Always looking for something else

Posted on February 1, 2024 by dinajohnston

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.

Lots of shorebirds

Posted on January 13, 2024 by dinajohnston

While I was at Fred Howard Park waiting for the flamingo to wake up from his nap I noticed a lot of shorebirds on the back side of the little beach. I saw several black bellied plovers and one was walking towards me with a snack.

There were a lot of black skimmers and many of them were still juveniles, born this past summer. They don’t have the full black head yet.

This juvenile royal tern was still screaming for Mom to bring him some food. This was a common sight on the beaches in the early fall.

The royal terns were taking a bath.

There were a lot of dowitchers. They were poking around in the muck and weeds.

A marbled godwit looking for food.

A “gulp” of cormorants swimming close to the shore.

A cormorant came up out of the water with a big fish and the laughing gulls were attacking him. The cormorant dropped the fish but I don’t think the gulls got it.

Ever once in a while the skimmers would flush and take flight.

It was a nice non-sunny morning out. This was actually a chilly morning for early October. I think it was in the high 50’s when I got out to the park.

Avocets on the beach

Posted on December 16, 2023 by dinajohnston

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.

A foggy morning

Posted on January 23, 2023 by dinajohnston

Another foggy walk along the Dunedin causeway in early December. I thought the sun was going to break through when I first got there but it seemed to get foggier as the morning went on.

After my walk I pulled my camera out of the car and walked down near the edge of the water. The tide was low and there were a few shorebirds feeding or sleeping. I caught a lone marbled godwit flying in to nap with the laughing gulls.

I stopped by the marina before heading home. I could see a bright red Santa on top of a boat, really popping with color in the fog.

The usual birds (a pelican and great egret) hoping a fisherman will show up to steal his snacks.

Sleepy birds on the beach

Posted on October 10, 2022 by dinajohnston

I was out at Fort Desoto in late August and started the long hike to the north tip where most of the shorebirds hang out. The lagoon beach area was full of little birds sleeping including red knots.

They were all taking a morning nap.

I passed a big flock of semipalmated plovers hanging out together on the beach with a few sanderlings mixed in.

They look so cute when they are sleeping.

Marbled godwits have been common along the beach here.

A royal tern flying by with a snack.

I had waded out waist deep in the water to get far enough away to shoot the birds on the beach with the sun at least to the side. It was a little bit cooler doing this and made me realize it was beautiful being out past the sea oats.

Big boats cruising past the pier.

On the beach in late July

Posted on September 13, 2022 by dinajohnston

Out on the beach at Fort Desoto in July, I found a few birds including a laughing gull, a semi palmated plover and a sanderling.

The marbled godwits were busy feeding.

A reddish egret flies in from across the lagoon.

Out on the fishing pier, the birds were lined up waiting for someone to drop their bait fish.

This great egret was looking a little rough. I’m thinking he’s molting.

A cormorant busy preening on the light post.

A ship heading out for a long voyage.

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.