So much destruction and not even a direct hit.

On September 30, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights13 Comments

I can’t believe I am posting this picture again. So soon after Hurricane Ian, Idalia and Debby. This is just devasting. The Tampa bay area got so much damage from Hurricane Helene this past week mostly coming from storm surge. Pinellas County has water on 3 sides (the gulf leading into the bay) and no house near the water was spared. So much flooding. The hurricane wasn’t even a direct hit but the storm surge was the highest on record.

Brett and I moved 3 years ago from a house on the water (in the bay) to farther inland. We were so blessed to only have tons of yard debris. Above is a 3rd of our debris pile in the driveway and more across the street. We are still cleaning up. We did not get any flooding in our neighborhood.

Over the weekend I was out running errands and stopped by my favorite walking places. The Dunedin marina was my first stop and the pier there was destroyed. The marina was blocked off so we couldn’t get close. It’s interesting the dolphin statue on top of the concrete base was still standing. The hotel next door was flooded and they were trying to get the sand out of the rooms and were pulling out carpet and furniture.

Lots of debris and damaged docks in the marina. Many of the boats were missing. Some got pulled out onto trailers the day before but some were found stranded farther down near Clearwater Beach.

The tall condo building next to the marina lost both of their docks.

My next stop was the Safety Harbor marina and fishing pier. They had minimal damage with only a small portion of the dock damaged.

The beloved fishing pier where the manatees hang out was gone. It had recently been closed due to minimal damage from Hurricane Debby in August.

The next morning I stopped by the Oldsmar pier, 10 minutes from my house. The pier was still there but was closed. It had a lot of missing planks and the end had come off. All of the houses in the neighborhoods nearby were flooded out.

This fun boat was a decoration in front of a seafood restaurant. The restaurant was badly damaged and I saw the boat much farther down the street.

The front yard the night after the hurricane.

All of this damage above is insignificant to what happened to the coastal areas. The beach areas have been closed for days but the videos and news coverage is heartbreaking. All of the beach areas, Davis Islands, Harbor Islands and neighborhoods along the bay were damaged. As you drive through neighborhoods all of the houses have furniture, rugs, carpet, cabinets, dry wall, etc piled high on the curbs.

Pictures of the beach from Bay News 9 here.

The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary is a wild bird rescue that is on the beach. They rescue and rehabilitate thousands of birds every year. Their facility took a big hit. I swiped the below shot from their facebook page. They could really use donations to rebuild and can be made here.

Sadly this storm did not end with us and continued to reek havoc north into North Carolina. Brett’s nephew and his girlfriend live in Ashville and we did not have contact with them until yesterday morning. They are safe but downtown Ashville has been wiped out. And, there’s another storm brewing in the gulf again.

Morning walks in early June

On August 12, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, flowers and plants3 Comments

My husband is now working part time from home and has more flexible hours so in early June he went with me on my morning walk around the Safety Harbor fishing pier. He hadn’t been to the pier in years so we started there before walking around the area. Since he’s not much of an early bird we didn’t get there as early as I usually do. We were lucky to catch manatees coming up for air.

A short video of them coming up for air. They were close to the pier and I was able to get them with my phone.

Looking up from the manatees, I saw a flock of pelicans go by.

Brett taking a few moments to take it all in on the mangrove boardwalk.

I was able to catch a mangrove crab on the boardwalk. These guys are usually skittish.

The next morning I went out a little early by myself for a walk at the Dunedin marina. Right when I got out of my car I saw a mallard couple swimming across the marina with some babies. They were moving quickly and went under the dock.

I had forgotten the night blooming cereus blooms along the street nearby. I turned the corner from the marina and saw the flowers along the fence. They usually only bloom at night but if you are here early in the morning you might catch them right before they close up for the day. There are a lot of these plants in Dunedin and Safety Harbor and sometimes people have parties at night to watch them bloom.

The lily-of-the-nile was blooming along the walk as well.

Lots of stuff at the marina

On June 24, 2024July 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was early April and I was out for a morning walk at the Dunedin marina. It was quiet and the water was as smooth as glass. Smooth enough for me to notice that manatee coming up for air in the middle of the channel.

Some of the ladies from the sailing club had their little boats out but there was zero wind. I guess they were going to wait and see if it picked up later.

A recent storm had caused a bigger sailboat to get stranded on the rocks. The anchor must have come loose. This is a common sight after a big storm.

The purple martins were working on their nests. I took the above with my phone but I was glad I had put my camera in the car. I walked back to the car and headed back to the front of the marina to get some closer shots.

There were several house finches hopping around on the fence on the side of the marina. The male was really pretty, posing for me.

The purple martins were busy bringing in sticks and bugs but I couldn’t tell if they were actually feeding any babies in the martin house or just themselves.

A better shot of the manatee with my camera but he was heading out of the marina. You can see all of the barnacles on his back and face.

I noticed the pigeons on the top of the tall condo building next to the marina. One had landed on the slant and just slid down. He couldn’t seem to figure out how to land on the flat part. Or maybe he was sliding down for fun?

Out and about

On May 2, 2024April 22, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

Views from my early March walk at the Dunedin causeway. I saw something moving down in the water and peeked over the seawall to see an anhinga drying off on a shelf. He was like “Don’t be looking over in my spot.”. I took these with my phone so he was really close.

When I got over to the marina I found a great egret and pelican on the dock. They are so used to be around people on this dock that they are not very skittish. The pelican eventually when back in to the water to start feeding again.

Just me and my shadow during low tide in front of the marina. The water was like glass this morning.

The view through the mangroves.

The purple martins were back in their condos. They were bringing in nesting material. I had wished I brought my camera. The above was with my phone.

A few days later I was out running errands and stopped by the big Kapok Tree nearby. It was just past peak blooming and the ground was covered with blooms. I grabbed a few from the ground to take back home. The old historic building that started as a restaurant now houses a music store. The music store is closing and the locals hope the building doesn’t get torn down and replaced with condos (which seems to be happening everywhere around here).

Summer mornings in Dunedin

On November 6, 2023April 11, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

It was a stagnant morning in late July. Not even a slight breeze or ripple on the water. I stopped at the pier at Weaver Park to see if I could spot any dolphins but the tide was so low that they would be far out anyway so I didn’t stay long. It was too hot to be out so after my quick walk I headed home.

A few days later it was cloudy when I went out for a walk at the Dunedin marina. There was at least a breeze and a chance of rain.

The tide was low and the water was clear around the pier and I noticed someone must have dumped some fish bones in the water. I’ve never seen this before. The tiny bait fish were picking the bones clean.

A little farther down the pier I could see coral growing on the oyster beds.

The usual great egret was there, trying to catch some tiny fish.

I had heard there were some fun eclectic mailboxes on a few of the streets just off Main street so I took some back roads to get home.

These are just a small sample of some of the ones I saw. All snapped with my phone.

When I got almost home I could see some rain clouds out in the bay. I took a detour and stopped at the Oldsmar pier hoping to see some rain headed our way. I started to walk out on the pier and heard some thunder so I ducked under a picnic shelter and caught the above lightning across the bay. We did get a short storm at home but we are still in severe drought conditions. Through September this is the driest year on record for Pinellas county.

Dragonflies for breakfast

On November 4, 2023October 25, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I realized I had not posted the baby purple martins from May. I had been keeping an eye on the purple martin house at the Dunedin marina and when I stopped by in mid-May I saw lots of older babies being fed. Above is a male parent bringing a dragonfly to the baby.

Both male and female parents were bringing in food. The babies, almost as big as their parents, were sticking their heads out of the nest holes.

This time Mom brought a dragonfly.

Some of the juveniles were just starting to fly and were landing on another martin’s nest deck. It was constant chaos with parents chasing away someone else’s babies. By early June the nest building was deserted and all was quiet until next spring.

As I was standing in the small parking lot I looked down on the sea wall and could see some other critters watching me. Mallards and great blue herons are common along the rocks in front of the marina.

Looking across the water at Clearwater Beach, it was a picture perfect morning.

🎵 “Raindrops are falling on my head” 🎵

On October 26, 2023October 20, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

It was mid-July and we were expecting rain. We hadn’t had much in months so I was not holding my breath. It sure looked like rain was coming even though the sun kept peeking out so I went to the Dunedin marina to walk around and see if there were any rainbows or lightning. It started to rain so I made it back to my car.

I drove over to the Safety Harbor fishing pier where I could see pouring rain out in the bay. No rainbows or lightning though, not that I could see from the pier. But the weather had cooled off so it was nice being outside.

There’s a new statue in the park at the fishing pier.

I headed over to the Oldsmar pier, much closer to home and I could still see the rain out in the bay. We got a quick shower at home but not nearly as much as we needed. The ponds in my neighborhood were still almost empty at this point.

Take a walk with me

On September 28, 2023September 28, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights6 Comments

It’s been a hot summer with little rain. Most days looked like this. Sunny with no real chance of rain (at least the rain lowers heat). I went out early for a short walk on the causeway, hoping for a breeze.

The water was so clear you could see the little bait fish swimming in between the old concrete pillars.

The north side of the causeway has never been nice but now it’s really full of dead seaweed. I wonder if this is part of that big 5,000 miles of sargassum seaweed that was floating out in the Atlantic Ocean and heading for Florida.

Walking over the bridge I was almost eye level with the terns diving for fish.

The south side of the causeway was nice and clear.

A kiteboarder goes cruising by.

After my walk I headed over to the marina to see if there were any dolphins or manatees swimming by.

A pelican sits on the corner of the pier and for a short while no one was bothering him.

I could see a dolphin fin breaking the water (just below the red sign) but I couldn’t find him again after I snapped this. He must have turned around and headed out under water.

My favorite great egret was there on the floating dock, trying to catch bait fish through the hole.

There’s a live camera on top of the restaurant next to the pier (it has a minute or two delay). I pulled it up on my phone and screen shot the above of me standing there leaning on the pier (in the blue shirt on the right). I had the pier all to myself this morning, no fishermen or joggers stopping by.

The sky said “Just kidding” again.

On June 29, 2023April 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights8 Comments

It was late April and I headed out looking for some storms that were in the forecast. We were desperate for rain. The ponds were all dried up and the lakes were so low. Our grass was turning brown and we were only allowed to water once a week. My first stop was the Dunedin marina where the clouds were just coming in but didn’t look like rain clouds.

My next stop was the Dunedin causeway and by that point the clouds were clearing up and the expected rain didn’t happen.

At the piers

On May 18, 2023May 11, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

This is something you don’t see everyday in mid-March. That water was a little chilly, even with a short wetsuit. I was out for a short walk on the Oldsmar pier and saw this guy. It looked like fun but you really need some heavy upper body strength to hold that big sail up. Once he got up he went flying by and across the bay.