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.

A rainbow and shorebirds on my walk

On October 7, 2024September 28, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was late July and the summer rains were here. It usually rained late in the day or in this case a quick early morning shower came through. I went out for a walk at the Dunedin causeway before 8am and it was sunny at my house but when I got to the causeway I could see rain out in the gulf. I noticed a faint rainbow and pulled over and snapped the above thinking it would be gone when I got to the other end.

Rain clouds were still moving by when I got to the end of the causeway.

That rainbow stayed through my entire walk. The clouds were moving farther north but the rainbow still stayed as I walked over the bridge and back.

There were only a few puffy clouds as I looked towards land. What a beautiful morning out (with the exception of the 95% humidity)!

I had parked on the north side of the causeway where there is no beach, only grass bed and rocks. I noticed a lot of shorebirds along the water so I pulled out my camera and started walking along the edge. The area was full of dowitchers.

A sanderling hanging out with a bunch of dowitchers.

A lone least sandpiper (in the middle) mixed in.

There were also the usual ruddy turnstones. This one was in his summer breeding feathers (brown and black on the right).

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.

New birds in the muck

On September 9, 2023September 3, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

Roosevelt Wetlands is a small reserve right next to the waste plant. It has a great trail that runs across the lake and is usually quiet. Just don’t go when the wind is blowing towards the reserve. I got there pretty early and first saw 2 skimmers skimming along the lake.

It looks like this moorhen bit off part of a lily pad.

A kildeer flew close by.

Some wintering birds were still there in early May. A sora rail and a spotted sandpiper.

Cute duck family.

A lesser yellowlegs was creeping around in the muck.

Two new birds in one shot. A white rumped sandpiper on the left and a semipalmated sandpiper on the right. These aren’t super rare birds for this area but for some reason I kept missing them. They were also creeping around in the muck.

A least sandpiper was also with the new birds. I had not seen one of these since 2012.

Another shot of the white rumped sandpiper.

A little sandpiper party.

Another shot of the semipalmated sandpiper.

I finally saw the gull billed tern. He flew by really fast and this was the only shot I could get of him. He circled around the pond and then left. He isn’t an exciting bird but a new one for me.

The only new bird I didn’t see that was sighted there before was a stilt sandpiper. Maybe next time.

On the road to spring migration – Skywatch Friday

On May 10, 2012May 10, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

I heard the birds were here. After work I headed for Fort Desoto to get in an hour or two of looking for spring migration birds. Of course, I get stopped on the bridge waiting for a sailboat to pass. While waiting, I pulled out my camera and shot the above from my car window. Sunshine Skyway bridge is pretty far away.

I first stopped at the East Beach turnaround. I had heard the mangroves there had some migrating birds. I only saw a few shorebirds including the one above. I think this is a least sandpiper.

This female red breasted merganser was strutting the beach. She should be heading north by now.

My first ~~tree~~ barn swallow picture. There were tons of these flying high around the turnaround. For the first time I actually saw one land in the bushes. Thanks, Michael and Steve for the correct id.

Big barge heading under the Sunshine Skyway bridge. I didn’t stay long at the turnaround. I quickly headed to the mulberry bush woods to see if there was anything there I hadn’t seen before. Boy, was I in for a treat. More to come…

Check out more sky pictures at Skywatch Friday

My friend Michael mentioned that it was 32 years ago yesterday when an outbound freighter hit the original Sunshine Skyway bridge causing it to collapse and close for good. Thirty five people lost their lives. The new bridge was opened in 1987 and part of the old bridge was taken down in 1990. Part of the old bridge is used today as a fishing pier. The above picture was taken sometime in the late 80’s by my dad with both bridges still up. I found his old picture this past weekend when I was looking through his slides that I had scanned to digital.