphins.

The aquarium is home to Winter (the movie star from A Dolphin’s Tale). Winter lost her tail years ago and the aquarium was able to get a prosthetic tail to help her swim better. It’s been several years since I had been and they recently had a big addition built on (they added a 1.5 million gallon tank) so I decided to head over to the beach to see Winter on a rare Monday off. I had to pay to park in a deck, stand in a line (small one though) to get in on a Monday. I’m glad they are doing so well though. They do a lot with injured sea life here. Not just rehabilitating them here but they send teams out to rescue as well.

You walk in on the upper level and can see into the pool. I didn’t take many pictures up here since it was dark inside and the dolphins were swimming lower down in the water. This is not a dolphin show like in the old days. These are injured dolphins that are being rehabilitated that you get to see up close. Although if you hit it right at feeding time, the dolphins do perform specific behaviors as part of feeding but no jumping out of the water and flipping over.

Here’s were you want to be. There are windows all around the tank so you can walk around and see different dolphins. Winter and her best friend Hope are in the main tank.

Winter did not have on her prostetic tail while I was there. You can see she is missing her flipper. Se came pretty close to the window.

On the other side there were several other dolphins swimming close to the window. The glare from the window did not make it easy to get pictures. The dolphins in the main tank live here full time now. They all have some type of injury including vision loss, hearing loss and other illnesses where they would not survive being released back into the wild. The main goal is to release the dolphins back out and most of them do get set free after they recover.

There are also many other types of animals here including lots of turtles. All were injured at some time. You can see in that (blurry) picture on the bottom that the turtle is missing his front feet.

The new building from the upper parking deck.

Pano across the intercoastal waterway looking towards Clearwater.

Looking toward the beach from the aquarium. I should have gone over for a quick swim but the beach was packed in April, even on a Monday. Parking on the beach is also tough and expensive so there’s that. And, I was starving so it was time to head home for lunch.

Yes, masks were still required in April here. Even though a lot of it is outside, people crowd in front of the windows. Hoping my next trip is maskless.

Storms rolling in.

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It looked like there were some good storms heading toward the beach in late September so I headed out after work to Clearwater Beach and Sand Key Beach. Stopping along the causeway I could see rain across the intercoastal waterway.

I got over to Sand Key and there were a few people on the beach but it was pretty deserted. It was late in the day so without the sun out for a sunset, most people went home. There were some cool clouds out in the water but I didn’t see any lightening at all. Another reason to stay close to the bathrooms in the parking lot. Those bolts could have hit at any time. There were still a few people sitting out right in front of the water.

The sun peaked out a few times and I turned around hoping to see a rainbow but that didn’t happen as well.

The storm was moving quickly so I headed back to my car.

I stopped at the marina that sits next to the bridge to walk around and watch the storm move in. It was nice to get out and walk around before dinner.

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Just being out at Sand Key Park

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A nice warm windy day in late July. The beach wasn’t crowded early in the morning. Plus there was a storm heading our way so most people probably were staying home this morning. The wind was blasting but the sun was out early before the clouds moved in at lunchtime.

Looking across the channel at Clearwater Beach. Most of the tourist were over there.

I walked over to the fishing piers that sit near the bridge and found a few birds waiting for handouts from the people fishing.

A typical scene looking across at Clearwater beach. The pirate ship passed under the bridge but turned around just outside the channel and headed back into the intercoastal waterway. I’m assuming they stayed inside the intercoastal this morning since the water was choppy. There were a few people on it but I’m sure not nearly as crowded as past summers.

This looks like fun but you would need a lot of upper body strength on a windy day like this was. They stayed inside the channel as well.