Causeway birds

On April 9, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

It was a beautiful cool morning in early January during my walk at the Dunedin Causeway.

After my walk I stopped at the lagoon (the end of the first bridge that’s hidden by tall mangroves). I had my camera in the car and was hoping there would be some shorebirds hiding back there. The above was taken with my phone and that boat looked farther away that it really was.

Zooming in with my camera I could see a belted kingfisher with a tiny fish on the sailboat mast.

After gulping down that first fish he made several passes in front of me before leaving without another fish.

The grumpy reddish egret was there and must have been full from his breakfast because he did not move or attempt to feed while I was there.

The white ibis were busy digging up tiny sea creatures to eat as they walked by me.

The other usual birds were there including a great egret and a great blue heron.

I stopped by a small hidden park near the causeway and noticed a marina in a cove just off the park. From this view it looked like they only had a little roof damage from the hurricanes but it’s hard to tell if the docks were damaged.

A cold cloudy walk along the waterfront

On April 2, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I love these winter mornings in mid-January. It’s nice to be able to wear long sleeve shirts and a light jacket during my morning walk. I was at the Safety Harbor waterfront and it was 55 degrees. I could just barely make out the Tampa skyline across the bay.

The tide was low and there was still a lot of pier debris in the water from the hurricanes. New stuff floats in with every tide. After my walk along the water and Main Street I headed back to my car at the marina.

I noticed pelicans sitting in the tall mangroves along the back of the marina so I got my camera out of the car and snapped the above.

I was watching a cormorant (the orange beaked bird on the left) swimming around just under the water and was waiting for him to surface back up, hopefully with a fish. All of a sudden I noticed a horned grebe swimming up. They are not that common here but some winters we get a few of them passing through.

Two cormorants were synchronized swimming, passing right in front of me.

Then I realized there were 2 horned grebes. They are tiny diving ducks with beautiful red eyes.

A female anhinga stands guard on the channel marker.

A pelican flies close by.

The pelicans were diving for fish close to the marina and the laughing gulls would swoop in and try to steal the fish from their pouches when they brought their faces up. In the 2nd shot I caught a Forster’s tern (on the right) diving for a fish.

A yellow crowned night heron flies by and lands in the nearby muck.

Then a great blue heron flew by me and landed in front of the night heron. The night heron started quickly walking away. He wasn’t going to argue with a great blue heron that “he was here first”.

Watching the storms roll in

On March 31, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights5 Comments

We were expecting rain before lunch in mid-January so I went out for a late walk on the Dunedin causeway hoping to see the storm coming in. Looking back towards land I could see the sunlight peeking out underneath the cloud cover.

Looking north I could see the rain. I was hoping to get some lightning shots but didn’t see any and was on the lookout for it. I would have to make a mad dash back to the car.

Rain was coming from the south side as well as I walked back over the bridge.

I noticed a sailboat that had sunk right underneath the bridge. I could barely make out the boat underneath the water and could see the broken masts stuck on the bridge bumpers. That boat was probably abandoned and the city will have to get it towed and pulled out. As of this post date, it’s still there.

Crossing under the bridge to get to the other side.

The storms were moving in quickly so I headed back to the car.

I noticed all of the moss (or is it algae?) growing on the exposed rocks at low tide. It looked pretty but I’m sure it’s slippery.

A great blue heron was keeping watch over this fisherman’s stuff, hoping he turns his back on his bait fish.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

A 3 park morning

On March 19, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights7 Comments

It was a 3 park morning in early December but all were in Tarpon Springs. I first started out with a walk at the most northern park, Fred Howard Park and Beach. I drove through the park and parked my car just outside the causeway to the little beach area. This was as far as I got. It was all fenced up to get out to the beach while they were still trying to clean up from the hurricanes in late September and early October. The flooding left tons of debris in the sand so they were sifting through to make sure no one gets injured when they open it back up and the parking lot was a big sand mound so they had to get that cleared. (It did open a week after I had made this trip).

As I walked around the park area I noticed most of the trees near the shoreline had their tops broken off.

Vultures were watching me walk around.

My next park was Sunset Beach Park just 5 minutes south of Howard Park. It had already been cleaned up and had just opened up to the public a few days before. I found a small flock of skimmers in the muck when I got out of my car.

The tide was super low this morning. The above were taken on the backside of the beach area.

Zooming in I could see the beach area of Howard Park just north of where I was. This was looking on the side of the island that is covered in boulders. The tide was so low I probably could have walked across the muck to get there.

Zooming in even more I could see great egrets dotting the exposed sand, picking off the exposed sea creatures for a snack.

A great blue heron flies close by.

My last stop on the way home was Craig Park just south of the main tourist area of Tarpon Springs. It’s a small park but has beautiful old trees with branches that touch the ground. It looked like most of the trees here did ok with the hurricanes but this whole park was underwater.

The main attraction here in the winter is the chance to see some manatees. There’s a natural spring here that is warmer than the gulf water and the manatees come into the bayou when it gets really cold. There were at least 10 the morning I was there but since the tide was so low they were huddle in the middle and farther away from the sidewalk. I was able to catch a few on video with their snouts coming up for air.

Looking for a ghost

On February 26, 2025March 7, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Right before Thanksgiving weekend I was back out at Roosevelt Wetlands (next to the county waste plant in Pinellas county). I was hoping to see the northern harriers that spend their winters at the reserve. I had heard they were back but didn’t see them the week before.

Dragonflies were still out and about since it hadn’t gotten cold yet.

The usual winter birds were there including tons of blue-gray gnatcatchers and eastern phoebes.

A great blue heron flies by and lands in the marsh in front of me.

A wood stork cruises by.

Some friends and I walked to the other end of the marsh. It was an hour later and we still hadn’t seen any harriers. We got about half way back and Lorraine decided to take the middle trail back to her car. I was standing around watching the little birds when I saw her waving her arms from across the trail.

The male harrier (also called the gray ghost) had just flown by.

After flying down the channel outside of the reserve he circled back and came right over my head. I was glad I hung back to watch the little birds and was glad I saw her waving at me.

Birds on the causeway

On November 11, 2024December 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I was out for a walk on the Dunedin causeway in early August and was watching the pelicans diving for fish. Brown pelicans dive for their fish and go full head on into the water. You would think they would get a headache but they do it over and over again.

Some short videos above of them diving. Several were flying by and taking the plunge. The bait fish around here is usually pretty good as well as bigger fish. There are usually a lot of people fishing along the water on the causeway and bridges.

The sun was coming up over the kayak rentals. It was early in the morning, well before the rental shop opened.

A cormorant posing on a rock near the shoreline, the water sparkling all around him.

The usual shorebirds (above are dowitchers) were on the north side feeding.

They were feeding in the muck and dead seaweed. I guess there’s good food in there. More dowitchers on top, a least sandpiper and a semipalmated plover on the bottom.

This one had muck on his face and beak.

A black bellied plover has a tasty morsel. Looks like some type of worm.

A great blue heron flies in to join the feast.

The beach and pier

On September 19, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

My last trip down to Fort Desoto Park in south St. Pete was the first week in June. Every year I tell myself I’m going to take July and August off from hiking with my camera and I usually don’t. This year I did with only a few outings so I’ll eventually be caught up. Above is a black skimmer coming off the water at the north beach.

A few fly-bys on the beach include a great blue heron and a night heron.

I always like to watch the big boats go by, wondering where they are going.

Up on the pier, the snowy egrets and great egrets were busy grabbing bait fish under the pier. They would do a quick swoop down to the water and grab a fish and head back up to the pier to swallow it.

Shaking off after getting wet.

A quick video while hanging out with the birds.

Small boats were getting close to the pier to pull up the bait fish before going fishing.

This guy was not shy and let me take this with my phone.

A hot walk at the zoo

On September 7, 2024November 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals5 Comments

The last time I was at Zoo Tampa for a walk was the end of May. It’s just been to hot and humid. I saw this cute mallard family in one of the exhibits.

I noticed a great blue heron sitting on a nest over the alligator exhibit and was thinking I wanted to get back to see if there were babies but that didn’t happen.

I couldn’t tell what was going on with the flamingos in the back. I think they were flirting. They create these mud spots to nest on and I think they were working on that.

The manatee hospital at the zoo had 2 patients. They were tube feeding them both medicine. I didn’t want to bother the zookeepers and ask them what was wrong with them. I’m assuming they were sick and stranded themselves and were rescued.

The manatee in the holding pool was sharing his lettuce with some mallards.

All lined up.

A shot of the otter taking a dip.

These primates were so funny to watch. How nice of him to pick the bugs off his friend.

Out on the beach before the tourists.

On August 19, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was early in the morning when I headed to Fort Desoto Park in late May. I had heard there were baby oystercatchers in the lagoon the day before so there was a good chance I could find them somewhere near there. The park opens at 7am and I was over the bridge before the park at 6:55.

I was not alone in my quest. Word gets out fast around this area and there were several other photographers also heading to the lagoon. We didn’t find the oystercatchers there (they are on the move once their babies are born but they couldn’t have gone too far). There were a lot of other great birds in the lagoon though. I snapped a few shots before heading to the north tip. The sun was just coming up over the bushes and you can’t see the lagoon from the other side. There were so many different birds here. Great egrets, a reddish egret, a snowy egret, a tricolored heron, and several spoonbills were all feeding in this swampy corner.

I saw the white morph reddish egret feeding on the way to the north tip. I hadn’t seen this bird since last August and I forget how beautiful and graceful he is.

Boats out on the gulf include a small flat fishing boat and much bigger boats.

I did find the oystercatcher babies but more on them later. Before leaving the park I always stop by the fishing pier to see if I can find anything interesting. This great blue heron had taken a fish from a fisherman and the great egret was trying to steal it from him. The great blue heron swallowed it quickly.

A snowy egret had snatched someone’s bait.

A quick video of the snowy egret being chased by the other birds to steal his snack.

Out on the beach early in the morning before the tourists get here, although it’s a long hike out to the tip and the tourists usually stay close to the parking lot.

Things in the woods

On July 25, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography9 Comments

A usual sight at any park in central Florida. I was at Chesnut Park for a walk at the very end of April and saw the above. They are in every pond here.

This great blue heron was taking one for the team! He was having breakfast with a baby alligator only the baby was the meal. I saw the heron through the bushes along the edge of the lake. Great blue herons will eat anything including snakes, rats, rabbits and baby birds or ducks.

An osprey flies by as I’m walking near the lake.

I was walking the back boardwalk and saw the people before the owl. There were several photographers already there watching this barred owl in the swamp. The owl sat on this dead snag for a while before flying down to a lower stump near the water.

He sat here for a few minutes before hopping in the water. We were standing far away down the boardwalk not saying a word but when the owl jumped in the water we all looked over the rail.

The owl was watching us watch him take a bath. Still no one said anything but we were looking at each other like “Wow, we are watching a wild owl take a bath.” He spent about 5 minutes in the water and then hopped up to a nearby branch.

He stayed here for a while before flying off farther into the woods. All of the above were taken with my 400mm lens and cropped up.

Before leaving I walked out on the dock over the big lake hoping to see wood ducks or purple gallinules but I struck out. Then as I was leaving a swallow tail kite came cruising close to the dock. He made 2 passes and on the 2nd one it looked like he had some leaves in his talon. Maybe he grabbed a bug off a tree and got some leaves as well.