Tag: shark

Cold morning walks in January

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights5 Comments

An early January walk along the water at the Safety Harbor Waterfront Park. They still haven’t quite finished the fishing pier yet. It takes forever to get inspections and permits to do anything so I think they are waiting on an inspection before they can put the roof on the end. Then that has to be inspected so maybe it will be open by Christmas.

A few days later I went for a walk at the Dunedin marina area. It was cloudy and cool and when I got around to the jetti front I noticed an osprey nest in the light post. This osprey couple have a big nest in a tree right by the boat ramp that they have used for years but I assuming the construction from the sea wall rebuild right there had them move to this light post. The light sensor on the light post is covered up with nesting material and now that light stays on all day long.

There are several other osprey nests close by and I noticed a lot of them circling right over the marina.

Looking across the water I could see the Dunedin causeway to the right.

A week later I was out at the causeway for a sunny and cold walk. This guy had caught a small shark.  He released the shark. This area of water is called “shark alley” and people with drones have recorded a lot of sharks here but everyone still gets in the water.

A ring billed gull was posing for me as I crossed the bridge.

A few days later I came back to the causeway much earlier in the morning and before I got to the bridge I noticed dolphins fishing close in. I was wishing I had my camera that morning.

A short video of them splashing around and then jumping in the air.

A week later I was walking in Dunedin and came across some some ibis and a great egret feeding in the low tide along the Weaver Park fishing pier. This pier is still closed due to damage from the hurricanes in late 2024 and is scheduled to be rebuilt in early 2027.

Watching the ibis bobbing for snacks in the muck.

It’s common to see stranded boats washed up here at the pier.

SkyWatch Friday

 

Manatee mosh pits

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals7 Comments

When my sister was visiting in early February one of the tourist things we did was spend a morning at the Manatee Viewing Center at the Tampa electric plant. The warm water that is generated by the plant is discharged into the canal here in the Tampa bay and in the winter the manatees gather here to stay warm. Above is the view when you first step out on the big viewing deck.

There’s another big deck farther down the canal where you can watch the manatees swim by as they come and go into the canal. All of those dots in the water are manatees. The grating on the right that juts out into the water is where the warm water comes out. There are several of these.

Zooming across I could see a small rainbow to the left of the palm tree from water being sprayed.

Manatee mosh pits. One had his snout turned up as he rolled over. There are hundreds of manatees here when the weather gets cold. The morning we went it was 38 degrees which is crazy cold for Tampa. The manatees seemed to huddle together to stay warm.

A few of the manatees as they passed close by the deck. The one in the bottom shot had barnacles along his neck.

A shark swims by.

Ibis flying by.

This tricolored heron was trying to catch bait fish.

Some of the artwork at the entrance. This is a fun free outing to do in the winter. Whenever my sisters are here in the winter we try to visit. This was the last morning my sister was here and luckily it was sunny (although cold) because the weather had not been great most of the week.

After spending the morning watching the manatees swim by we heading to Ybor City to have a yummy lunch at the Columbia Restaurant.

SkyWatch Friday

A new duck and the usual

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

It was early May and I was heading back to Fort Desoto Park. The sun was just coming up as I crossed the Bayside Bridge before heading into downtown St. Pete.

Right before the park there is a big pond that sits on the road with houses on the back side. Frigatebirds spend summers here and sleep on the big mangrove islands behind these houses. You can’t see where they sleep from the road. You would need a kayak and be out on the water before daylight to see them leaving their roost.  But, if you catch the timing right you can see them flying over the big pond early in the morning getting a drink of water before cruising around for the day. It’s rare to see them upclose so I pulled over and got out the car and spend a few minutes watching them swoop down to the pond. They didn’t stay long and headed out over the bay.

As I watched them soaring I realized the moon was still up.

There wasn’t a lot of migrating birds on the trail so I went to the fishing pier to see if there was anything interesting. I was just expecting a few dolphins but I got a lifer instead. There was a surf scoter spotted a few months back in south St. Pete along the bay but you needed a scope to see it and it was not there all of the time so I didn’t even try to find it. There was one spotted in Safety Harbor a few years back but I couldn’t find it after several trips. On this morning there was a female one floating right along the pier. It wasn’t hanging around but was swimming by and I was able to snap some shots of it as it made it’s way past the pier and around the island.

A ruddy turnstone was starting to get his pretty breeding feathers in.

There were a few dolphins around the pier as usual.

Someone had caught a tiny shark.

Face to face with a dolphin

On By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Tampa bay sights, zoo animals8 Comments

Look at that face! It’s not often you get this close up to a dolphin. After our dolphin boat tour my sister and I stopped at the nearby Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter the dolphin who lost his tail (The movie Dolphin Tale was about him and filmed here). They rescue, rehabilitate and house (if needed) permanently injured dolphins, turtles, otters and other sea critters.

This huge turtle had lost his back legs.

This turtle was hit by a boat and lost his ability to submerge properly. He swims around with his butt in the air.

Some of the turtles that are rehabilitating and will be released soon.

A few of the smaller swimmers.

The ladies on the right got to feed the shark that was in the middle. He was obviously a docile shark since he’s fed several times a day.

This is Nicholas and he came right up to the window. He was found as a young baby stranded on Christmas Eve in 2002 and had 3rd degree sunburns on his back. You can still see the scars on his forehead all the way to his fin.

Debbie was sitting in front of the window and both dolphins came to check her out.

A very short video of a dolphin swimming in the big tank.

Before leaving we walked around on the upper deck where you can see Clearwater to the left and Clearwater Beach to the right.

SkyWatch Friday

The sun through palm trees

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights7 Comments

After I caught the sun rising at the Safety Harbor fishing pier I headed down to North Shore Park in St. Pete. The sun was up about half way by this time but still made for some pretty shots. This little beach sits on the bay side of St. Pete and the sand isn’t very nice so there usually isn’t too many people on it in the morning.

The water looked very inviting with the sun beaming down on it but it was a little chilly this morning.

I think this is a Hong Kong orchid tree. The the park was full of them blooming in early December.

I was hoping to find something different in the way of birds out here, sometimes a surprise might pop up but it was quiet. Only the usuals. A ring billed gull scratching an itch and a pelican lands in front of me. The little beach was full of laughing gulls but not much else.

As I was standing on the beach watching the birds this tiny shark swam right up near the sand.

SkyWatch Friday

More from MOTE Aquarium

On By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, zoo animals1 Comment

It’s not often you get this close to a shark.  Above are some of the bigger things under water at MOTE Aquarium in Sarasota.

The Aquarium rehabilitates and houses permanently injured turtles, manatees and dolphins. The turtle above was missing an eye.

We don’t have crocodiles in the Tampa Bay area, at least not yet. They can be found in areas much farther south including the Everglades. I’ve never seen one out in wild. They look very comical, almost like a cartoon.

Pretty flowers in the water at aquarium.

My Corner of the World

Big things swimming by.

On By dinajohnstonIn zoo animals3 Comments

I love seeing the big sting rays at the aquarium. It’s funny how they have faces underneath. I think that first one was smiling at me.

It’s fun to watch the kids go crazy over the sharks. You get to see them close up.

A turtle cruising by.

There’s something hypnotic about watching the fish swim by.

More fun from my September visit to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.