Tag: clearwater

Why did the peacocks cross the road?

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

To get to the greener grass. I was out running errands one morning and had to go to nearby Clearwater so I threw my camera in the car and drove through the “peacock” neighborhood. The peacocks have been roaming free here since the 60’s when, as the story goes, the peacock farm closed and many got loose. Now there are many neighborhoods throughout Pinellas county that have them roaming around beside Clearwater.

I was there in mid-May and the males were flirting all over the neighborhood.

I saw several Moms with little ones.

The all white male was showing off in the shade. Last year I saw an all white female as well but I didn’t see one on this trip.

More cuties crossing the street.

Saturday's Critters

Looking for a distinguished gentleman

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

All of the usual winter ducks were still at Lake Belleview in Clearwater when I got to the lake in late March. It’s a small lake in the middle of a busy section of Clearwater. I don’t get here often and I’m always amazed at the variety of birds and ducks that hang out here in the winter. Out in the middle of the lake I could see redheads and coots swimming together. I was looking for the rare northern pintail duck that has been spotted here for a few weeks now.

As I walked around the lake I found a few redheads sleeping along the bank and on the water all under a big shade tree (the female is all brown, only the male has the red head).

I was watching the redhead floating around when I noticed the pintail swimming by so I found him pretty quickly.

I’ve only seen a pintail once, in late 2014, in St. Pete. He’s a beautiful duck and looks very distinguished. They breed in the most northern part of the US and mostly in Canada. They do migrate south for the winter into Florida but this is only the 2nd time I’ve heard of one being in our area. He stayed under the shade of the big tree the entire time I was there.

The usual moorhens were also there.

A few flybys included a great blue heron and a great egret.

One last snap before heading home. He was still hanging around at the end of May so I’m hoping he is okay.

Saturday's Critters

🎵 “A 3 hour tour” 🎵

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights7 Comments

My sister and her husband were coming to visit for the Grand Prix race (in St. Pete) in late February. They came a few days early so we could do some tourist stuff. Our first fun thing was a dolphin/sunset tour out of Dunedin. We left at 4:30 and boated down the intercoastal waterway passing by Clearwater.

I think that dog was having more fun on the water than anyone else as we passed close by the Sound Amphitheater.

Colors were popping as we got farther down the waterway and passed sailboats and kite surfers. We could see the pirate ship tour boat farther back on the left.

Passing underneath the Sand Key bridge.

We made our way into the gulf and passed by Clearwater Beach and the long Pier 60 as we headed north.

We got all the way to the tip of Caladesi Island before turning around to head back to Clearwater. The sun still had a ways to go before setting so we took our time coming back.

The sun was shining on the new hotels that sit on the south end of Clearwater Beach. When I was growing up and coming here to visit my grandparents this beach was all 2 story motels.

The boat stopped at the end of the beach and we watched the sun go down with a few other boats. It was a busy night on the water.

The Little Toot boat was following us as we made our way back into the intercoastal waterway. It was a beautiful night and got chilly quick when the sun went down. Luckily we were prepared and brought jackets with us.

Passing the pirate ship.

The sky was turning orange and the birds were flying around before going to bed as we made our way past Clearwater and back to the Dunedin marina.

The 2 1/2 hour trip turned into a 3 hour trip when we docked. It was a perfect night. We saw lots of dolphins but the boat was full and I didn’t bring my camera and longer lens so I hung back and let the tourists watch them. It’s always fun seeing the reactions when people don’t get to see them often or see them for the first time.

SkyWatch Friday

A multi colored walk

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In mid-August we were getting mostly late afternoon storms but occasionally a storm would come through early in the morning. I was out for a walk at the Dunedin marina and saw the above rainbow over the marina.

I could see it storming over Clearwater beach.

Usually the rainbows don’t stick around long but the sun was out for a while and the storm was moving south to north instead of into the sun. I decided to head up to the causeway for a quick walk on the bridge before going home.

Less than 10 minutes later I had gotten to the causeway and the rainbow was still there. I pulled over before the first bridge and got out to take a quick picture thinking the sun was going in.

I could see the entire rainbow as I drove over the first bridge.

Getting out for my walk I noticed the sand was covered in these tiny new shells.

It’s not often I see an entire rainbow.

Walking back to my car the clouds were starting to move in.

an image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup

Out on the water

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

On our dolphin tour during the week of Thanksgiving, we headed out to a small spoil island to walk around and look for shells. It’s a tiny oasis in the middle of all of these tall buildings.

The flag on the island was starting to look a little weathered.

We could see a kiteboarded across the waterway.

There were small sailboats all around the area. It was a windy morning and perfect to be out on the water.

I was looking the other way and heard my sister yell “Oh no, they went over.” I looked around and saw that the boat had flipped on it’s side. The 2 guys were working on pulling it back up. At first I thought they would need to be rescued but our captain said it happens fairly often and the guys on these small boats are good at getting them back upright. That has to take a lot of upper body strength to get that sail out of the water. (That big white complex in the background is Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater).

The guys in another boat nearby were leaning pretty hard to keep theirs from going over.

Nice view heading back to the marina.

SkyWatch Friday

Last of the Thanksgiving tourist tour

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights1 Comment

Cruising along Clearwater bay looking for dophins.  Lots of big buildings going up around the beach including the new expanded Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter the movie star dolphin from A Dolphin’s Tale who lost his tail and was given a prosthetic tail.

Anyone want a boat real cheap?  An abandoned boat near the marina.

Cruising by some of the big old historic homes along the intercoastal waterway.

Out along Sand Key.

Two osprey taking a bath on a sand spit during low tide.

We stopped at a spoil island near Sand Key and looked for some shells. The ones that were still alive were put back in the water.

The last day my sisters were here visiting we took a 2 hour dolphin tour out of Clearwater marina. After living here for almost 18 years it was the first time I had done that. It was fun being out on the water on such a beautiful morning. We finally did see some dolphins coming back to the marina but I didn’t take any pictures. The boat was fairly full and I hung back letting all of the tourists see them from the edge of the boat. It’s fun to see people’s reactions when they see one for the first time out in the wild. Living here we take things for granted. I saw 3 of them coming home from work recently while I was stuck in traffic on the bridge.

SkyWatch Friday

Sand Key Park

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Least terns were just starting to mate on the beach at Sand Key Park in late June.

A crazed looking juvenile mockingbird was also on the beach.

On osprey was guarding the jetti with his fish.

A small storm was moving in across the beach.  The tourist pirate ship started to head out into the gulf but then turned around and came back into the bay. That trip must have gotten cut short. It started to sprinkle as I walked back down the beach to my car but then the sun came out just as fast.

I think it was going to end up being a perfect day after the morning storms moved through. I had stopped by the park to see if the least terns were nesting yet. They were there but none of them were sitting on eggs yet. People were starting to come out to the beach once the sun came out. It was time for me to go home and have lunch.

SkyWatch Friday

Being a tourist, continued

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

If you look closely you can always find birds at a marina. While my sister and I walked around the Clearwater Beach marina, we saw tons of pelicans, great egrets and snowy egrets. Birds we didn’t see that are usually there are great blue herons and green herons. They hang around the docks hoping to be fed the scraps when the fishing boats come in and the fisherman fillet the fish right there. I recently found out that it’s illegal to feed birds fish parts. The pelican’s pouch is very delicate and made to swallow the fish whole. If there are bones sticking out, they will puncture the pouch and tear, keeping the pelican from being able to scoop up fish on their own. They will eventually starve. The bird sanctuaries in the area are full of pelicans with torn pouches from eating fish parts. Another reason why wild animals should not be fed.

Signs at the fishing piers that people seem to ignore.

Being a tourist in my own town.

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

When you’ve eating too much over Thanksgiving weekend and you have family in town, you head to the beach. Since the actual beach was too crowded and parking was impossible, my sister and I stopped at the Clearwater Beach marina and walked around for while. Looking at the big boats and enjoying the afternoon. I don’t get over to this area often, too crowded and congested. But, it’s fun to stop by once in a blue moon. It reminds me of coming to visit my grandparents as a child with my family.

We also stopped at Sand Key beach for a quick walk and found these above. They are going to submerge them in the gulf so the coral can grow on them.

SkyWatch Friday