Fun things at Sand Key Park

On September 2, 2026August 25, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

I was out at Sand Key Park in April right as the sun was coming up over the trees. I was hoping spring migration was getting better and I’d see a few more birds than I saw on my last trip here a few weeks earlier.

A nice surprise was seeing a black throated green warbler in the mangroves. I hadn’t seen one since 2017.

A few usual migraters were there including the blackpoll warbler and the American redstart. But, it was still a slow morning with only the few birds above. This year was a really slow migration so far.

Of course there are always tons of palm warblers and they always pose nicely.

A flock of brown pelicans fly high up in the beautiful sky.

A typical Florida shot, a great blue heron posing on a pine tree.

A Cooper’s hawk had a nest nearby with babies but it was well hidden so all I got was the Dad hanging out.

Blooming along the sandy trail included beach sunflowers, bitter gourd (or bitter melon) and morning glory.

I saw lots of rabbits this morning.

“Run bunny run!” I yelled as one took off into the bushes.

Birds at Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park

On May 16, 2026June 8, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

I saw lots of birds during my visit to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park in January. Kingfishers were still hanging around (they are only here in the winter). This one was posing nicely for me although this shot was heavily cropped.

A few migrating birds passing through included a redstart and a blue headed vireo.

I usually see pileated woodpeckers when I’m here.

Ibis in a dead snag.

A typical Florida scene, a great blue heron on a fallen tree.

Wild night herons hang out here.

A few of the permanent residents include roseate spoonbills and a rare white morph great blue heron.

Wood ducks nest along the river here and occasionally they hang out in the park.

The flamingos were sleeping.

Not a bird but a red fox eating some yummy vegetables for breakfast.

Critters on the causeway

On November 12, 2025November 17, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Another summer walk along the Dunedin causeway.

I saw a spotted eagle ray as I walked over the bridge. I don’t see them often.

As I crossed under the bridge to get to the other side (safer than crossing this busy road) I paused to watch boats go by and clouds start to form.

Birds are always keeping an eye on the fishermen hoping for a lost bait fish.

It’s common to see a reddish egret here. This one was just walking around and I didn’t have my camera with me so I quickly snapped the above with my phone and kept walking.

I was wishing I had my camera as I noticed the oystercatcher family at the bottom of the bridge. The two in the far left of the bottom picture are juveniles, probably born a few months earlier and the parent was on the far right. A young little blue heron was walking across the seaweed at the bottom of the picture.

I took several videos of them looking for little sea creatures to eat for breakfast.

Sunflowers on a cloudy day

On October 13, 2025November 9, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants4 Comments

I made another trip to a sunflower farm at the beginning of June. Jimmy Mc’s farm is closer to home and was a quick trip. They only have a small sunflower field and a few cows. Brett came as well since he had not been to this farm before. It had rained most of the night and I wasn’t sure if we would get rained out but at least it was cool.

One of the cows came over to the fence to see if we had sunflowers to feed him but it looked like he already had plenty to choose from on the ground. Maybe he remembered me from last year when I fed him some sunflowers and came over to say hello?

Just past the sunflower field I could see turkeys running for the woods.

This was the last day of picking season and many of the flowers were getting old but I still managed to find several handfuls to take home.

Some of the little critters out in the field.

As usual I try and check the ones I take home for hitchhikers but I had so many that I barely looked. When I got home and was getting them in vases I found one that had to go outside but not before taking a quick shot. The green lynx spider is good to have in the garden since they eat a lot of moth larvae that are pests.

Playing around with my phone camera. I used stage lighting on portrait mode to take the above.

As we walked to the car I noticed the great blue heron sitting along the edge of a small pond. It looked very peaceful.

Then I noticed these guys strolling around to my side of the pond. Sandhill cranes with 2 almost grown juveniles (with the orange beaks). They were just cruising around out on the farm. Two years ago I saw them here as well so I’m wondering if it’s the same parents.

A quick video of them yelling as they walked by.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

An early morning on the beach

On July 9, 2025August 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In early April I was out early enough to see the lights still shining on the Sunshine Skyway bridge. I was on my way to Fort Desoto Park. The park opens at 7am and this time of year the sun comes up later so if you get to the park right when it opens you can catch sunrise.

I was out on east beach at 7:05 and zoomed in to see pelicans diving for fish right in front of the bridge.

The gulls were also swarming around.

After some shots at east beach I quickly headed over to the bay pier to get a few more shots before the sun was up too high.

The above osprey was having breakfast.

I’m not sure what this nanday parakeet was eating, or maybe just chewing on the branch.

Over on north beach I could see the oystercatcher sitting on eggs. This area had been roped off and guarded with bird stewards the entire time this couple were sitting on eggs. They are state-designated threatened due to loss of habitat. Their eggs blend into the sand and it would be easy for someone to trample over them if the parent left the nest (due to crows, gulls or other birds bothering them).

Looking out at the gulf.

Watching a grackle harassing the much bigger great blue heron on the pier.

A sunken boat and the heron ballet

On June 18, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

I was on the Dunedin causeway for a walk in mid-March. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect for early spring. I walked both bridges this morning. I first walked the one farthest away from land and then stopped and walked the one closer to land on the way off the causeway. I usually only walk the back half of the causeway because there is less foot traffic but this morning was quiet and not a lot of people out walking.

I had not walked on the south side of this bridge in a long time, obviously since the 2 hurricanes because I noticed a sailboat sunk right up against the bumper almost under the bridge. Only the top of the mast was sticking out and it looked like it was wedged into the bumper. I could tell it had been there for a while.

A week later I was on the same bridge and the boat had just been pulled up, almost 6 months after it sank. It takes a long time for them to get all of the sunken or stranded boats out of the water. It looks like it would be headed for the junk yard.

The view from the first bridge. I can see Clearwater beach far away.

All ready to hit the water.

I noticed the great blue heron and snowy egret fishing together. The great blue heron was having more success.

All of a sudden the great blue heron started strutting around.

Then I realized there was another one walking up and they started strutting together. I’m not sure if they were flirting or staking their claim to that spot to feed. It looked like they were performing a ballet.

I stood there for about 10 minutes taking several videos of them. I kept hoping they would start mating. Eventually one of them flew off so I guess that one lost the spot (or mate? ).

Looking for a distinguished gentleman

On June 14, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

All of the usual winter ducks were still at Lake Belleview in Clearwater when I got to the lake in late March. It’s a small lake in the middle of a busy section of Clearwater. I don’t get here often and I’m always amazed at the variety of birds and ducks that hang out here in the winter. Out in the middle of the lake I could see redheads and coots swimming together. I was looking for the rare northern pintail duck that has been spotted here for a few weeks now.

As I walked around the lake I found a few redheads sleeping along the bank and on the water all under a big shade tree (the female is all brown, only the male has the red head).

I was watching the redhead floating around when I noticed the pintail swimming by so I found him pretty quickly.

I’ve only seen a pintail once, in late 2014, in St. Pete. He’s a beautiful duck and looks very distinguished. They breed in the most northern part of the US and mostly in Canada. They do migrate south for the winter into Florida but this is only the 2nd time I’ve heard of one being in our area. He stayed under the shade of the big tree the entire time I was there.

The usual moorhens were also there.

A few flybys included a great blue heron and a great egret.

One last snap before heading home. He was still hanging around at the end of May so I’m hoping he is okay.

Back on the trail after 3 years.

On June 9, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

I missed this sunrise. I hadn’t been out to Circle B Bar Reserve in 3 years. It was time to go back. Not much had changed. The trails looked the same in general. One of the main trails, Alligator Alley, was closed due to damage from the hurricanes last year but there is still a lot to see out here and many other trails. The sun was just coming up when I walked out on Heron Hideout trail in mid-March.

Looking out over the marsh at the intersection of Marsh Rabbit Run and Heron Hideout. Those cypress trees in the middle are still there.

Bur marigolds were still out in some spots along the trail. Their peak bloom is in November when the marsh is covered with them.

You have to look down below when getting close to edge on the raised trail. You never know what’s lurking in the marsh below.

A great blue heron showing off his breeding wispy feathers. He had his eye on something moving in the water and wasn’t paying any attention to me.

It was a quiet morning and very few people as I made my way down Marsh Rabbit Run trail. The ponds along this trail have gotten choked up with vegetation.

The moon was still up behind a cormorant.

A roseate spoonbill flies by.

I stopped by the great horned owl nest before leaving and could only see one baby sitting up. The other baby was sleeping behind him.

I took a lot more pictures so more to come on this trip.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

A walk on the causeway

On June 4, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography10 Comments

It was pretty cloudy when I first got out to the end of the causeway at Fred Howard Park in early March. It was supposed to be a sunny morning. The sun was just coming up behind the clouds and it looked like the cormorants were just waking up. I’m thinking they must sleep here on the backside of the little beach because it’s closed at night so they probably don’t get bothered.

The clouds were starting to part as I walked the causeway.

A lone great blue heron was standing on the rail. He let me get pretty close before taking off when more people stopped to look. I took the above with my phone.

A little later I saw a lot of cormorants hanging out on the rocks on the jetty. They must move to the jetty as more people show up on the beach.

A view of the island beach area from half way down the causeway.

Why did the ruddy turnstone cross the road??!??

A great egret was keeping an eye on the nearby fisherman, hoping to steal his bait.

Water toys lined up waiting for the tourists. It was going to warm up later in the afternoon so I’m sure many would get used.

A little blue heron was dancing for his fish.

The sun was fully out by the time I got back to my car.

This is the best time to be out on the beach, before 9am in March.

There were a few birds out on the beach before I left. Royal terns looked small standing around that juvenile herring gull in the middle. Skimmers were staying close to the water.

Finally out on my favorite beach again

On May 14, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights9 Comments

It felt really good to be out on this beach in mid-February. My last visit to Fort Desoto Park was in June. I didn’t make it down here in the summer and then the hurricanes hit in September and October. The park had a lot of damage and was closed for several months. They opened back up in stages and the north beach area did not open until early February. To the naked eye it looked the same but there were small changes. The park rangers sifted through the sand on the main beach areas to clear all of the debris that had washed up on the beaches here. I was out at the beach just after the sun came up (I stopped at East Beach to get sunrise shots but more on those later).

It was low tide and I walked up to the end of Outback Key.

The sun coming up over seashells.

The back side of the lagoon had a lot of big clam shells that had washed up with the tide. The shells were empty and most were covered in barnacles. Wilson’s plovers were hiding among them. It’s a good place for them to nap because people wouldn’t be walking through those shells and stepping on them.

A piping plover walks by me with his orange legs.

All of the usual birds were on the beach including great blue herons, reddish egrets and a wintering ring-billed gull.

Almost to the northern end of the key. It was going to be a long walk back.

This guy got stranded in the low tide. It was going to be a while before that boat was getting out of that spot. The shorebirds were keeping him company.

I noticed that the grassy areas at the north tip were gone and found out that they didn’t wash away. They were covered with sand. In certain areas you could see how much more sand had stuck on the beach during the storms.