A morning walk at Fort Desoto Park

On May 20, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

It was too early for Spring migration in mid-March but I wanted to take a walk out on the beach at Fort Desoto. I went straight out to the north beach area. I stopped half way and took the above. The first is looking back towards the parking lot and the second is looking north to the tip where I was headed.

There wasn’t a lot of shorebirds on the beach but I did see a few snowy plovers. These little shorebirds are state designated “Threatened”. This is the only place I’ve seen them and not very often although I’ve heard there are some on the beaches in Sarasota.

This little piping plover was across the lagoon and I didn’t notice his missing feet until I was editing the pictures and cropped this up.

Oystercatchers flying by.

After walking the beach I headed over to the east beach trail for a quick walk. No little birds but the nanday parakeets were acting their usual crazy selves. This couple kept getting interrupted but finally had a little alone time.

An osprey takes off and flies right by me.

I always stop at the long gulf pier before leaving and this time there were dolphins swimming close to the pier.

You can really see the scars on the above’s back and fin.

There were 2 female red breasted mergansers taking a bath right at the beginning of the pier. Not sure if it’s really a bath since they spend most of their time in water but they seemed to be cleaning up after a feeding.

Babies and sunset

On April 18, 2024May 12, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments

Almost 2 weeks after my first trip down to Fort Desoto to see the baby great horned owls I was back at the park. It wasn’t as cold and windy this trip. The babies should be much bigger and I thought I would be able to see them quickly but I didn’t at first.

Mom leaned over and out popped one of the babies from under her wing. The babies at this age are pretty funny looking, almost like an alien.

Baby was looking up at Mom as she was preening.

I walked around to the side to see the baby better but I was shooting straight into the sun. And, I was standing in the woods and getting eaten alive by no-seeums (they are worse than mosquitos. They don’t seem to be bothered by bug spray).

A little farther over and I could see the younger baby. It was late in the day and after waiting around forever to see if they would be fed I gave up and decided to go over to the beach for the sunset.

I drove over to the gulf pier area just as the sun was going down below the trees.

I had not been here in a long time for the entire sunset and it was beautiful out.

I did not get back down to the park before the babies grew up and fledged. I heard there were huge crowds at the nest so I skipped it this year. It was nice to here the babies did well though and left.

Tiny baby owl and sunset

On April 1, 2024May 12, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was the middle of January and it was blasting windy and cold but I still made it down to Fort Desoto to see the new baby great horned owls. They had nested right on the top of a dead palm tree. This was a late day shoot so you weren’t shooting right into the sun so I was there late in the afternoon. Not long after I arrived Mom was sitting on the nest with feathers sticking to her beak. What was she eating?

The little baby had been hiding under Mom’s wing but it made a brief appearance and Mom gave it a few bites. I hated that big branch that was in Mom’s face but if I moved over to the right then the baby was hidden by Mom’s wing. There was another baby hiding under the back of Mom but since it was so cold and windy it stayed there.

Mom continued to eat and we realized it was a laughing gull. Some photographers that had been there earlier said Dad flew in with a laughing gull and left it.

What a look!

There’s an osprey nest right by the owl’s nest. Dad flew right over my head with a fish and landed on the nest platform. He dropped the fish and took off. Mom must be sitting on eggs. There are currently 34 osprey nests in the park so it’s going to be a busy baby osprey season.

The nest was near the boat ramp parking lot so I walked over to the water. There wasn’t a single boat out this late afternoon. This is what I love about the cold weather here, the quiet stillness at the parks.

After the Mom owl finished eating I headed over for a quick walk on the north beach. The tide was super low and the sand went on for miles. I didn’t stay long since it was hard standing up straight in the wind.

Always looking for something else

On February 1, 2024January 20, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

The sun was coming up over the north beach at Fort Desoto on the morning I was there looking for white pelicans. I was parked across the water close to where the sun was coming up and had walked around the lagoon to get out to the north end of Outback Key. You have to go wading to get across the the key. Some days it’s ankle deep and some days in knee deep.

I usually have something specific I’m looking for here but I can always find a ton of other things as well. I was heading back from spotting the few white pelicans and ran into a lone whimbrel walking around in the grass on the beach.

The great blue heron was trying to steal this guys bait fish and he chased him off with a fish in his hand. Don’t drop that fish!

A typical scene on the beach. Two great egrets hanging out in the dunes.

Another great blue heron flies by.

A least sandpiper was taking a bath.

Another one (on the far right) was feeding with the sanderlings.

A lesser yellowlegs couple.

A lone marbled godwit digging in the sand.

The beach was covered with jellyfish.

On the pier, a ruddy turnstone was picking at a piece of fish.

Rush hour traffic on the water.

Looking for white pelicans

On January 22, 2024April 15, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was getting towards the end of October and I had heard there were white pelicans at Fort Desoto. They come here to spend some time in the winter, feeding in the water around the park. It’s hit or miss whether they will be visible while they visit. Some days they are floating in the main lagoon at the north beach and some days they hide behind the spoil islands. I was driving in right before they open at 7am and made my usual pause on the bridge to snap the above with my phone since no one was behind me.

I made a quick stop at the east beach turnaround to snap the above with my camera. This is the first time I’ve seen the lights on the bridge.

After snapping the bridge I headed to the north beach tip. I saw a few white pelicans way out on a sandbar. The tide was super low this morning and it was a long walk to the tip of Outback Key. There were only a handful of the white pelicans here this morning where there had been hundreds the day before. Where were they all hiding? I hung out for a while hoping a few more would show up but eventually I started making my way back to the main beach.

Something was causing the shorebirds to all take flight. Some of the skimmers landed right in front of me.

I’m not sure what this great egret was eating. It looked pink. After flipping it around a few times he swallowed it whole.

It was easy to spot the lesser black back gull among the smaller shorebirds. He was so much bigger and really stood out.

It was hard to ignore the reddish egret dancing around looking for tiny fish. Especially when they do it right in front of you.

The piping plovers were trying to nap so I snuck around them.

After leaving the beach area and taking a quick walk on the pier I headed back to the beach one more time before heading home. The tide was out even farther and the ripples in the sand led the way to the tip of Outback Key.

I could see some type of barge or boat across from Shell Key.

Now there were even less white pelicans hanging out with the shorebirds. I guess this means another trip down while they are still in the area. More to come on my next trip.

The usual things at Fort Desoto

On December 28, 2023December 27, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In mid-October I headed back down to Fort Desoto Park. After a short walk at the north beach and seeing the usual shorebirds there I headed over to the fishing pier. I found the oystercatcher couple that usually hangs out on the little beach area next to the pier. One of them had found a tasty meal.

The couple was busy feeding and seemed to have a lot of success.

A little sanderling looking around in the slick rocks.

This snowy egret was hanging off one of the big rocks and was trying to snag some bait fish as the water brought the fish closer in the waves. He wasn’t having much success.

Another one was posing for me on the pier.

A great blue heron strutting around.

A royal tern with a snack and an osprey fly overhead.

A manatee swam under the pier. It was so close I took the above with my phone.

Looking over at the lighthouse on Egmont Key.

Rush hour traffic on the water.

Some shots with my phone of sunrise when I first got to the park.

Another flamingo attempt.

On December 18, 2023April 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

At the beginning of October I headed out to Fort Desoto to again, to look for flamingos. I had heard there were several at the North beach lagoon the day before. I got to the park right when it opened and made a quick stop at the East Beach turnaround for a few sunrise shots. I took the above with my camera. The sun was already up and barely peeking out.

I should have skipped the sunrise and gone straight to the North beach lagoon. When I got out to the beach I could see the tiny pink specks far north and had a long walk to get out there to get closer. There were already a few people out there getting some shots of the 3 flamingos feeding. I was barely halfway into my 15-20 minute walk up the beach when I saw flashes of pink take flight. All 3 flamingos took off away from the beach and flew over the trees and were gone. I managed to fire off a few shots as they headed in the opposite direction. I was bummed. They were not seen for days after that.

It was okay that the flamingos left. I was still at the park early and there were tons of birds still around. Both a sanderling and a dowitcher were doing a high step.

I found part of the oystercatcher family. There was one parent and two juveniles (the juveniles don’t have yellow eyes yet and the beak tip is still black). One of the juveniles was banded as a baby with red bands so we’ll be able to see how long he stays around the park.

I drove through the boat ramp parking lot hoping to spot the flamingos there and noticed this barge that looked like it had crab trap equipment on it. I’ve never seen a set up like this one. The anhinga and pelican were making good use of it.

I had to stop and take a picture of this cool bug outside the bathrooms. I’ve never seen this bug before. After doing some googling it’s an antlion lapwing which are common in central Florida. It was sitting out in the open and might make for a tasty meal for a bird.

A view of the newly built bay fishing pier from the end of the pier. The park demolished the old one and the pretty yellow bait fish store that was on the pier. Now there is just a big shelter in it’s place on the pier.

The sun was high up by the time I stopped at the bay pier.

The view from the bay pier looking down at the empty dog beach. The beach is always packed with dogs on the weekends so it was weird to see it so empty this early weekday morning.

Avocets on the beach

On December 16, 2023December 5, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I was out at Fort Desoto Park in September looking for flamingos and found a few other things. I rarely go to the park in the afternoon on a weekend but I had heard there was a flamingo close by in the lagoon so I headed down. You can see all of the boats in the lagoon. There were tons of shorebirds on a spit nearby and I was looking around and was surprised to find the below. Avocets.

I’ve never seen more than 3 here at a time and even one is rare. There were 19 standing right in front of me. A few were still in their browner breeding feathers. After snapping a few hundred pictures of the flamingo I started watching them.

This might be my favorite shorebird. Maybe it’s because we rarely see them here or maybe it’s those beautiful blue legs and upturned beak.

They stayed pretty close together and only moved around when another bigger bird got close (like that juvenile reddish egret). I heard they were not seen the next morning so I was so glad I came down that afternoon.

Marbled godwits are common here during migration.

The terns were taking a late bath.

Watching a snowy egret get a snack.

Another nice surprise was seeing the lesser black backed gull nearby. They are not common here although I have seen a few in the Tampa bay area before.

A royal tern flies by with a snack.

Blast off across the lagoon. Something spooked the terns and they all took off, flew around in a circle and came back.

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.

Lots of teenage birds on the beach.

On December 2, 2023November 21, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

When I was at Fort Desoto in early September looking for the flamingoes I couldn’t help but notice the reddish egret adult and the juvenile (in all gray) that was learning to catch the fish from his parent. There was a handful of photographers standing along the water line waiting for the lone flamingo (that was far out in the water) to move around and feed. The reddish egrets walked right in front of us and started showing off. The juvenile appeared to have caught on quick and was catching as many fish as the parent. They really put on a show and would not be ignored.