Critters on my November walks

On March 7, 2026March 7, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

In early November I was out walking along the Safety Harbor waterfront. The fishing pier that was destroyed by the hurricanes (in late 2024) was getting close to being finished. On this morning they still had to put the rails up and finish the end but the birds were enjoying the pilings.

This anhinga was trying to chill on the boardwalk so I took a quick video from far away and left.

Another morning I was out at Philippe Park, climbing the stairs. Those rock piles in the top picture (just above the railing) are man-made oyster beds that were installed to help the oysters grow here and help with erosion. Oysters are natural water filters and will help keep the water in the top of the bay clean.

I’m finding these little shells all over the place.

Another morning I was out on the Dunedin causeway and stopped to watch the shorebirds flying back and forth. It looks like these are sanderlings.

I was able to catch some of them landing. These are mostly ruddy turnstones and short billed dowitchers.

Another morning and I’m out at the Dunedin marina. I walked north towards the Weaver Park fishing pier. The pier is still closed due to damage from the hurricanes (the end was torn off). It is slated to be rebuilt in 2027.

Walking back to my car I could see an immature eagle (he still had a lot of brown on his head). He was chasing an osprey with a fish. I was wishing I had my camera.

The eagle and osprey went behind some trees and somehow the fish was taken from the osprey. The eagle landed in a nearby tree and was trying to eat his prize.

Both the osprey and crows were diving at the eagle. It’s not like either or going to get that fish from the eagle. The eagle moved farther into the tree and started to eat.

My last view of the eagle before heading back to my car. I don’t see this often.

A hot humid walk

On January 7, 2026December 26, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights9 Comments

It was a hot calm morning in late August when I was out walking along the waterfront. Not a puff of wind and not a ripple on the water. The humidity was high and it felt like I was walking in a shower. You could see the humidity in the clouds.

It’s been interesting to watch the pier being rebuilt. On this morning most of the posts had been put in and by now the walkway is done and they are finishing the end. I miss seeing the manatees at the end of the pier. Hopefully they will show up again when it’s finished.

I made a quick stop at the Oldsmar fishing pier before heading home. The end of the pier here is closed due to the hurricanes but you can walk about 3/4 th of the way down.

Another morning at Fort Desoto

On December 4, 2023April 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

It was a beautiful morning in early September. I was at Fort Desoto looking for the flamingoes again. I had made 2 trips out already and had only seen 1 each time. I had heard there were several here the day before.

Again, I found one at the north beach tip and it took me a while to hike out near it. I snapped a few shots and it took off over the trees. They don’t stay long in the lagoon here.

I headed over to the fishing pier before leaving and caught the boat rush hour traffic.

A manatee made a brief appearance near the pier with only his snout coming up for air.

I found some of these cool sea creatures in the shallow water.

Pictures from around the park taken with my phone.

Big skies on the causeway.

On August 24, 2023August 17, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

It was the end of May and still not much rain which meant it was beautiful out on the Dunedin causeway. I pulled over for a quick walk and then pulled out my beach chair and tried to read a book but I was too distracted by the view.

Eventually clouds started move in and I could see it raining far out past Honeymoon Island.

Heading home I could see that they finally finished painting another turtle on the other side of the water tower.

The clouds right before I got home looked interesting so I stopped at the Oldsmar pier.

I could see rain in the direction of my home (we did get a quick shower).

There was a big storm far out in the bay coming from Tampa and heading towards Clearwater. I was hoping for a rainbow and waited a while until hunger won out and I headed home for lunch.

Cloudy with a chance of rain

On August 20, 2023April 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I made another trip to Fort Desoto Park in late April. I was hoping there would still be some migrating birds stopping by. There was a small chance of rain even though it looked like it would pour at any time.

The only migrating bird I found was a Cape May warbler. There were several of these cuties in the woods near the ranger’s house.

Heading to the gulf fishing pier.

The usual birds were at the fishing pier including a ruddy turnstone showing me his missing foot and great egrets.

The laughing gulls were putting on a show on top of the shelter on the pier.

I thought maybe the sun would break through but it stayed cloudy.

Pelicans hanging out on the jetti next to the pier.

A quick shot of a red breasted merganser that was still there. They spend the winter here but usually leave in March.

It was still a nice morning out even though it wasn’t very birdy or sunny.

On the beach in late July

On September 13, 2022September 4, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Out on the beach at Fort Desoto in July, I found a few birds including a laughing gull, a semi palmated plover and a sanderling.

The marbled godwits were busy feeding.

A reddish egret flies in from across the lagoon.

Out on the fishing pier, the birds were lined up waiting for someone to drop their bait fish.

This great egret was looking a little rough. I’m thinking he’s molting.

A cormorant busy preening on the light post.

A ship heading out for a long voyage.

A 4 park morning

On September 5, 2022August 27, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights5 Comments

It was hot as usual at the end of July. I headed out early one morning for a walk at Fred Howard Park in Tarpon Springs. I hadn’t spent a lot of time here, only driven through. I parked in the shaded area of the park and walked out on the causeway that leads to the beach. I was hoping for a breeze but didn’t get much of a whiff this morning but it was a beaufiful morning and I saw several dolphins far out in the gulf.

After my walk at Howard Park, I stopped at nearby Sunset Beach. It’s a small spit of sand but also a small piece of heaven the morning I was there. I imagine it’s packed on the weekends but early this Wednesday morning it was quiet and I sat on the bench for a while, watching more dolphins go by.

And if you forgot to bring a book with you to read on the beach, there’s a free library in the parking lot.

Another quick stop was the Anclote River Park, just north of Tarpon Springs.

A replica of the Anclote lighthouse was in the parking lot. The actual lighthouse is on Anclote Key, only accessible by boat.

One last stop was the Anclote Gulf Park just a few minutes away. I walked out on the long fishing pier and was hoping for dolphins here but didn’t see any.

Summer skies in July

On August 11, 2022August 2, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights6 Comments

It was sunny and hot early in the morning during my walk around the Safety Harbor marina. I was traveling light so all of the shots in this post were taken with my phone. The local news said this was the hottest July on record in 40 years.

Another sunny morning at the Dunedin marina.

A rainbow on the 4th of July, coming home from a late afternoon cookout with friends.

We had an early dinner in Tampa one weekend and hit the causeway coming home right at sunset. Brett was driving so I snapped this through the windshield.

From partly cloudy to dark clouds during my walk around Olds Park.

A sun halo in our backyard one day around noon.

A walk at some parks near Tarpon Springs. This was the first time I had seen this mermaid statue. She is called “Ama” and was installed in 2014 as part of the Amaryllis Art for Charity project. There’s a small sponge on the base to represent the sponge diving industry here and there’s a small manatee on the left front of the base. Manatees are common in this area.

Scenes from Fort Desoto

On July 18, 2022July 7, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals4 Comments

The dolphin show at Fort Desoto Park in mid-May. The water was clear so you could see them before they were coming up for air and they were swimming close to the fishing pier.

I found this calico crab on the beach early that morning. It was low tide but the water was starting to come up. At first I though maybe he was dead but then I saw bubbles coming out of his face. I was going to nudge him close to the deeper water but he stood up and started heading that way on his own. It looks like he has a critter in a shell living on top of him.

A juvenile little blue heron dunking for fish.

Scenes from the fishing pier.

I walked up to the top of the fort hoping to find some migrating birds up at the top but all I found was a cardinal on a dead snag. He had a great view.

View from the beach.

Standing near the northern end of the beach you can see the hotels on St. Pete beach, about a 20 minute drive north.

Frisky manatees

On June 28, 2022June 20, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals1 Comment

It was late April and after walking the trails at Fort Desoto one morning looking for migrating birds with no luck, I headed to the fishing pier. It was just too nice to go home yet.

As usual pelicans were flying by.

I started looking out in the water to see if there were any dolphins swimming around the pier and found a pair of manatees instead. They were fairly far out in the shallow area so they were easy to spot. At one point it looked like they were mating. I could see one of the manatee’s flipper on top of the other manatee. After a few minutes they started swimming towards the pier.

They swam right up to the pier and luckily I had my zoom lens so these were at 80mm.

They mated several times right along the pier. At this point there was a huge crowd of people watching. Several people said they had never seen one before.

These above were taken with my phone. They eventually swam under the pier and then hung out on the other side before slowly swimming away. What a great thing to see! I had planned to do a quick walk and snap a few shots of dolphins but I stood there for an hour since they were so close to the pier and moving so slowly.