A 3 stop morning

Posted on April 20, 2024 by dinajohnston

I was on my way to Crescent Lake Park but stopped at nearby North Shore Park first to get a glimpse of the sun coming up over the bay. It was a beautiful morning in late January but also chilly and there wasn’t any birds on the beach.

I saw the white pelicans right when I got to Crescent Lake Park. Only about half of them were still there and I was thinking they would be gone before I made it back down here again. Luckily a few of them were right at the edge and I was able to see them close up.

I stopped at the Safety Harbor fishing pier on the way home. It was cloudy when I first got there and I saw the above common loon far out in the bay. A little later when the sun came back out I was hoping to get a better shot of him but I couldn’t find him again.

Brown pelicans were diving for fish and the laughing gulls were right on them when they came up with a mouthful of fish hoping to steal some of the fish.

Later when I was editing the pictures I realized one of the pelicans had a big scrape on his head. I went back out there the next morning but didn’t see him. He might have hit it on the pier if he was diving too close. I heard that happens to them at the Sunshine Skyway fishing pier.

Zooming in on Tampa across the bay.

I saw these horned grebes from far away and waited forever for them to get closer. They seemed to be heading towards the pier as they went under to get the fish. The few times I had seen them before this winter at the pier they were like little pin dots far out in the middle of the bay so I was glad they were getting closer. I haven’t seen them again since this visit.

Orange and white at Crescent Lake Park

Posted on March 30, 2024 by dinajohnston

This was way too easy. I had heard there was a Baltimore oriole that has been hanging out near the ball park at Crescent Lake Park for weeks. It was the end of December and he was a little late for fall migration. I walked down the sidewalk towards that end of the park and saw a flash of orange in the trees. There he was, hopping around looking for bugs high up. After snapping several pictures I headed over to the lake.

Across the pond I could see some white pelicans under the big banyan tree.

They were hiding in the shade so I kept going to the other end of the lake.

I found four feeding at the other end of the little lake. They would all take off together and just barely fly a little ways and do a little dip. They did this for a while

At one point it looked like they were coming straight for me.

I watched them feeding for a while. It was pretty cool how they did it all in unison.

They eventually started making their way back to the other side of the pond where their friends were hanging out. It was a fun morning watching them in the cool sunny weather. If only the weather would stay like this all year round.

A cold winter morning in St. Pete.

Posted on March 25, 2024 by dinajohnston

European starlings get no respect here. They are treated like annoying pigeons. They are an invasive species here in the United States but they are pretty when the sun hits them just right. I found this one alone at Crescent Lake Park in St. Pete. I stopped for a quick walk and to see if the white pelicans were still there.

This wood stork was feeding right in front of me. I did find the white pelicans and took a ton of shots of them feeding but more on them later.

After a walk around the lake I drove 10 minutes over to the North Shore Park on the bay. As soon as I got out of my car I heard the monk parakeets feeding on the ground in the parking lot.

There were very few birds on the little beach in front of the park.

The tide was really low and this guy was having the best time chasing after a big stick.

A grackle was calling for his girlfriend.

It looks like it was a quiet morning from this point of view but behind me there were tons of people walking, jogging and biking on the wide sidewalk that runs along the park. It was a cold morning so there wasn’t anyone out on the beach.

My favorite 5 tall palm trees on the beach at the park. The sky was clearing up.

The parking lot has several orchid trees that were in full bloom. I was getting in my car when I heard a big flock of nanday parakeets fly into the one right next to my car. I got out and shot the above before they all took off again.

A postcard morning out

Posted on February 5, 2024 by dinajohnston

It was early November and too beautiful to be inside so I headed down to the waterfront just north of the St. Pete pier to see what I could find to take pictures of. Zooming in with my 400mm lens, I could see a ton of tiny white sailboats far out in the middle of the bay. There must have been a sailing class or competition. They looked like tiny sailboat dots on the horizon. There was a lot of boat traffic this morning.

The sun was already pretty high up.

Looking to the right you can see the pier building that houses a restaurant and bar and downtown St. Pete.

It was such a beautiful sky that I had to add a little sparkle to it.

Scenes from the sidewalk.

On the way home I stopped for a quick walk around Crescent Lake Park. From across the park I could see a girl with 2 parrots. It looks like she was doing some training with them but one kept hopping on her head. I hope she has trained him not to poop up there!

There’s always a lot of cormorants here.

A pretty muscovy duck sitting in the yellow flowers.

A 4 stop road trip morning

Posted on June 15, 2023 by dinajohnston

It was an early morning in April and I was looking for a new bird. A great-tailed grackle had been spotting in St. Pete somewhere in the North Shore Park area.

I found this guy but it was a boat-tailed grackle. The only real difference between the two are the color of the eyes. The boat-tailed has black eyes and the great-tailed has yellow eyes. Their call is also different.

There he was, right in the parking lot near the pool. Those bright yellow eyes gave him away. He was right in the area where people had been spotting him. I haven’t heard of one being in the Tampa Bay area before. They are found on the western part of the country so he was far off course.

Meanwhile, this Cooper’s hawk was there as well, looking at me like I was crazy.

I noticed the trees were blooming.

I’m not sure if squirrels can eat these big balls hanging from the palm tree but this one seem to be hiding in them.

I made a quick stop at nearby Crescent Lake Park to see if the white pelicans were still hanging around the lake. I only saw 2 of them on this visit. I don’t know if the other ones were somewhere else in the park or if they had already headed north for the summer.

Another quick stop on the way home and I found some black-necked stilts and yellowlegs. They were all hanging out along the ditches near the waste plant. It was still a little early for stilt babies.

My final stop of the morning (but really only a quick drive through) was of the peacock neighborhood. There’s a neighborhood in Clearwater that has tons of wild peacocks roaming the yards. I had recently heard there was an all white one there so I drove through looking for it. I found it but more on that later.

Three stops before my appointment.

Posted on March 20, 2023 by dinajohnston

I was heading down to St. Pete and stopped by Crescent Lake Park to see if there were any white pelicans still hanging around. They usually spend a few weeks here in the winter but it’s hit or miss whether they are here or floating in the nearby bay. When I first got out of the car I noticed a few scattered around the lake.

Then I noticed more hanging out in the shade under the big banyan tree. They were all busy preening so they must have just finished a morning swim.

I heard something over my head and looked up and saw this starling sitting in a hole. He might have been checking out the hole for future nesting spots.

This ring billed gull was swimming in the shade near the white pelicans. His red accents really popped in the shade.

After snapping the white pelicans I headed down toward North Shore Park and saw this big tree blooming so I had to pull over and take a shot. This was in mid-February and I had missed it’s full peak but it was still pretty.

All was quiet on the little beach on the bay.

One more stop just south of the St. Pete pier before heading to my chiropractor who’s office is nearby. It was a beautiful cool morning out and was worth leaving an hour early.

Looking for a breeze

Posted on November 3, 2022 by dinajohnston

It was a perfect day to head down to St. Pete for a walk and hopefully catch a breeze in mid-August. My first stop was Crescent Lake Park. I was hoping to see hummingbirds at the big firebush but all I got was bees.

I happen to look over near the playground and saw this squirrel trying really hard to get in the unattended bag. A lady saw what was happening and ran over. She had donuts in her bag. I don’t blame the squirrel for trying to get those.

I stumbled on an outdoor dog obedience training class. Since I had my longer lens I was able to watch from pretty far away. All of the dogs seemed pretty chilled.

I left the park and headed over to the yacht basin near downtown for a quick walk before it got crazy hot.

Downtown St. Pete parks

Posted on July 28, 2022 by dinajohnston

You can always find turtles chilling on the trash bumpers at Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Pete.

I found some cute duckies walking along the sidewalk.

Usual birds around the lake include the loggerhead shrike, a roseate spoonbill and an anhinga drying out.

I found an unusual pair of birds sitting in front of my car, northern rough winged swallows. I’ve seen them in other parks before but they are fairly rare.

A cloudy morning at the park.

The big banyan tree has been fenced in for several years now. They are trying to keep it alive since it’s so old (not sure how old though). It’s taken a beating over the years with people climbing and playing on it.

It looked like it has snowed along the street in front of the park. I realized there were several cottonwood trees in someone’s yard. I had never noticed this before so I must not have been here when they were blooming. I’m sure it’s beautiful when it’s in full bloom but what a mess it was in the street and yard.

After leaving the park I stopped by Rouse park on the bay in St Pete, only a few minutes away. The royal poinciana trees were blooming and the are a lot of them in this small park.

Enjoying an early morning on the bay in late May.

Low tide in late December

Posted on February 10, 2022 by dinajohnston

I headed down to Fort Desoto Park in late December hoping to see the huge flocks of white pelicans. No luck on North beach but I found a small flock of them way out sitting on a spoil island. The first shot is zoomed in and cropped up. Later I was walking on the beach and a lone one flew over my head.

I saw the above kingfisher flying around out in the North Beach marsh, diving for fish.

A few dunlins were feeding in the shallow end.

I love this time of year when it’s sunny and cool and the tide is really low. You can walk out forever before you get to ankle deep water.

Watching the ships go by from the fishing pier.

I stopped by Crescent Lake Park on the way home to look for otters and found a pair of white pelicans instead.

A few other birds at the lake were a wood stork and a lesser scaup with a snack in his beak. I think he had a crawfish.

White pelicans in St. Pete

Posted on February 5, 2022 by dinajohnston

I wasn’t surprised to see white pelicans at North Shore Park in St. Pete in late December. They usually spend the winter somewhere around the park although it’s hit or miss to catch them right in front of the beach. They cruise around the area and sometimes hang out far into the channels in the neighborhoods nearby. I had stopped by for a quick walk and ended up going back to my car and getting my camera. They were standing right there in pelican leg high water.

Turning around to leave, I could see an osprey sitting up on the lights.

Sometimes you just have to stop and watch the boats go by.

There were lots of little shorebirds along the beach. I then decided to stop by nearby Crescent Lake Park on the way home.

Right in the middle of the lake at the park were 3 lone pelicans. I have seen them here before as well but they were all swimming separately. I wonder if they originally came with the beach group and somehow got separated.

I spent some time trying to catch this osprey diving for fish but he was just too far across the lake and he kept missing.

Dina's Wildlife Adventures

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