The sea fog rolling in.

Posted on March 31, 2022 by dinajohnston

I love being out in the fog so when I peaked out the window in mid-February I got ready quickly and headed out the door for a walk on the Dunedin causeway. It kept getting foggier as the morning went on. I guess the sea fog was rolling in. The tide was super low which made it even cooler.

I had my camera in the car so I pulled it out to get some shots of the oystercatcher couple that was feeding along the causeway. Someone walked up behind me and spooked them to fly to the other side of the causeway.

A few of the other birds included a sanderling, a snowy egret, a marbled godwit and a young ring billed gull feasting on a dead fish.

Later I saw the oystercatchers again and snapped a few more pictures before leaving. They seemed to be having a lot of luck with whatever they were eating (tiny crabs?).

Rush hour traffic on the bay

Posted on December 7, 2020 by dinajohnston

Things were quiet in the area in late October. Fall migration was pretty slow but I still wanted to get out for a walk so I headed to North Shore park that sits on the bay near downtown St. Pete.

It looked like rush hour traffic far out in the bay with all of the sailboats. People were also kayaking and wind surfing. It was still warm out so the water was the place to be.

I had a nice walk along the water before heading home for lunch.

Little birds on the beach

Posted on November 23, 2020 by dinajohnston

The skimmers lined up along the shoreline at Fort Desoto.

Out on Outback Key spit, I could see tons of shorebirds from the beach.

So many shorebirds, so little time. The spit was full of different shorebirds but nothing new on this trip. The tide was high in mid-October early in the morning so I was wading knee deep to get out to the area where the shorebirds were. It was a slow walk just making sure I didn’t sink and go under. Everything was packed in my backpack but you just never know.

Lots of little birdies on the beach

Posted on October 10, 2020 by dinajohnston

There were a few marbled godwits at Fort Desoto Park.

Least terns

I think this is a juvenile sandpiper.

Lots of plovers running around including the Wilson’s plover in the first picture and piping plovers with orange legs.

Sleeping sanderlings

Soon the skimmers will be gone. They are rare to see in the winter at the park.

Out on the beach

Posted on August 13, 2020 by dinajohnston

Lots of shorebirds at Fort Desoto in early June. It felt good to be out stretching my legs along the shoreline. Even though it was hot there was a good breeze coming off the gulf.

It’s always fun to see marbled godwits with those pink toothpick beaks.

The crow was mistaking the trash for food.

A crab coming up on shore when the tide went out. He made it back in though.

Jump! A great blue heron taking off from the roof of the pier cover.

A nice morning to be outside.

I heard this cicada screaming from the mangroves near the pier. I found him pretty quickly. Such a weird loud critter.

Fort Desoto Park shorebirds

Posted on January 27, 2018 by dinajohnston

Lots of little critters on the wrack line at Fort Desoto in last September.

The usual things at Fort Desoto

Posted on November 27, 2017 by dinajohnston

Quiet sleepy morning at Fort Desoto.

Pelicans were hanging out everywhere.

Shorebirds were everywhere.

Not much going on in late October.

Honeymoon Island beach before the tourists get here.

Posted on April 20, 2017 by dinajohnston

After walking the nature trail at Honeymoon Island State Park, I headed over to the beach to see if there were any shorebirds hanging around.

The usual birds were there: marbled godwits, royal terns and dowitchers.

The waves were splashing over the jetties. It was fun to be out in one of the last cool windy days before the heat sets in (and the tourists).

Shorebirds on the beach

Posted on February 8, 2017 by dinajohnston

Semipalmated plover

Marbled godwits (the avocet photobombed the last shot).

Royal terns

A few shorebirds on the shore. Only down here in Florida we call it a beach. So really, they should be called beachbirds. Found on the “beach” on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Pink toothpick beaks

Posted on September 16, 2015 by dinajohnston

Most of the marbled godwits were napping when I got to Fort Desoto early on a Saturday morning. I did see one still feeding across the marsh. I watched him for a while. Popping tiny crabs in his beak. After about 10 minutes, he stopped digging around for crabs and started preening his feathers. It was time to move on.

Dina's Wildlife Adventures

Tag Archives: marbled godwit