Happy Memorial Day from the beach

On May 27, 2019May 28, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

Everyone was after this yummy snack rolling around on the beach.

Other birds were going after their usual snacks including the sandwich tern and great egret above. I think that egret had a tough time getting that fish down.

A fisherman had pulled up this tiny fish and left it on the pier so this great blue heron tiptoed up and grabbed it.

The usual birds at the fishing pier at Fort Desoto park.

A few female red breasted mergansers were swimming along the shoreline.

It’s the unofficial summer season kickoff this weekend. Although here in Florida that started months ago. I probably won’t be at the beach today since we tend to stay away on big holidays and avoid the crowds.

Early morning at Fort Desoto

On April 4, 2019March 12, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Terns, willets and laughing gulls out on the beach.

A lone prairie warbler on the trail.

Someone caught a creepy crab while fishing on the pier.

A common sight around the fishing pier, a snowy egret hitching a ride.

The morning started off cloudy, looking like it was going to rain but the sun came out before noon.

SkyWatch Friday

Sleepy summer day at the fishing pier

On September 10, 2018September 10, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

Birds hanging around the fishing pier in the summer.

A beautiful day at the beach.

A manatee was cruising by the pier in the first shot.

Someone had caught a small shark.

Out in the gulf, boats go by.

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

Birds at the downtown Tampa coastline

On September 6, 2017September 6, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Willet, laughing gull, oystercatcher, young blue heron and cormorants can all be found along the water at Davis Islands, a small island next to downtown Tampa.

Loggerhead shrikes are most prevalent there. They were in the bushes next to the boat ramp, in the trees that lined the yacht basin and on the fence that lined the airport. The ones on the fence were a parent and young one that was still being feed.

Mangroves line the yacht basin and the sea grapes in were in full bloom.

At first glance, there aren’t a lot of birds at the south end of Davis Islands where the small private airport and yacht basin meet up. There are lots of bicycles, joggers, walkers, and dog walkers along the road, most are not paying attention to the birds. People look at me like “Why is that girl staring up in the tree?” When you look along the shore line and up in the trees you see lots of things.

Linking to Wednesday Around The World.

Blue Grosbeaks and a few other birds

On June 22, 2017June 22, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Blue grosbeaks were all over Fort Desoto during spring migration back in late April. The all blue ones are males and the blue and brown one is a juvenile male that will eventually be all blue.

Hanging out on the fence. The light brown ones are females.

I think this is a very young male rose breasted grosbeak.

A laughing gull playing with his food.

A cardinal checking himself out in the mirror in the parking lot.

Osprey are everywhere at the park.

SkyWatch Friday

Growing up at the fishing pier.

On August 6, 2015July 27, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

The majestic osprey. This was a juvenile, born months earlier near the fishing pier. There were two nests near the fishing pier this spring. Both the smokestack tower couple and the light post in the parking lot couple had babies so I’m not sure which family this one came from. He already had a half eaten fish when I first saw him. The orange eyes and white specks on his feathers shows that he’s still a baby.

Flying around, he seemed unsteady when landing.

He made several passes later, trying to catch a fish with no luck.

He chased off a laughing gull. Giving his best eagle imitation.

Not so majestic when the whole world is a toilet.

It’s great to see the baby osprey growing up around the fishing pier at Fort Desoto.

Skywatch Friday

The almost usual stuff at the lake.

On June 20, 2015June 20, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

White pelicans who should have been north by now. They were still hanging around central Florida in May.

Ibis flyby.

The beautiful black neck swans were nesting. I don’t know if the babies hatched.

Nosy goose.

Grackle with a snackle.

A laughing gull couple far away from the beach.

An injured ibis. He was still able to fly away.

A turtle in the lake.

I took a quick walk around Lake Morton in Lakeland after my long walk at Circle B Bar Reserve before heading home.

Looking for a new gull.

On January 29, 2014January 17, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

“Excuse me, are you guys Franklin’s gulls?” I said to these two. One gull said “Almost. Franklin’s gulls have a white chest and more black on their head.” The other gull said “And they have a little shorter beak than we do.” “Yea, we’re just plain ole laughing gulls that haven’t grown up yet.”

“Excuse me, can you stop preening so I can see if you’re a Franklin gull” I said. He said “I’m not one either lady.”

I kept looking in the big flock of birds on the beach. “Hey, you look different” I said to this one. He was half asleep.

“Hey Franklin gull, wake up. This lady’s been looking for you” said the laughing gull.

“Another fan. How boring.” said the Franklin gull.

“Okay lady, get your picture.”

I said “Can’t you at least stand up for a minute?” He said “Nope, I’m going back to sleep.”

At least the big herring gull stood up for me.

This juvenile herring gull was picking at a dead fish.

“Don’t take my breakfast, lady.”

A ring billed gull flies overhead.

Not a gull but a dowitcher. There were a lot of these on the beach.

It was a foggy Saturday morning. I went down to Fort De Soto because I heard there was a summer tanager and a few western kingbirds hanging around the parking lot area near the fishing pier. I got down to the park around 8:30am and there were already a lot of birders looking for both birds. No sighting at that point. We all walked around for at least an hour with no luck so I decided to run over to the beach and see if by miracle the Franklin’s gull was there. This was my 4th time looking for that silly gull. I didn’t see him anywhere near the pier. I walked back over to the wooded area where the other birds were seen and the tanager had just been sighted (more on that one later). We were all standing there staring up in trees when someone said they had just seen the Franklin but he was much farther down the beach. After taking a handful of pictures of the tanager, I drove down to the other end of the beach and walked around looking for him. This time I got lucky. A huge flock of gulls were sleeping together and there he was with his dark head. It was nice that the sun came out for a second right when I saw him. By then it was lunchtime so I snapped a bunch of pictures and headed home.

Old birds and a new one at Fort Desoto

On October 7, 2013October 8, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography15 Comments

It was a drizzly dark morning. I was in my car waiting for the storm to go by and I saw the above stork walk by my car.

Great blue heron wading in the water.

After the rain passed, I walked down the beach to look for the brown booby on the tower. I saw this sad wet juvenile laughing gull sitting on the sand.

A sandwich tern walking along the shoreline.

Marbled godwits walking along.

Common terns (??) standing in the water.

I think this is a juvenile sandwich tern flying by.

I finally saw him! The brown booby at Fort Desoto. I think this was my 6th trip looking for him. Actually, I go down there quite a bit anyway and kept stopping by the tower to look for him. Several other birders were there and all were excited to see him no matter how far away he was. He seems to rest out on the tower in the bay near the fishing pier off and on. This is extremely highly cropped. You can just barely make out the blue beak. I had a shot of his orange looking feet but the top of him was even more blurry. This was labor day weekend and he’d been randomly seen for over a month.

It gets harder and harder to find new birds. I read on Florida bird reports that different birds are spotted all over central Florida but work and family commitments have kept me from taking any road trips this summer. I’ve been sticking close to home and only on Saturdays. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get around this winter.

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