Lots of birds at the park

On January 31, 2026February 5, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

More shots from my trip to Fort Desoto Park in October. I was able to catch a rare snowy plover running across the sand. The snowy plover is considered state-designated threatened in Florida and globally critically imperiled. The park has a handful that nests here in the spring and the area is roped off all year long. Occasionally you see one running across the beach like I did this morning.

A sanderling digging for bugs in the sand.

This laughing gull turned his back on me thinking I was going to try and steal his little bait fish. I tried to tell him I didn’t like sushi but he didn’t believe me.

A piping plover missing both of his feet. He seems to be doing well in spite of this. The rangers know about this bird and as long as he can fly off they weren’t going to try and catch him.

The beach was dotted with small jellyfish.

I walked out to the end of the fishing pier hoping to see some dolphins.

A fisherman had pulled up a net full of bait fish and two snowy egrets were fighting over something. There was plenty of fish on the pier so I’m not sure what was going on. I was able to walk around the mess to get a better view of what was going on.

Word got out that bait fish were flopping on the pier and the snowy egrets came rushing in to grab a free snack. It was chaos for a few minutes while the fisherman tried to pick up all of the fish.

A crevalle jack fish was caught and laying on the pier. He looked small but so pretty. I’m thinking this one is too small to eat so maybe the person was going to use it for bait fish.

A rainbow and shorebirds on my walk

On October 7, 2024September 28, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was late July and the summer rains were here. It usually rained late in the day or in this case a quick early morning shower came through. I went out for a walk at the Dunedin causeway before 8am and it was sunny at my house but when I got to the causeway I could see rain out in the gulf. I noticed a faint rainbow and pulled over and snapped the above thinking it would be gone when I got to the other end.

Rain clouds were still moving by when I got to the end of the causeway.

That rainbow stayed through my entire walk. The clouds were moving farther north but the rainbow still stayed as I walked over the bridge and back.

There were only a few puffy clouds as I looked towards land. What a beautiful morning out (with the exception of the 95% humidity)!

I had parked on the north side of the causeway where there is no beach, only grass bed and rocks. I noticed a lot of shorebirds along the water so I pulled out my camera and started walking along the edge. The area was full of dowitchers.

A sanderling hanging out with a bunch of dowitchers.

A lone least sandpiper (in the middle) mixed in.

There were also the usual ruddy turnstones. This one was in his summer breeding feathers (brown and black on the right).

My first eagle passenger

On April 13, 2024April 9, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

An early morning transport had me driving an injured red shoulder hawk and a black vulture from the Raptor Center in Brandon to Penny, the rehabber, in south St. Pete. I didn’t get a picture of the vulture. He was in a box and was jumping around a lot so didn’t want to open the box. I think he was being released soon.

A few days later I got an emergency call to see if I could pick up an injured eagle that was being rescued. It was only 15 minutes from my house so I jumped in the car and met George from Birds In Helping Hands who had just grabbed the eagle. The eagle had been on the ground in someone’s backyard and they called it in.

George put the eagle in a crate and put it in the back of my car. My first eagle passenger put up a little fight at first so I thought he might be okay. The entire drive to the Raptor Center I was hoping it wasn’t rat poison which would have been bad. When I got to the Center and Nancy went to take him out of my car we realized he did not survive the trip. I was crushed, fighting back tears. His crop was torn wide open so he hadn’t eaten in a long time. Nancy thinks he must have eaten a fish with a big fishing hook in it and it tore through.

The rescues and transports continue. A huge white pelican was rescued in someone’s yard by Carol (on the right) and brought to the nearby Raptor Center. I met her there and then transported it to the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary. Two hawks (in the boxes) made the trip as well and went to Penny on the way home.

There’s a constant stream of screech owls getting rescued. This was found on the ground not too far from my home and I got it from Barbara, the rescuer, and drove it out to the center.

February 1st brought another trip to a rehabber with a red shoulder hawk and a crow. Most of the birds are quiet in the car but that crow was cawwing all the way there.

Baby squirrel season had already started here. There were 3 in the box. The one mostly covered under the towel had no fur yet. There were 2 tiny bats that were found on the ground as well. Bats can carry rabies but it’s very rare for a person to get a rabies from a bat. I didn’t open the box. Penny opened it when I got to her home. She’s been vaccinated for rabies and rehabilitates bats.

A few days later I transported a great horned owl with a bang on his head and an injured beak and a turkey vulture that was sick.

Two days later another box of baby squirrels went to Penny. This box also had a tiny baby bunny in it (on the orange).

A wood stork with a broken wing also made the trip. He was heading to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park to live once he healed.

In the middle of February a sick sanderling was found in central Florida. Someone brought him into the Raptor Center and I drove him from there to the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary out on the beach. They are experts with rehabbing shorebirds so he was in good hands.

The sick/injured wildlife never ends here so I have more to share but I’ll save that for another post.

Fish for breakfast?

On March 7, 2024February 29, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

The weather at the end of November and into December can go either way. It can be still warm and icky or turn cold and sunny. Luckily it was the 2nd one this year. Although I was still in shorts at the end of November it was at least cool and 72 degrees. The sun had already come up when I started my walk on the Dunedin causeway.

I noticed a lot of young herring gulls on the beach side of the causeway and ran back to my car and got my camera. Herring gulls are snowbirds and only stay here during the winter. One had found a piece of fish floating along the shoreline. He played with it for a while and then dropped it and walked off.

A crow picked it up and then the herring gull was interested in it again.

Several more herring gulls showed up and they kept picking at it and dropping it.

A sanderling had found another fish part as well. He pecked at it for a few minutes and left it behind.

A pelican taking a break on the buoy marker.

It was too nice to go home so I stopped by the Dunedin marina for a quick walk.

The usual things at Fort Desoto

On December 28, 2023December 27, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

In mid-October I headed back down to Fort Desoto Park. After a short walk at the north beach and seeing the usual shorebirds there I headed over to the fishing pier. I found the oystercatcher couple that usually hangs out on the little beach area next to the pier. One of them had found a tasty meal.

The couple was busy feeding and seemed to have a lot of success.

A little sanderling looking around in the slick rocks.

This snowy egret was hanging off one of the big rocks and was trying to snag some bait fish as the water brought the fish closer in the waves. He wasn’t having much success.

Another one was posing for me on the pier.

A great blue heron strutting around.

A royal tern with a snack and an osprey fly overhead.

A manatee swam under the pier. It was so close I took the above with my phone.

Looking over at the lighthouse on Egmont Key.

Rush hour traffic on the water.

Some shots with my phone of sunrise when I first got to the park.

Another flamingo attempt.

On December 18, 2023April 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

At the beginning of October I headed out to Fort Desoto to again, to look for flamingos. I had heard there were several at the North beach lagoon the day before. I got to the park right when it opened and made a quick stop at the East Beach turnaround for a few sunrise shots. I took the above with my camera. The sun was already up and barely peeking out.

I should have skipped the sunrise and gone straight to the North beach lagoon. When I got out to the beach I could see the tiny pink specks far north and had a long walk to get out there to get closer. There were already a few people out there getting some shots of the 3 flamingos feeding. I was barely halfway into my 15-20 minute walk up the beach when I saw flashes of pink take flight. All 3 flamingos took off away from the beach and flew over the trees and were gone. I managed to fire off a few shots as they headed in the opposite direction. I was bummed. They were not seen for days after that.

It was okay that the flamingos left. I was still at the park early and there were tons of birds still around. Both a sanderling and a dowitcher were doing a high step.

I found part of the oystercatcher family. There was one parent and two juveniles (the juveniles don’t have yellow eyes yet and the beak tip is still black). One of the juveniles was banded as a baby with red bands so we’ll be able to see how long he stays around the park.

I drove through the boat ramp parking lot hoping to spot the flamingos there and noticed this barge that looked like it had crab trap equipment on it. I’ve never seen a set up like this one. The anhinga and pelican were making good use of it.

I had to stop and take a picture of this cool bug outside the bathrooms. I’ve never seen this bug before. After doing some googling it’s an antlion lapwing which are common in central Florida. It was sitting out in the open and might make for a tasty meal for a bird.

A view of the newly built bay fishing pier from the end of the pier. The park demolished the old one and the pretty yellow bait fish store that was on the pier. Now there is just a big shelter in it’s place on the pier.

The sun was high up by the time I stopped at the bay pier.

The view from the bay pier looking down at the empty dog beach. The beach is always packed with dogs on the weekends so it was weird to see it so empty this early weekday morning.

Breakfast on the causeway

On April 15, 2023April 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

So many birds on the Dunedin causeway when I went for a drive on a cold early morning in late February. At first it looked like they were all dowitchers but I found a few other birds mixed in. They were feeding along the rack line on the north side of the causeway were its rocky along the water.

A few tiny sanderlings were mixed in with the dowitchers.

You can always find a willet here.

There were dunlins mixed in with the crowd. They looked drab here in their winter colors without the brown and black feathers they have during the summer.

Someone walked by and spooked them (not many people walk this side of the causeway). I was taking most of these from my car.

They were all feeding together in large groups. The dowitchers seem to favor the newer greener seaweed. The dunlins were feeding in the older brown seaweed.

Several times they would all take off and circle back to the same spot. There were also a few ruddy turnstones in the mix with those orange legs.

A lone willet flies along the causeway.

On the beach in late July

On September 13, 2022September 4, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography2 Comments

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.

A lot of flirting going on.

On June 4, 2022May 23, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

The usual shore birds were at the fishing pier in early April. There was a large variety of them hanging out together including those large ring billed gulls in the middle. They make the other birds seem so small.

There were a lot of royal terns on the beach. The two above with the orange beaks looked like they were flirting. They were standing at attention among the sandwich terns, common terns and willets.

They were definitely flirting. Walking back and forth together, almost like slow dancing. Their little black toupees were standing up.

Then we knew for sure they were flirting. The poor couple didn’t have any privacy although the willets weren’t really paying attention. It looked more like a game of leap frog than actual mating though.

They danced around again for a while as that kittiwake was keeping an eye on us.

They tried again but I don’t think she was really in the mood.

As I was leaving I noticed the crowd had thinned out. Everyone was here to see the kittiwake but there was so much more going on.

The sea fog rolling in.

On March 31, 2022March 19, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

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?).