Flying off into the sun

On January 2, 2025January 2, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Spoonbills on my walk at Safety Harbor in at the end of October. They were far out on a spit and were busy preening.

A little blue heron on a broken pier. I had a short walk along the water on the bay and then drove over to the Dunedin causeway for a longer walk on the gulf side.

After my walk on the causeway I noticed the above somewhat rare lesser black backed gull when I was getting in my car. Luckily I had my camera in the car and pulled it out. I don’t see these guys often and realized he had a snack.

He watched me for a short time, wondering if I was going to steal his fish. I stood still next to my car and he started eating again.

Turkey vultures were cruising by him, maybe hoping he would leave the fish?

All of the usual shorebirds were nearby including the black bellied plover in the first shot and dowitchers in the 2nd one.

Pelicans were flying overhead.

Then even more came from the other direction and flew into the sun.

I always love seeing the pelicans fly over. In my head I hear the theme music from the Jurassic Park movies.

Looking for white pelicans

On January 22, 2024April 15, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was getting towards the end of October and I had heard there were white pelicans at Fort Desoto. They come here to spend some time in the winter, feeding in the water around the park. It’s hit or miss whether they will be visible while they visit. Some days they are floating in the main lagoon at the north beach and some days they hide behind the spoil islands. I was driving in right before they open at 7am and made my usual pause on the bridge to snap the above with my phone since no one was behind me.

I made a quick stop at the east beach turnaround to snap the above with my camera. This is the first time I’ve seen the lights on the bridge.

After snapping the bridge I headed to the north beach tip. I saw a few white pelicans way out on a sandbar. The tide was super low this morning and it was a long walk to the tip of Outback Key. There were only a handful of the white pelicans here this morning where there had been hundreds the day before. Where were they all hiding? I hung out for a while hoping a few more would show up but eventually I started making my way back to the main beach.

Something was causing the shorebirds to all take flight. Some of the skimmers landed right in front of me.

I’m not sure what this great egret was eating. It looked pink. After flipping it around a few times he swallowed it whole.

It was easy to spot the lesser black back gull among the smaller shorebirds. He was so much bigger and really stood out.

It was hard to ignore the reddish egret dancing around looking for tiny fish. Especially when they do it right in front of you.

The piping plovers were trying to nap so I snuck around them.

After leaving the beach area and taking a quick walk on the pier I headed back to the beach one more time before heading home. The tide was out even farther and the ripples in the sand led the way to the tip of Outback Key.

I could see some type of barge or boat across from Shell Key.

Now there were even less white pelicans hanging out with the shorebirds. I guess this means another trip down while they are still in the area. More to come on my next trip.

Avocets on the beach

On December 16, 2023December 5, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I was out at Fort Desoto Park in September looking for flamingos and found a few other things. I rarely go to the park in the afternoon on a weekend but I had heard there was a flamingo close by in the lagoon so I headed down. You can see all of the boats in the lagoon. There were tons of shorebirds on a spit nearby and I was looking around and was surprised to find the below. Avocets.

I’ve never seen more than 3 here at a time and even one is rare. There were 19 standing right in front of me. A few were still in their browner breeding feathers. After snapping a few hundred pictures of the flamingo I started watching them.

This might be my favorite shorebird. Maybe it’s because we rarely see them here or maybe it’s those beautiful blue legs and upturned beak.

They stayed pretty close together and only moved around when another bigger bird got close (like that juvenile reddish egret). I heard they were not seen the next morning so I was so glad I came down that afternoon.

Marbled godwits are common here during migration.

The terns were taking a late bath.

Watching a snowy egret get a snack.

Another nice surprise was seeing the lesser black backed gull nearby. They are not common here although I have seen a few in the Tampa bay area before.

A royal tern flies by with a snack.

Blast off across the lagoon. Something spooked the terns and they all took off, flew around in a circle and came back.

My first lesser black backed gull

On September 2, 2013October 17, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography18 Comments

I thought I was going to have to walk up and down the beach for a while to find him. I walked out from the parking lot and there he was standing. Right in front of me. I took a couple of quick shots before a jogger was heading for him and he flew off.

Up close. He’s really pretty! I have read that it’s been documented that he has visited this beach every summer for the last 5 years. I finally made it over there to look for him.

After the jogger scared him off, he flew far out into the gulf.

Close by, a juvenile royal tern was taking a nap.

There was a small flock of them right where the black backed gull was standing.

An adult flew in with a fish. He did not give it to that begging juvenile but took off with it in his mouth.

Another adult landed with a fish and was offering it up to his mate. It seemed late for flirting. Nesting season was mostly over and the babies were all flying by now. Maybe these were late lovers? It’s funny the way they do this dance with their wings. She did not take the fish. They both flew off together. Maybe they were getting a room?

This guy was all by himself. At first I thought it was a juvenile sandwich tern but usually they have a little more beige in their beak. Unless he’s a little older. Any ideas?

After missing out on the brown booby and the common eider, I thought I would try for the lesser black backed gull. I found him right away so after leaving that area I decided to try again for the eider. There were several other birders looking for him with no luck before lunch. Someone there told me a guy finally saw him on his 8th trip. It was only my 2nd time looking. Maybe I’ll try a third time. Is it “three times a charm” or “three strikes and you’re out” when it comes to looking for a bird?

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