Back at one of my walking happy places

On October 27, 2025October 24, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In late June I was out for an early walk at the Dunedin marina.

The front beach area of the marina has been closed since Hurricane Helene hit last September and I realized that it had just opened back up again after 9 months. It was so nice to be able to walk along the far side of the marina out onto the jetti area. The little beach area was covered in seaweed and it was high tide so much of the area was under water anyway.

The floating dock in front of the sailing center was being fixed that morning. A Dunedin utility worker was adding planks as I walked by.

This gravel spot is where the Dunedin Sailing Center meeting house sat since 1929, until Hurricane Helene and Milton flooded it and it had to be torn down. Eventually a new elevated building will be built.

Looking towards Clearwater Beach.

Some horseshoe crabs were swimming around in the shallow part.

This corner of the jetti had grass and 3 nice benches to sit and watch the dolphins come in the marina. They were all lost in the storms.

A green heron sits very still on a rock, trying to catch some bait fish.

I was excited to see the purple martins still here and their houses were still standing (the bases are set in concrete).

You can hear their sweet calls in the wind. The babies are all grown up and they left not long after I took this video. They’ll be back next spring though.

The marina was still closed to public boats and except for a few commercial boats near the entrance no one was coming in or out. Many of the docks are damaged and the sea wall caved in. I’ve read they were going to start repairing everything by the end of this year.

Linking to Image-In-Ing.

Watching the storms come in

On October 24, 2024December 6, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights9 Comments

More storms moving in during my walk in early July on the Dunedin causeway. I love when the skies are all moody and it keeps the heat down.

I could see storms coming from Clearwater beach so I headed down to the marina to see if I could spot some lightning or a rainbow. Neither made an appearance.

This was the last time I saw the purple martins. The nest boxes survived hurricane Helene but I haven’t been able to check if they survived Milton.

A dolphin makes a brief appearance as he heads towards Clearwater.

A green heron was taking a break on someone’s boat.

The rain was quickly headed for the marina so it was time to go home. All shots were taken with my phone.

Fun birds at the marina

On October 5, 2024October 3, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I never expected to see juvenile oystercatchers at the Dunedin marina. I was out for a walk in late June and was glad I had my camera in the car. The above were almost fully grown. They still had a little black tip on their beaks and their backs feathers were still pale gray. Although I shouldn’t be too surprised since I have seen a pair on the nearby causeway pretty regularly. They must have found some secret place to nest because this area is very populated.

One parent was nearby and was showing the young ones how to look for food along the oyster beds around the jetti in front of the marina. They did find a few morsels. The other adult that was with them stayed farther away and I couldn’t get them all in the same shot.

Twins hanging out together.

Eventually they all took off together towards the causeway.

While watching the oystercatchers a reddish egret flies by.

The purple martins were still there and the babies were almost grown and learning to fly. At some point in in early July they all left until next spring.

Lots of stuff at the marina

On June 24, 2024July 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was early April and I was out for a morning walk at the Dunedin marina. It was quiet and the water was as smooth as glass. Smooth enough for me to notice that manatee coming up for air in the middle of the channel.

Some of the ladies from the sailing club had their little boats out but there was zero wind. I guess they were going to wait and see if it picked up later.

A recent storm had caused a bigger sailboat to get stranded on the rocks. The anchor must have come loose. This is a common sight after a big storm.

The purple martins were working on their nests. I took the above with my phone but I was glad I had put my camera in the car. I walked back to the car and headed back to the front of the marina to get some closer shots.

There were several house finches hopping around on the fence on the side of the marina. The male was really pretty, posing for me.

The purple martins were busy bringing in sticks and bugs but I couldn’t tell if they were actually feeding any babies in the martin house or just themselves.

A better shot of the manatee with my camera but he was heading out of the marina. You can see all of the barnacles on his back and face.

I noticed the pigeons on the top of the tall condo building next to the marina. One had landed on the slant and just slid down. He couldn’t seem to figure out how to land on the flat part. Or maybe he was sliding down for fun?

Rescues in March

On May 18, 2024May 14, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

In early March I picked up a bald eagle that had an injured wing from the Raptor Center of Tampa Bay in Brandon and drove it down to a vet in south Sarasota that was going to reset the wing and bandage it up. Luckily his wing was broken in a place that was easy to fix.

A wood stork also came on the trip and after dropping off the eagle I drove out to the beach in Sarasota and took him to Save Our Seabirds. He had an injured leg.

Before heading back to the Tampa area I stopped by the Audubon Celery Fields in south Sarasota. I don’t get down here often since it’s so far away but had my camera in the car and stopped for a quick walk. There is a huge purple martin nest house in the parking lot and it was full of martins.

It was the middle of the day and I didn’t expect to see much but they have bird feeders near the nature center and there were some brown headed cowbirds feeding on the ground under the feeders. I don’t see them often.

There were plenty of grackles as well. It was getting hot so I didn’t stay long.

A few days later I took 2 squirrels to Penny in St. Pete. A baby squirrel and a very shy adult squirrel that had several bot fly bites on him. He would not come out from under the towel and I’m assuming he didn’t feel good. All I could see was his little nose. Penny was able to get the bot fly larva out of him and nurse him back to health.

A sick crow also made the trip.

The next week I drove 9 baby possums from the Raptor Center to Penny in St. Pete. The Mom had been hit by a car and these 9 babies were in her pouch. A good samaritan saw the dead possum, stopped and checked the pouch and brought the babies to the Center.

This young hawk was rescued not too far from my house. I met the rescuer and picked up the hawk and drove it out to the Center. Nancy took his hood off and was checking to see how skinny he was.

Out and about

On May 2, 2024April 22, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

Views from my early March walk at the Dunedin causeway. I saw something moving down in the water and peeked over the seawall to see an anhinga drying off on a shelf. He was like “Don’t be looking over in my spot.”. I took these with my phone so he was really close.

When I got over to the marina I found a great egret and pelican on the dock. They are so used to be around people on this dock that they are not very skittish. The pelican eventually when back in to the water to start feeding again.

Just me and my shadow during low tide in front of the marina. The water was like glass this morning.

The view through the mangroves.

The purple martins were back in their condos. They were bringing in nesting material. I had wished I brought my camera. The above was with my phone.

A few days later I was out running errands and stopped by the big Kapok Tree nearby. It was just past peak blooming and the ground was covered with blooms. I grabbed a few from the ground to take back home. The old historic building that started as a restaurant now houses a music store. The music store is closing and the locals hope the building doesn’t get torn down and replaced with condos (which seems to be happening everywhere around here).

Dragonflies for breakfast

On November 4, 2023October 25, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

I realized I had not posted the baby purple martins from May. I had been keeping an eye on the purple martin house at the Dunedin marina and when I stopped by in mid-May I saw lots of older babies being fed. Above is a male parent bringing a dragonfly to the baby.

Both male and female parents were bringing in food. The babies, almost as big as their parents, were sticking their heads out of the nest holes.

This time Mom brought a dragonfly.

Some of the juveniles were just starting to fly and were landing on another martin’s nest deck. It was constant chaos with parents chasing away someone else’s babies. By early June the nest building was deserted and all was quiet until next spring.

As I was standing in the small parking lot I looked down on the sea wall and could see some other critters watching me. Mallards and great blue herons are common along the rocks in front of the marina.

Looking across the water at Clearwater Beach, it was a picture perfect morning.

A busy house at the marina

On May 13, 2023May 13, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

I found the purple martins at the end of the nesting season last year. The babies had already grown up and were flying. I checked on them early this year and caught them working on their nests. There were so many of them and someone had added a 2nd house although I didn’t see any of the birds going in the holes on that one yet.

It felt like the females (in the lighter color) were the only ones getting sticks and leaves for the nest. The males were watching but I only saw one male picking up a stick from the ground.

As one female brought a big stick back to her hole in the house another male tried to mate with her (while her mate was sitting right there). She ran into her hole as her mate chased the intruder away.

It was a busy morning.

The stick gathering went on all morning as I sat and watched

This female brought back a stick that wouldn’t fit in the hole. She eventually dropped it.

This was in mid-March so I’ll be checking back for babies soon. This is the only place that I know of that they nest in the area although there may be some hidden ones in backyards. There’s a house in my neighborhood that I pass by as I leave but in 2 springs I haven’t seen any birds on it. I love the sound they make. It sounds like one of the animals on Jurassic Park.

Morning walk around Dunedin

On August 8, 2022August 2, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

One last look at the purple martins at the Dunedin marina. After this trip in late May they have left the condo. The babies were flying around the marina but still landing back on the nest house to be fed. Next year I’ll have to remember to stop by here earlier before the babies are fully grown.

House sparrows were taking a dirt bath below the purple martin nest box.

After walking around the marina I left and stopped at the nearby long fishing pier at Weaver Park. Looking north I could see the drawbridge up at the causeway bridge. This was a common sight back in the “old days” along the intercoastal waterway. Now as older bridges are being replaced, they build them up high so a drawbridge isn’t necessary anymore. This is one of the last remaining drawbridges in the area.

A few guys were fishing at the end of the pier and this great egret flew in looking for a handout.

After hanging around the fishermen for a while, he must have gotten tired of waiting for a handout and started getting his own snacks.. He was leaning over the floating dock and catching the bugs on the side of the dock to eat. Yum!

A least tern takes a break from diving into the water for his fish.

Earlier that morning when I was walking around the marina, some of the houses close by had these cactus vines growing in their yards. These cactus, night blooming cereas, only bloom at night but I was able to catch a few closing up early that morning. I’ve heard they are really beautiful and smell great when they are in full bloom but I would need to be here around midnight for that.

A busy condo building

On July 19, 2022July 9, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photographyLeave a comment

I could see the purple martins flying around the bird house from arcross the marina. I had brought my camera in the car so I drove around to the other side of the marina to check them out. All of the babies were fully grown at this point. There were a lot of purple martins on this big condo bird house.

Parents were bringing in food to the babies who were screaming to be fed.

I’m not sure what’s going on here. At first I thought a pair were still mating but it looks like one of the parents was trying to feed the baby. Or was the parent trying to push the baby off the house to start flying? Or maybe this baby was in the wrong condo and was hoping to get a meal from the wrong parent?