Flying up high and swimming underneath

On March 25, 2026March 27, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Florida animals5 Comments

A few days before Christmas Brett and I went for a long walk along the water at the St. Pete Pier. As we drove into the parking lot I noticed the orchid trees were still blooming (although they were past the peak). I got out of the car and saw a flock of nanday parakeets flying into the tree right in front of our car. It was another one of those “I wish I had my camera” moments. Even though the parakeets blend into the leaves they were easy to spot because they were so LOUD.

The tide is usually super low in the winter.

We passed a party going on in the street. There was a DJ and they were playing music. They were dressed so colorfully and looked like they were having fun.

The entrance to the pier was decorated for the holidays.

We saw a lot of dolphins this morning.

These guys were cast netting for mullet. It’s hard to catch mullet with a fishing pole so most people use the nets. There were several boats along the pier pulling up the fish and the ones who had just arrived had the empty boats. The “mullet run” season runs September through November but they must have still been swimming around by the thousands in late December. I’m assuming there was going to be a lot of local restaurants with smoked mullet on the menu after this morning.

The dolphins were also doing some fishing in the same spot.

Climbing up the stairs of the pier to the top level, I could see Tampa far behind the sailing class.

Looking towards St. Pete.

On our walk back to the car I could hear more parakeets screaming as they fly by me under the sun.

They flew into a nearby palm tree and hung around for a few minutes before taking off again. These parakeets are wild here but not native to Florida. They were brought here from central America and have been growing in population since the 60’s.

A walk along the water

On February 9, 2026March 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

In early November Brett and I went for a walk along the waterfront near downtown St. Pete.

The old historic pink hotel (Vinoy) looked pretty against the blue sky as we passed by. Built in 1929, the hotel was taken over by the Army during WW2 and was used for training. It has been said that it is haunted.

Walking past the boats at the municipal marina.

As we walked out along the pier this sailboat came close to us. It swerved at the last minute.

Pelicans were diving along the pier.

The old pier pilings are still in the water and the pelicans like to sit on them. The inverted pyramid building and the pier were torn down in 2015 and the new pier was completed in 2020. You can read my post about the old and new pier here.

Watching the pelicans diving under the pier. The bait fish are plentiful under the pier so the pelicans are constantly diving around it.

Taking a break after climbing the back stairs of the pier building.

The view of St. Pete from the top floor.

Bees buzzing on the goldenrod that was blooming along the pier.

The orchid trees in the parking area were in full bloom.

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.

Flashes of orange and blue on the waterfront

On June 25, 2025July 10, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights8 Comments

At the end of April Brett and I were out on the bay waterfront in St Pete for a long walk. We started out near North Shore Park and walked towards the pier.

We passed all of the sailboats at the marina and noticed a lot of boats for sale.

It was too early for the restaurant and bar on the top floor to have customers so we climbed up the back stairs and was able to walk around on the top.

The view from the top looking straight, looking north towards the small airport and then looking right from where we had started.

The back view at the top looking out on the bay.

On the way back I noticed some flashes of orange and blue flying across the park. I was wondering if they were escaped pets but then I saw the girl with the bird stand calling out to them. She brings them out to the park to get flight time in and they are trained to come back to her.

Videos of them flying free around the park.

They came back when she called them. I guess she’s pretty confident they won’t go flying off and not come back. I guess it’s the treats that will always bring them back. She’s had them for many years. You just never know what you’ll see out here.

A cool foggy walk on the waterfront.

On April 14, 2025May 11, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sightsLeave a comment

The mild winters in central Florida almost make up for enduring the heat for 9-10 months. It was cold (50 degrees) when Brett and I went out for long walk down on the St. Pete downtown waterfront in mid-January. We parked at the far end of North Shore Park and walked our way around to the St. Pete Pier. It was cloudy when we first got there.

The sun was trying to come out as we made our way around by the municipal marina.

A view of the historic airplane statue from the other side. It’s a replica of the first commercial air flight from St. Pete to Tampa.

Making our way to the end of the long pier. The small building houses a coffee shop, a restaurant and a bar at the top.

Shots from the end of the pier looking towards downtown. First left, then right.

We took a break and sat on the stairs at the split in the walkway.

As we got back around to the mainland I noticed the sea fog rolling in.

I could barely see the pier through the fog.

As we made our way around Vinoy Park and back to North Shore Park it was not as foggy. What a weird morning. Although it was cool it was still sticky. That stranded boat on the small beach was still there from the hurricanes. We stopped at one more park before heading to a big late breakfast but more on that park later.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

The St. Pete skyline

On February 3, 2025April 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

It was a beautiful morning in early November when I stopped by the St. Pete municipal marina at Demen’s Landing Park (named after Peter Demen who was one of the founding fathers of St. Pete. He named the city after his hometown in Russia).

A lone pelican sits on the piling and begs me to take his picture (so I took a ton)!

Off he goes.

Another pelican cruises low over the calm water.

There used to be 4 short fishing piers along this walk but after the 2 hurricanes only 1 survived and it’s closed off.

The sculpture across the water is a life sized sculpture of the bi-plane that pilot Tony Jannus flew to Tampa in 1914. This was the world’s first commercial plane flight with the first paying customer being the mayor.

This is a one of my favorite places to walk around and look at on the water. It’s a tiny park but so beautiful looking out on the bay and at the skyline.

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

Ducks and parakeets

On February 1, 2025January 22, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I stopped by Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Pete in early November looking for winter ducks. Lesser scaup and ringed neck ducks usually spend the winter in the lake but they weren’t there yet. All I got was the usual mallards. It was also too early for white pelicans that also winter here.

A turtle popped up across the lake.

It was good to see the old banyan tree was still standing after 2 hurricanes. It was missing a lot of branches from the top though. The big tree is fenced off to try and restore it and keep it safe from people climbing on it which damages the tree.

The much smaller banyan tree was snapped off.

I headed over to nearby Demen’s Landing Park for a quick walk before heading home. I could see the small private airport to the right and the St. Pete Pier to the left. That sailboat looks like it needs a new sail.

The newer pier is smaller than the old one that was torn down years ago. It only has a restaurant and a bar in it. The older one had several restaurants and stores and had a great top deck that you could walk around and see everything.

As I was walking back to my car I saw some nanday parakeets flying over. They landed in a tree near my car.

Some of them were busy gorging on seed and nuts from the tree.

This couple was busy flirting. It’s not really nesting season for them and it looks like she might have had a headache from that last picture.

A postcard morning out

On February 5, 2024April 19, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights5 Comments

It was early November and too beautiful to be inside so I headed down to the waterfront just north of the St. Pete pier to see what I could find to take pictures of. Zooming in with my 400mm lens, I could see a ton of tiny white sailboats far out in the middle of the bay. There must have been a sailing class or competition. They looked like tiny sailboat dots on the horizon. There was a lot of boat traffic this morning.

The sun was already pretty high up.

Looking to the right you can see the pier building that houses a restaurant and bar and downtown St. Pete.

It was such a beautiful sky that I had to add a little sparkle to it.

Scenes from the sidewalk.

On the way home I stopped for a quick walk around Crescent Lake Park. From across the park I could see a girl with 2 parrots. It looks like she was doing some training with them but one kept hopping on her head. I hope she has trained him not to poop up there!

There’s always a lot of cormorants here.

A pretty muscovy duck sitting in the yellow flowers.

Three stops before my appointment.

On March 20, 2023March 9, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, Tampa bay sights3 Comments

I was heading down to St. Pete and stopped by Crescent Lake Park to see if there were any white pelicans still hanging around. They usually spend a few weeks here in the winter but it’s hit or miss whether they are here or floating in the nearby bay. When I first got out of the car I noticed a few scattered around the lake.

Then I noticed more hanging out in the shade under the big banyan tree. They were all busy preening so they must have just finished a morning swim.

I heard something over my head and looked up and saw this starling sitting in a hole. He might have been checking out the hole for future nesting spots.

This ring billed gull was swimming in the shade near the white pelicans. His red accents really popped in the shade.

After snapping the white pelicans I headed down toward North Shore Park and saw this big tree blooming so I had to pull over and take a shot. This was in mid-February and I had missed it’s full peak but it was still pretty.

All was quiet on the little beach on the bay.

One more stop just south of the St. Pete pier before heading to my chiropractor who’s office is nearby. It was a beautiful cool morning out and was worth leaving an hour early.

A beautiful morning out

On February 7, 2022March 17, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights3 Comments

I love coming down to North Shore Park to walk. It sits on the bay side of St. Pete and the water is usually pretty calm. There’s a long paved trail that’s always busy with joggers and walkers. Occasionally I find an interesting bird.

Far out across the bay you can barely make out two dolphins coming up for air as they cruise by the pelicans. Even from far away it’s cool to see the dolphins.

The tide was low and the birds were pretty far out in the muck.

From one side of Tampa bay to the other

On December 2, 2021November 25, 2021 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

It was a two waterfront kind of day in late October. I went for a walk along the waterfront on the bay in downtown St. Pete early in the morning and then went to the Dunedin marina on the gulf side for a sunset walk.

I got to the marina late in the day right as the moon was coming up.

Fun boat at the marina.

This little spot is one of my favorites to catch a sunset. I think it’s also a lot of other people’s spot as well because it can get pretty crowded on the weekends.

Maybe it’s because watching the sunset here makes you feel like you are on vacation. Until you drive home and have to cook dinner and do the dishes. Then back to work the next morning.