Watching the rain coming at me

On March 10, 2025April 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

It was a yucky day on Black Friday of Thanksgiving weekend. I usually avoid shopping areas on this day and decided since it wasn’t nice outside I would head to a small beach in between Tampa and St. Pete. As soon as I got there I could see skimmers (in the first shot) and oystercatchers (in the 2nd shot) cruising by.

The sandbar was visible since it was low tide and I could barely make out the pelicans, gulls and terns enjoying the quiet over there.

A Forster’s tern was taking a bath.

The little beach was full of royal terns with a few laughing gulls and other terns.

A cute Wilson’s plover has a snack.

Ring billed gulls only spend the winters here and I’ve seen just a few at every beach.

I was actually at the beach to look for this guy. The saltmarsh sparrow was a lifer for me. This was the first time I had heard of one being in the area but there had been a few coming through years earlier. He had been spotted a few days earlier and was still there on that rainy morning. They hide out in marsh areas with high vegetation and I waited a while before seeing him pop out for a few minutes.

I could see the rain moving across the bay and heading for me. On a sunny day this little beach off Gandy bridge would be packed and would have made the sparrow harder to find since he would have been hiding farther away in the bushes.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

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.

We could really use the rain.

On July 18, 2024September 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights7 Comments

You know you are getting old when you say “We could really use the rain.” I never thought that in my 20’s and 30’s. I thought “Ugh, it’s raining. My hair is going to frizz.” I was out for a morning walk in mid-May when it looked like we were going to get some badly needed rain. I was at the Dunedin marina and could see the rain across the waterway and it was headed for me.

It was dark towards Clearwater beach and I as I did a quick walk around the front of the marina the dark cloud kept getting closer and closer.

I had parked my car nearby since I didn’t want to walk back in the pouring rain or worse lightning so as soon as it started to drizzle I hopped in and headed home.

I stopped at the causeway on the way home and the storm was following me north.

I parked and was able to get a quick walk over the bridge before it started raining here. I was tempted to wait out the rain to see if a rainbow would appear later but it looked like it was going to rain for a while and I was getting hungry.

One last look at Howard the pinkie

On January 25, 2024January 17, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

A few days after I had first seen the juvenile flamingo at Fred Howard Park (in Tarpon Springs) I was back out there early in the morning. I had to see if he was still there and sure enough, he was in the same spot. The temperature had dropped and it was chilly (around 55 in the morning) and I was thinking he should have left to head back south.

There’s always a lot of cormorants in this spot on the backside of the beach island.

The sun had come out for a short time and as I was driving on the causeway back to the main park I stopped to catch one last shot of the flamingo from the road. This was the last time I saw this beauty. I checked back several times but he must have finally moved on.

I also caught a skimmer doing what he does, skimmer the top of the water for bait fish. He was heading right for me but turned at the last minute.

I stopped by the Dunedin causeway before heading home and saw this big mix of shorebirds along the beach there. Most were skimmers but there were a few terns, gulls and dowitchers mixed in. The sun had gone behind the clouds and it was started to get dark.

A pair of blue winged teals flew by.

By mid-morning I could see the rain far north over land, where I had been an hour before. I was hoping to see some lightning but there was none this morning.

The sun kept peeking out between the rain clouds and I dipped on a rainbow as well.

🎵 “Raindrops are falling on my head” 🎵

On October 26, 2023October 20, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

It was mid-July and we were expecting rain. We hadn’t had much in months so I was not holding my breath. It sure looked like rain was coming even though the sun kept peeking out so I went to the Dunedin marina to walk around and see if there were any rainbows or lightning. It started to rain so I made it back to my car.

I drove over to the Safety Harbor fishing pier where I could see pouring rain out in the bay. No rainbows or lightning though, not that I could see from the pier. But the weather had cooled off so it was nice being outside.

There’s a new statue in the park at the fishing pier.

I headed over to the Oldsmar pier, much closer to home and I could still see the rain out in the bay. We got a quick shower at home but not nearly as much as we needed. The ponds in my neighborhood were still almost empty at this point.

Big skies on the causeway.

On August 24, 2023August 17, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

It was the end of May and still not much rain which meant it was beautiful out on the Dunedin causeway. I pulled over for a quick walk and then pulled out my beach chair and tried to read a book but I was too distracted by the view.

Eventually clouds started move in and I could see it raining far out past Honeymoon Island.

Heading home I could see that they finally finished painting another turtle on the other side of the water tower.

The clouds right before I got home looked interesting so I stopped at the Oldsmar pier.

I could see rain in the direction of my home (we did get a quick shower).

There was a big storm far out in the bay coming from Tampa and heading towards Clearwater. I was hoping for a rainbow and waited a while until hunger won out and I headed home for lunch.

Crazy summer skies

On September 1, 2022August 30, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights5 Comments

I was heading out to the Dunedin causeway for a walk when this rainbow popped up.

Out on the causeway I could see rain far out in the gulf and I didn’t see any lightning so I started a quick walk but stayed close to the car.

When I got to the nearby bridge I could see rain all around me out in the water but the sun was out over the causeway. Even with the sun out the wind was blowing pretty hard so it stayed cool for my walk.

This great blue heron hangs out under the bridge. There’s usually people fishing under here so he’s hoping for a handout.

There’s a small tree on the causeway that has tropical white morning glory (also know as moonflower) all over it.

Right when I got back to my car most of the rain had moved out and a rainbow came out. I love mornings like these when the sky does crazy things.

Walking in the drizzle

On February 8, 2022January 29, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights6 Comments

It was cold and drizzly right after Christmas but I was determined to get out for a walk. I headed to the Safety Harbor fishing pier as the rain was slowing down. It was barely a drizzle when I got there. There were a few other people out, joggers and dog walkers, as well. I left my camera at home and only had my phone so I was traveling light.

People have started putting locks on the fairly new boardwalk nearby. I guess they are copying the Love Locks bridge in Paris where people write their names and loved ones on the lock, lock it on the bridge (to lock in your love) and throw away the key. There were over one million locks in bridges around Paris and it was starting to do damage to some of them. All of the locks were taken down and now it’s illegal to do so. I’m assuming these will eventually get taken down as well. Many were starting to rust.

The sites around the spa and downtown Safety Harbor.

A great blue heron walking along the dock at the marina and a night heron were a few of the birds hanging around the marina.

More summer skies from the yard

On October 7, 2021October 7, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights8 Comments

The skies from my front and back yard in late summer are insane. Some nights right when the sun hits after the rain has moved out, it looks like the sky is on fire. These were all taken in late August and early September.

The above was snapped with my phone through the glass door and the screened porch. The smaller ones before this were too close to be outside. The next day I found out it hit my neighbor’s house. It fried his fuse box and burned one side of his house. It took several days for an electrician to come out and fix everything so you really don’t know when it’s going to hit.

Lightning on the side of the house (I was standing in the garage). It’s weird the way the 2nd one was brighter in the middle.

Most nights if the sun peaks out in the backyard after a storm, I get this in the front yard.

Those crazy Florida skies in August

On September 16, 2021August 23, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

As August starts to roll around, the summer rains come in. Usually in the late afternoons (although some days the rain can start in the morning and continue all day).Most nights the sun would peek out right before it set which makes for amazing colors through the clouds. I am constantly running outside to check the skies and take pictures. I’m sure my neighbors think I’m crazy. All of the above were taken from my yard with my phone.

I was running errands and caught this tiny lightning bolt walking back to my car. It’s better to run errands on a day like this in August. It’s cooler and less people are out. Although you have to be okay with getting wet if a super soaker happens that even an umbrella won’t help.

Catching a storm coming in at Davis Islands.

While out running errands, I stopped at a fishing pier in the northern part of Tampa bay. This lesser known pier is a great spot to catch the storms rolling in. There wasn’t any lightning from the clouds or else I would not have been out here on the pier. I headed back to my car long before the rain hit.