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 morning walk at Fort Desoto Park

On May 20, 2024June 4, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

It was too early for Spring migration in mid-March but I wanted to take a walk out on the beach at Fort Desoto. I went straight out to the north beach area. I stopped half way and took the above. The first is looking back towards the parking lot and the second is looking north to the tip where I was headed.

There wasn’t a lot of shorebirds on the beach but I did see a few snowy plovers. These little shorebirds are state designated “Threatened”. This is the only place I’ve seen them and not very often although I’ve heard there are some on the beaches in Sarasota.

This little piping plover was across the lagoon and I didn’t notice his missing feet until I was editing the pictures and cropped this up.

Oystercatchers flying by.

After walking the beach I headed over to the east beach trail for a quick walk. No little birds but the nanday parakeets were acting their usual crazy selves. This couple kept getting interrupted but finally had a little alone time.

An osprey takes off and flies right by me.

I always stop at the long gulf pier before leaving and this time there were dolphins swimming close to the pier.

You can really see the scars on the above’s back and fin.

There were 2 female red breasted mergansers taking a bath right at the beginning of the pier. Not sure if it’s really a bath since they spend most of their time in water but they seemed to be cleaning up after a feeding.

The beach at low tide

On November 30, 2021November 25, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

It’s not often we see whimbrels around here. The pair at Fort Desoto have been very accommodating when you can find them. They were right when you walk out on the beach the morning I found them in late October, feeding along the grass line before the sand.

It was extreme low tide and the buoys were exposed. The ruddy turnstones were picking tiny crabs off of them for breakfast.

This willet also found some breakfast.

The little tiny shorebirds are so cute creeping around in the muck. A snowy plover and a sanderling.

Skimmers cruising by.

Something spooked the birds way out on the sandbar.

There’s something magical about being out on the beach at low tide early in the morning. There aren’t many people out and you can walk forever and feel like you are out in the middle of the gulf.

Dead Australian pine tree graveyard on the beach. The stumps have all been smoothed down by the water and have been bleached out by the sun.

Late day walk at Fort Desoto

On January 30, 2021January 7, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

I’m still going through my pictures from Fort Desoto in late October. So many shorebirds there at that time. Tons of gulls, terns and skimmers. The 2nd shot is of red knots, feeding before their trip south for the winter.

Many of the birds were taking baths before it got dark.

An uncommon herring gull.

Not sure what kind of snack this laughing gull has.

Some of the smaller shorebirds. Yellowlegs, dowitcher, a black bellied plover and a tiny snowy plover that was smaller than this pile of sand.

It’s weird to see turkey vultures on the beach. They were really in the muck at low tide. The one on the right had a small piece of fish under his foot that he was eating.

Great egret flyby.

This kid was throwing his frisbee into the birds. Why is it so fun to watch the birds flush? Someone walked over to him and asked him to stop and explained that the birds needed their rest before they migrate for the winter. He really just didn’t know. He stopped and went back to his family.

Heading home back into Tampa right before dark, I saw the moon coming up and had to stop and take a picture.

Usual things at Fort Desoto

On November 16, 2020March 2, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

Lots of little birds on Outback Key at Fort Desoto. After a morning of looking through all of these little birds for anything unusual with no luck, I headed over the fishing pier to see what was going on there.