Tag: gandy beach

Watching the rain coming at me

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

It was a yucky day on Black Friday of Thanksgiving weekend. I usually avoid shopping areas on this day and decided since it wasn’t nice outside I would head to a small beach in between Tampa and St. Pete. As soon as I got there I could see skimmers (in the first shot) and oystercatchers (in the 2nd shot) cruising by.

The sandbar was visible since it was low tide and I could barely make out the  pelicans, gulls and terns enjoying the quiet over there.

A Forster’s tern was taking a bath.

The little beach was full of royal terns with a few laughing gulls and other terns.

A cute Wilson’s plover has a snack.

Ring billed gulls only spend the winters here and I’ve seen just a few at every beach.

I was actually at the beach to look for this guy. The saltmarsh sparrow was a lifer for me. This was the first time I had heard of one being in the area but there had been a few coming through years earlier. He had been spotted a few days earlier and was still there on that rainy morning. They hide out in marsh areas with high vegetation and I waited a while before seeing him pop out for a few minutes.

I could see the rain moving across the bay and heading for me. On a sunny day this little beach off Gandy bridge would be packed and would have made the sparrow harder to find since he would have been hiding farther away in the bushes.

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Dipped on a new bird

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments

I was heading to the beach on the Gandy causeway early one morning looking for a new bird. A gull billed tern had been spotted there for several days. I parked and walked along the sand closely looking at every gull or tern. Was the above the new bird? I couldn’t tell when they were preening but when they stopped I saw that yellow tip on their beaks and knew they were just sandwich terns.

I know this little cutie is a black bellied plover.

Also not the bird I was looking for. This was a juvenile least tern.

A least tern out taking a bath.

The laughing gull is easy to spot. He was taking a bath in a puddle on the beach.

It’s past nesting season for least terns but these guys were trying to get the other tern to take the fish. The lady in the bottom was not interested.

Another least tern chasing after an adult with a fish.

I did not find the gull billed tern. I was a day late. But it was still a beautiful morning. The sun was coming up high towards Tampa and it was time to head home.

Looking towards the gulf the storms were starting to move inland.

SkyWatch Friday

Friendship Friday

As The World Terns

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

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“Mom, pay attention. I’m hungry.”

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“I said stop ignoring me and get me some fish or I’ll throw a big tantrum.”

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“Oh brother, are they flirting?” says the juvenile sandwich tern in the back.

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“We are family!”

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“Make room for me!”

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“Dad, mom said for me to tell you to go get me some fish.”

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“Please!!!” says the juvenile on the right.

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“Can we get some peace and quiet around here?”

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“Here comes a dog. We’re outta here.”

The beach wasn’t covered with shorebirds since it was sunny when I got to Gandy beach after work. There was still a few people out walking around and swimming. I did manage to see a small flock of sandwich terns hanging out together. They were busy preening and bathing and wasn’t paying much attention to me sitting in the car. You would think a lot of drama was going on by the way they were yelling at each other. There were a few baby terns from this spring but now they are as big as the adults. Their beaks and legs aren’t as black as the adults yet. They can fly but I think they are still being fed by the parents. Soon, most of them will be gone heading south with the other migraters.