A holiday sunset walk

On April 8, 2026April 9, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights6 Comments

We did not have family come into town for Christmas this year and the family that is local had gone out of town so after our late Christmas supper we headed over to the Dunedin marina for a sunset walk. It was a beautiful cool night and we were not alone. The marina area was packed although I was able to get the above pictures without anybody in them.

Going down behind the nearby dock. This dock was completely lost in the hurricane in 2024 and was just finished being rebuilt right before Christmas.

The marina with that pink and orange glow once the sun had gone down.

Early December walks

On April 6, 2026March 18, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Love locks on the Safety Harbor waterfront boardwalk. This trend that started in Paris has made it’s way here. The problem here is that too many locks weigh the wires down and cause them to bend and pull out of the wood so unfortunately they get cut off and thrown out periodically.

I stopped by Kapok Park in mid-December and almost missed the fall colors on the bald cypress trees. The small lake is surrounded by them and it’s pretty when the leaves change.

One of my favorite trees at this park is a large oak tree that was pulled up during a bad storm many years ago. The tree still thrives and has adapted it’s shape to grow along the ground.

I was out at the Dunedin marina on a foggy morning. Kingfishers are common here in the winter and this was my first sighting this season of one. He was hovering for a long time looking for fish to catch.

Another foggy morning I walked on the causeway. Above is the view from the top of the bridge.

An osprey was watching me.

On a sunny morning on the causeway I saw a fisherman trying to keep the birds away from his bait fish that he had just pulled up. I noticed the snowy egret (in the bottom shot) was missing a foot. He could still fly so he was getting around well.

Willets and dowitchers were feeding along the shoreline.

A herring gull with a tasty snack.

My favorite walking spots in October

On February 23, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

The sun was trying to peak out when I went for a walk just after sunrise at the Safety Harbor Waterfront in Mid-October.

It had gotten even cloudier when I stopped by nearby Philippe Park to walk the stairs.

As I was heading for the stairs I caught a pair of little blue herons chasing each other. I’m not sure if they were fighting or flirting since they flew off together.

A night heron sits in the oyster bed.

A few days later I was walking at the Dunedin marina.

The water was low and clear along the seawall and I could see several horseshoe crabs along the rocks. I don’t remember seeing them here before.

I was walking through a neighborhood near the marina and noticed this cactus that was growing on a palm tree was blooming. I did some digging and found out it was dragon fruit. I’ve never eaten it but I see it at the grocery store. The plant was loaded with it. I hope the owner ate all of them.

A few days later and I was at the Dunedin causeway.

I was getting to the bottom of the bridge and noticed this great egret trying to eat a fish. There were several guys fishing along the seawall so I’m not sure if he stole it from them.

I noticed a laughing gull with a missing foot. I’ve seen him several times (at least I think it’s the same one).

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

🎵 “Don’t let the sun go down on me” 🎵

On December 10, 2025January 3, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights5 Comments

I usually like to get my walks out of the way in the morning but every once in a while I have something else going on so I walk later in the day and try to catch sunset. In late August I started my walk at the Dunedin marina and walked for about an hour around the area before coming back to my car before the sun set.

I walked down a neighborhood street that runs along the water before getting back to the marina.

The sun was going down on the “still damaged” dock. They are currently repairing the damaged areas in the marina and are supposed to start on the dock early next year.

Going down along the jetti in front of the marina.

🎵 “Sittin on the dock of the bay” 🎵

The End.

Dolphins and a manatee in the calm water

On December 1, 2025January 3, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights1 Comment

It was a calm morning on the water in late July. Not a hint of wind as I walked at the Safety Harbor waterfront.

Far out in the bay I could see dolphins cruising by.

I stopped at the Oldsmar pier before heading home and noticed that they had opened the pier almost to the end. It was still closed about a third of the way from the end and I could see the damage from last fall’s hurricanes. The end was missing and a great blue heron was enjoying the railing all to himself. It’s taking a long time to fix damaged piers and docks and some are just now getting fixed.

A few days later I was walking on the Dunedin causeway and watching the summer clouds roll in. I was hoping for some rain but that wouldn’t happen until the end of the day.

An osprey sits on top of the drawbridge arm. He has a great view up there.

The next morning I had a quick walk at the Dunedin marina. I could see a snout of a manatee coming up for air (in the 2nd shot). I waited a while hoping he would come closer but he was heading out into the open water.

A snowy egret showing off his yellow legs.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

Back at one of my walking happy places

On October 27, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In late June I was out for an early walk at the Dunedin marina.

The front beach area of the marina has been closed since Hurricane Helene hit last September and I realized that it had just opened back up again after 9 months. It was so nice to be able to walk along the far side of the marina out onto the jetti area. The little beach area was covered in seaweed and it was high tide so much of the area was under water anyway.

The floating dock in front of the sailing center was being fixed that morning. A Dunedin utility worker was adding planks as I walked by.

This gravel spot is where the Dunedin Sailing Center meeting house sat since 1929, until Hurricane Helene and Milton flooded it and it had to be torn down. Eventually a new elevated building will be built.

Looking towards Clearwater Beach.

Some horseshoe crabs were swimming around in the shallow part.

This corner of the jetti had grass and 3 nice benches to sit and watch the dolphins come in the marina. They were all lost in the storms.

A green heron sits very still on a rock, trying to catch some bait fish.

I was excited to see the purple martins still here and their houses were still standing (the bases are set in concrete).

You can hear their sweet calls in the wind. The babies are all grown up and they left not long after I took this video. They’ll be back next spring though.

The marina was still closed to public boats and except for a few commercial boats near the entrance no one was coming in or out. Many of the docks are damaged and the sea wall caved in. I’ve read they were going to start repairing everything by the end of this year.

Linking to Image-In-Ing.

Fish for breakfast

On September 22, 2025October 15, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I was out for one of my usual morning walks in early June at the Dunedin Marina and parked in front of this mural which is on the front of the small restaurant that sits on the marina. It’s a good central place to park and I always look for manatees and dolphins before my walk. From here I can walk in 3 different directions. South towards Clearwater is on the water but there’s no shade so I usually take that route on cloudy days. East takes me through downtown Dunedin and north takes me along the water through neighborhoods with lots of old oak trees.

The north route has lots of blooming things to look at.

A bunny along the grass.

A Momma duck and her 2 tiny babies walking across the street.

I got back to the marina and saw 2 osprey chasing each other. They were heading for the osprey nest in the big pine tree.

One of the osprey had a fish with him and landed and started to dig in to his freshly caught breakfast. They have a big nest in this tree and hang out here all year. Nesting season for them won’t start again until mid-winter but they are still here. I guess there’s good fish in this marina.

A few days later my walk started at the Safety Harbor waterfront.

Someone had tied a flag to the railing in front of the closed pier.

After my walk I was standing in front of the pier before leaving and saw an osprey fly in with a fish. I ran back to my car and got my camera and he was still eating. It looked like he was struggling a little in the wind and the poor fish kept flopping. Osprey, also know as fish hawks, only eat fish so they can be found along the water. Osprey were almost completely wiped out due to the wide use of DDT (a pesticide) that made their egg shells too thin to develop. The pesticide was banned in 1972 and these guys have made a big rebound although now mercury from the fish they exclusively eat has caused concern. When I would come down to the Tampa Bay area to visit my parents in the early 90’s I rarely saw an osprey and now I see them everywhere.

Artwork on Main Street

On June 11, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I usually start my walk at the Dunedin marina. I keep hoping to see that they have started fixing the damaged pier and boat docks but so far 8 months later it all looks the same. I’ve heard the city is waiting on insurance money or FEMA or both. They will also need to wait to get the right people to do it. I’m sure with all of the dock and pier damage up and down the western coast of the state those guys who fix that are busy.

It was blasting wind so after walking near the marina I headed up to Main Street to get out of the cold and wind until the sun came out . I thought the fish lock was the best.

The side of the wall on one of the buildings always has a cute seasonal painting. It was late March when I saw this.

Some of the fun artwork along Main Street.

I have still not been in the history museum. It opens at 11am and I’m usually home from my walk by then.

Flowers outside a restaurant.

I love the tile work on the fountain and stairs.

A few of the painted dolphins around the city.

I took this picture of the Dunedin boat club house several years ago. It sits on the front part of the marina and I recently read that it had been torn down due to extensive hurricane damage. It was built in 1931 and had survived 93 years here until Hurricane Helene flooded it last September. There were several benches in front of it that looked over the water and was shaded in the mornings and I would take a break on my long walks sitting on them. The whole area has been fenced off and I’m sure the benches are gone. I sure miss that spot. I’ve read that they will rebuild the club house (on concrete stilts this time) some time next year.

Foggy season was starting

On February 10, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights4 Comments

I woke up early one morning on Thanksgiving weekend and it was super foggy outside. I got ready and headed out for a walk hoping to get some fog shots. It was a slow drive through the fog but when I got to the Dunedin marina there was hardly any fog.

The sun had broken through and I could just see a little fog across the water over towards Clearwater beach.

I was driving home after my walk and 10 minutes later I hit the fog again so I stopped at the Oldsmar pier. I could barely see the end of the pier.

The fog on land was starting to lift but it still looked creepy with the crows flying towards me.

White ibis were busy feeding in the grass along the water.

The sun was starting to peak through and the tide was far out. I love foggy mornings in the winter. It makes it feel like winter here. I like going for walks in the fog but driving around on a busy street in heavy fog is not fun.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

The day before everything changed

On December 4, 2024January 21, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights6 Comments

Hurricane Helene was due to sneak by the Tampa Bay area with a direct hit much farther north on a Thursday night in late September (on my birthday). The area was expected to have rain, wind, record tides and flooding. I went out for a long walk the morning before. The morning was a little dreary which kept the heat down. The first thing I noticed when I got to the Dunedin marina was the flag. The usual flags were down and a single hurricane flag was flying. I don’t remember seeing this before.

It looked like any other rainy morning. Although people were still there pulling boats out of the marina and putting them on trailers to leave.

The water along the seawall was clear and I could see fish swimming around. I think these are tiny sheepshead fish with those stripes.

A great egret was still hanging around. I wonder if he knew what was coming.

Later that afternoon the clouds were getting crazy so I ran over to the Safety Harbor fishing pier area to see if I could catch some lighting.

The shade sails that cross the picnic area were already down and the tables were tied together.

These kiteboarders were enjoying the blasting wind. They were doing some great tricks and knew what they were doing. The wind was so strong it was no place for amateurs.

Six oystercatchers flew over my head and I was wishing I had my camera with me.

A sun dog halo was peaking through the palm trees.

Helene came through the next day with catastrophic flooding. Anyone near the coast, channel, inlet or river was flooded. You can read what I posted a few days after here. It’s now early December and a few of the parks near the coast are still closed including Fort Desoto Park. Many of the restaurants, shops and motels along the beach areas are still closed. Some are trying hard to renovate and get opened by spring break, some will not ever open again. Most of the homes that flooded are still waiting on permits, inspections, insurance money, workers, etc. It could be a year or two before most move back into their homes.