Flashes of orange and blue on the waterfront

On June 25, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights8 Comments

At the end of April Brett and I were out on the bay waterfront in St Pete for a long walk. We started out near North Shore Park and walked towards the pier.

We passed all of the sailboats at the marina and noticed a lot of boats for sale.

It was too early for the restaurant and bar on the top floor to have customers so we climbed up the back stairs and was able to walk around on the top.

The view from the top looking straight, looking north towards the small airport and then looking right from where we had started.

The back view at the top looking out on the bay.

On the way back I noticed some flashes of orange and blue flying across the park. I was wondering if they were escaped pets but then I saw the girl with the bird stand calling out to them. She brings them out to the park to get flight time in and they are trained to come back to her.

Videos of them flying free around the park.

They came back when she called them. I guess she’s pretty confident they won’t go flying off and not come back. I guess it’s the treats that will always bring them back. She’s had them for many years. You just never know what you’ll see out here.

A postcard morning out

On February 5, 2024April 19, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights5 Comments

It was early November and too beautiful to be inside so I headed down to the waterfront just north of the St. Pete pier to see what I could find to take pictures of. Zooming in with my 400mm lens, I could see a ton of tiny white sailboats far out in the middle of the bay. There must have been a sailing class or competition. They looked like tiny sailboat dots on the horizon. There was a lot of boat traffic this morning.

The sun was already pretty high up.

Looking to the right you can see the pier building that houses a restaurant and bar and downtown St. Pete.

It was such a beautiful sky that I had to add a little sparkle to it.

Scenes from the sidewalk.

On the way home I stopped for a quick walk around Crescent Lake Park. From across the park I could see a girl with 2 parrots. It looks like she was doing some training with them but one kept hopping on her head. I hope she has trained him not to poop up there!

There’s always a lot of cormorants here.

A pretty muscovy duck sitting in the yellow flowers.

Yoga at the zoo

On February 9, 2019January 19, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals1 Comment

The week before Christmas I attended yoga at Zoo Tampa. It was on an early Saturday morning. The weather was perfect. They had a few animals show up before we started. There was a goat but he took off before I could get a picture. Santa also showed up for a visit.

My new yoga buddy.

The view from my yoga mat.

After yoga I walked around the zoo for a while.

Big birds and little birds at Fort Desoto

On July 16, 2018July 17, 2018 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

The nanday parakeets are always goofing around.

A male and a female ruby throated hummingbird.

A great egret going by with a snack.

Little critters in the park.

A manatee cruising by the fishing dock.

Big boats going by.

From the fishing pier at Fort Desoto Park.

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Fun at the zoo in late July.

On September 18, 2017September 19, 2017 By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals7 Comments

Not everyone gets to see a barred owl up close. At the zoo you can although I zoomed in on his face to get closer. Mr. Sleepy is permanently injured and lives at the zoo.

Above are some of the parrots that get to fly around the zoo in the mornings.

Pretty lorikeet in the aviary.

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” goes the old saying. She was feeding him something. Still, I’d be a little nervous doing that.

Another Mr. Sleepy, it’s rare to see a koala bear moving around during the day. I caught this one stretching.

Creepy critters behind glass.

Injured manatees recuperating at the hospital at the zoo.

Fun at the zoo in late July.

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Fort Desoto in mid-May

On June 15, 2015June 16, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

Lots of black bellied plovers on the beach.

Tiny Wilson’s plover.

Gimpy, one of the resident oystercatchers was watching me as looked for food.

A pretty red breasted merganser coming up for air.

I think this is a white eyed vireo but I can’t tell for sure from this shot.

The only Cape May warbler I saw this spring.

Mom is all alone now that her kids have gone off to “college”. She’s getting some much-needed rest after raising two hungry owlets.

Crazy wild parrots flying around near the beach.

Some left over shots from a trip to Fort Desoto beach in mid-May.

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Largo Nature Preserve

On February 19, 2015February 10, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography10 Comments

Nesting is in full swing for the osprey in the area. I don’t think they have eggs yet since they both left the nest at the same time for a while.

It looks like they were working on getting it comfy.

One of them kept bringing in more insulation.

Night herons always sleep along the boardwalk at this park.

Funny face. An anhinga staring at me.

Northern shovelers were close to the bank.

Flapping.

Another funny face.

The usual palm warbler. The trail was full of them.

A few robins were hanging around.

Is that parrot waving at me?

A Saturday morning walk at Largo Nature Preserve.

Skywatch Friday

Bad pictures of a new duck.

On February 4, 2015January 26, 2015 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I found the American wigeon that had been spotted at Largo Nature Preserve. A first for me on this fairly common duck. All in front of the picture, they were hanging out with some coots and moorhens. Of course, they were on the river where I had to take the picture right into the sun. I couldn’t go around since there are houses along the other side of the river.

Northern shoveler with an itch.

Northern shoveler with a mallard in front. They look alike except when you see them together. That big old beak gives the shoveler away.

They were all busy feeding.

A great blue heron panting on the boardwalk. It was warm on the first weekend in January. No jacket needed.

He kept flying back and forth as people were walking along the boardwalk.

“Baby blue” A young little blue heron all alone. He started looking up and freaking out. I realized it was because the below had just flown by.

As I was taking a picture of the baby blue, I saw something fly overhead. When I looked up this eagle was already past me and off into the wild blue yonder.

A very typical scene. A cormorant silhouette into the sun while drying off.

This was taken with my 300mm lens. He was in his usual spot along the boardwalk.

Same guy but taken with my iphone. Someone said he was 11 feet long. What do you think? I think he was exaggerating over the length.

Green parrots kept flying back and forth across the park. I never could see them landing. I think they live and nest at the electric plant near the park.

A beautiful morning on the first weekend of 2015.

More than just gators at Gatorland.

On June 23, 2014June 24, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography14 Comments

“Gimmi a kiss.”

“To the left a little.”

“That hits the spot.”

Gatorland bunny has the run of the place. But he better watch out and not go into any of the alligator exhibits.

Pretty in pink.

“Wassup?”

Sexy emu

Bees were buzzing.

The swamp walk was full of ferns.

New growth.

Getting crispy.

There are lots of other things at Gatorland besides alligators and wild baby birds. They have parrots out in the open hanging out together and playing. Rabbits and wild ducks can go where ever they want. The swamp walk is a boardwalk that goes through a swamp filled with ferns. Red bellied woodpeckers were flying high up in the trees. I get there early to take pictures of the baby birds in the mangroves along the alligator lake but before I leave I take a walk around the rest of the park to see what else I can find.

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