Foggy morning at the piers

On March 3, 2022March 2, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

At the end of December I woke up and peeked out the window. It was really foggy so I got ready quickly and headed out the door. I love it when it’s foggy. I stopped by the nearby fishing pier early that morning and could not see across the bay. I could barely make out the end of the pier.

I noticed these strands of oyster shells hanging under the pier and looked them up when I got back home. These are VOG’s (vertical oyster gardens). The water around the shore of Safety Harbor and Oldsmar (which is Old Tampa Bay) was found to be the least healthy in all of the Tampa Bay. Not surprised. There’s a new Save Our Bay program and the easiest thing to start with was using oysters to filter out the water. One oyster can filter out 50 gallons of water a day. There were a lot of these on the dock and they are encouraging people who live on the water to hang these on their docks as well. It will take several months for the oysters to start to grow on these so I’ll keep an eye out.

Next I headed to the Safety Harbor fishing pier since I was close by running errands. It was foggy here as well but that didn’t stop those kayakers from being out.

I saw several manatees coming up for air right next to the dock and was bummed I didn’t have my camera with me but these phone shots turned out okay.

I think the sun was trying to peek out by the time I left.

The welcoming committee

On January 27, 2022January 27, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The welcoming committee at Chinsegut Wildlife Area. This is the 3rd time I’ve seen these sandhill cranes hanging around the nature center. One is a juvenile and didn’t quite have the red on his face this past summer. It’s great to see the family is still together. I’m assuming they nest somewhere on the lake here.

Later when I was leaving they were hanging around the parking area and I snapped this with my phone.

I’m sure these are some type of weed but they were really pretty along the trail.

It was foggy when I first got there but wore off as the sun got higher.

Neighborhood walk in the fog

On January 13, 2022December 28, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals3 Comments

I peaked out the window in early December and saw the fog. It was a good morning for a walk in the neighborhood.

The lake across from our home was almost covered in fog. It was cool out but I felt like I was walking through a shower.

Heading down the street I saw this guy cross in front of me. I pulled my phone out and quickly snapped this since I knew he would be gone in seconds.

I got to my favorite open spot and I could barely see the utility towers in the open field. The sun was just starting to come up behind the trees so I knew the fog would be gone soon.

There were some ladies having breakfast in the woods next to the field. I didn’t see them when I was walking to the end but saw them coming back.

Foggy and yellow

On January 10, 2022March 16, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I love going to Circle B Bar Reserve early in the morning when it’s foggy (as long as it burns off quickly). It makes the reserve look different than other days. You can see all of the spider webs across the marsh and it makes you realize just how many spiders there are out there.

Black bellied whistling ducks flying out across the marsh.

The bur marigolds were blooming in mid-November and the marsh was a blanket of yellow.

A few of the little critters flying around.

It was a quiet day for birds, except for some of the usuals including purple gallinules and swamp sparrows.

An early morning walk

On October 25, 2021March 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I left the house in the dark in early October, heading north to Chinsegut Wildlife trail. It’s only an hour away but feels like a completely different place. I made some quick stops along the way, taking shots of the light coming up over the trees and through the fog.

Right before the trail I saw this old building. At first I thought it was a house but it might have been some type of small factory or type of barn. There were trees growing in the middle of the building. I had to stop and get a shot of it. As I was taking some pictures with my phone, some crows flew out of the building. I thought “Is it Halloween already?”

When I got to the conservation center to park the sun was just coming up. I hadn’t been out for a long walk in a while and it felt good to be out in the woods.

Due to a lot of recent rain, things were pretty swampy. I had on a lot of bug spray so I was able to linger a while and listen to the swamp sounds.

It looked a little like fall with a few red leaves but I would suspect that they are really from the trees being so flooded for a while.

I found a sandhill crane family near the parking area and junior was almost grown up. He didn’t quite have a full red head yet though. They walked around for a while, picking off some bird seed in the ground feeder and then eventually headed into the woods.

Walking through the fog.

On May 20, 2021May 6, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals6 Comments

Some of the critters along the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve in late March including that cute little mouse in the bottom pictures. The alligators were out everywhere and making their loud mating bellow. Even if you couldn’t see them you could hear them bellowing all over the marsh.

It was a quiet morning for flying critters.

The trails were covered in fog when I got to the preserve early in the morning. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the trails and it was a nice quiet morning. I like being here in the fog for a change of season since it makes it seem like winter even if it was mild and muggy.

The bottom two pictures are panos with my phone.

Going home in the fog.

On April 8, 2021March 19, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals4 Comments

After walking around Lake Dan Preserve in north Tampa, it started to get foggy on the drive home. It wasn’t foggy on the way up so it was weird driving back in the fog. I always love stopping on a quiet rode and taking pictures of the cows (one day I will get that shot of the cattle egret sitting on top of the cow) and I wasn’t in a big hurry to get home.

Just a long quiet drive along back roads.

Foggy start to the morning

On March 18, 2019March 19, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Walking out on the trail at Circle B Bar Reserve, the fog was just starting to lift.

On the other side of the marsh, the sun was trying to break through.

Great blue herons in the fog.

A few critters along the trail. That big one always sleeps in that same spot across the ditch.

Lots of the usual birds along the trail.

A bright red flash of fall in the moss. It usually starts to look like fall around here in January.

image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup Our World Tuesday Graphic

Getting there early

On March 29, 2018March 1, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants5 Comments

I got to Circle B Bar Reserve just after the sun came up but it was hiding behind the fog. There were a few people already there but the crowds don’t usually come until closer to lunchtime. I love it when it’s so quiet. Only the birds and ducks were making noise.

The fog was really thick this particular morning in early January. It did not burn off until I was leaving.

Bald cypress trees in the middle of the lake. All of these were taken with my phone.

SkyWatch Friday

In the backyard in January

On March 26, 2018March 27, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Birds in our backyard, They are all regular visitor’s. A great blue heron, an anhinga drying his wings with some seaweed on his beak and a red bellied woodpecker.

Arriving home one day I saw a Cooper’s hawk eating something in my neighbor’s yard. Then later we had a red shoulder hawk on my neighbor’s sailboat mast.