Other fowl on the lake

On June 13, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

While I was at Crescent Lake Park watching the white pelicans I couldn’t ignore the other ducks in the lake. There were a lot of lesser scaup on the lake. They are also snow birds and only spend the winter here.

This guy had a snack in his beak. I don’t know if they swallow these clams shells whole? The sun really brings out the purple in the male scaup’s head.

This cormorant kept diving for fish but he kept coming up with sticks.

Two great egrets were near the bank. One still had his green breeding feathers around his beak.

A muscovy duck showing off for me.

I thought this osprey had a fish in his talons but it looks like a some vegetation.

Blooming in the fog

On June 10, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was another foggy morning in late February as I parked under this beautiful blooming tree near Crescent Lake Park. I was making a quick stop to see the white pelicans again and had to take some pictures of this before leaving.

This red silk cotton tree was on an empty lot across from the lake. They were building a new house on the lot and I was glad they didn’t cut down this tree.

After my quick stop at Crescent Lake Park I headed over to the waterfront at the St. Pete pier for a walk. There is a pier somewhere in that fog.

The sun was trying to peek through and I thought the fog would lift but it kept getting heavier as I walked past the marina and headed to the beach area.

Even though it was cold it still felt like I was walking through a shower.

I stopped to take a foggy picture of the 4 tall trees on the beach.

Big floating marshmallows in the lake

On June 6, 2026July 6, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

When I got to Crescent Lake Park in mid-February it looked like giant marshmallows floating around. I had been here several times this winter but only a few were there. White pelicans are one of the original snow birds. They spend a few months in central Florida before heading back to spend the summer in Canada. If they aren’t here floating in this lake near downtown St. Pete, then they are somewhere on the bay (somewhere in the neighborhood channels north of the St. Pete pier).

There was a small fleet of them floating in front of me as I sat down on a bench.

As they dispersed I started looking around the lake and realized there were hundreds of them all around the lake. Most of them were in small pods in all of the corners of the lake.

These were resting and preening on a spit of grass.

These guys were feeding in the shade along a bumper (keeps the garbage out of the pipes)

This guy had caught a big fish in his pouch and his friends started ganging up on him to steal the fish. He eventually swallowed it.

This fleet was having a squabble over something before going back to feeding.

Occasionally some would take flight. Some would fly to the other side of the lake and some went up high and headed toward the bay.

These floating marshmallows are special to this lake. They spend a short time going back and forth between the bay and here. It’s a treat to catch a lot of them on the lake and watch them feeding and going about their day. People walking their dogs or jogging stop to watch them. There were several other photographers nearby watching them as well and we all chatted about how cool they were and what they were doing. I went back the next week so more on these guys later.

Round trip across the bay

On May 28, 2025June 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights8 Comments

Above is a view of downtown Tampa from the water. This was my 2nd trip across the bay on the Cross Bay ferry. My first was back in 2019 when my sisters were visiting. Since my sister and her husband were visiting in late February we decided to do it again. This time we started in Tampa since the Indy Grand Prix race was going on in St. Pete and we wouldn’t be able to park anywhere nearby there.

Passing by the cruise ships.

Red was the color of the day. I guess it’s so you can see the boats better, in case you can’t see those big guys on the water.

Picking up the pace as we head out into the open bay. Tampa was far behind us.

As we approached St. Pete we went farther south and came in south of downtown, on the other side of the airport. We docked near the Florida Fish & Wildlife docks and as we got off the boat we could hear the cars from the race loudly buzzing around the track (since it was Friday they were practicing but boy was it loud).

We only had about 30 minutes to walk around before our boat left to go back so we just walked around the marina area where we docked.

The sun was just starting to go down as we made our way back to Tampa.

Passing a tugboat before getting into Tampa.

We got back just as the sun was going down (Tampa General hospital is on the left). It was a beautiful late afternoon on the water and the tickets are a great price to be out on the water for a few hours. The ferry only runs in the winter here and then goes back up north for the summer. I need to make more of an effort to get out and do more tourist type things like this in the winter.

A beautiful day at the beach?

On January 22, 2025February 5, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights5 Comments

In late October I was heading to downtown St. Pete to see my chiropractor and I could see the missing roof that had been blown off the baseball field during Hurricane Milton. They have since taken the rest of the roof off and are still deciding how to fix it. With the season coming up at the end of March, the Rays will be playing at the Yankees spring training field in Tampa for the upcoming year.

A crane had fallen on an office building a few blocks from my chiropractor. It’s going to take a long time to fix that.

After my appointment I drove over to nearby North Shore Park and went for a quick walk along the water. It was too beautiful to go home.

A few days later Brett and I went over to Clearwater Beach to have lunch. The Columbia restaurant on Sand Key beach had just opened back up and were in need of patrons since most everything was still closed and not many tourists around. We love the Columbia so we had to go grab some lunch.

The parking lots on Clearwater beach were closed and full of sand that had been moved off the roads. They were just starting to clean up the beaches.

The famous Palm Pavilion Grill and Bar (my Dad was a bartender here back in the 40’s when he was home for the summer from collage) got a lot of flooding and damage inside. They are still closed but are posting they are hoping to reopen by early February.

Closed parking lots full of sand all the way down the beach. Many of the lots are now open and many of the big chain hotels (more than 2 stories) are open. The few remaining small 2 story Mom and Pop motels are still closed. It will be interesting to see how many reopen and how many sell out after the hurricane damage.

The Columbia restaurant on the intercoastal only got minimal damage inside since they are built up. They did have damage to their outside seating area and that is still closed. Brett and I went back for lunch again 2 weeks ago and that sailboat is still wedge up on the seawall.

Heading home in the other direction, home debris lined the street. Early news reports had said that 20,000-30,000 homes were flooded in the Tampa Bay area (Hillsborough and Pinellas counties) from Helene. And then Milton hit and did further damage. People are either staying with friends, spending a fortune on an apartment or renting an RV, staying in their homes without walls/kitchen and many are living in cars. Not to mention people are still living in tents in the snow in North Carolina.

A cold winter morning in St. Pete.

On March 25, 2024April 30, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

European starlings get no respect here. They are treated like annoying pigeons. They are an invasive species here in the United States but they are pretty when the sun hits them just right. I found this one alone at Crescent Lake Park in St. Pete. I stopped for a quick walk and to see if the white pelicans were still there.

This wood stork was feeding right in front of me. I did find the white pelicans and took a ton of shots of them feeding but more on them later.

After a walk around the lake I drove 10 minutes over to the North Shore Park on the bay. As soon as I got out of my car I heard the monk parakeets feeding on the ground in the parking lot.

There were very few birds on the little beach in front of the park.

The tide was really low and this guy was having the best time chasing after a big stick.

A grackle was calling for his girlfriend.

It looks like it was a quiet morning from this point of view but behind me there were tons of people walking, jogging and biking on the wide sidewalk that runs along the park. It was a cold morning so there wasn’t anyone out on the beach.

My favorite 5 tall palm trees on the beach at the park. The sky was clearing up.

The parking lot has several orchid trees that were in full bloom. I was getting in my car when I heard a big flock of nanday parakeets fly into the one right next to my car. I got out and shot the above before they all took off again.

Sunset at 3 miles out

On December 14, 2023December 5, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

Brett had a cousin come in town for a visit and we chartered a boat with his family for a sunset cruise. It had rained most of the day and we were not sure if we would get out on the water but it stopped raining right before we left the marina. The trip took us down the intercoastal waterway before heading out for open water and we passed by the pink hotel on the beach (the Don Cesar hotel).

The clouds were starting to break up and there were more boats out on the water than I thought would be for starting out so yucky.

We were pretty far out and I kept thinking “Any minute now the sun will come out”. Brett was watching the 2 gulls fly by.

We were just starting to head back to the marina when that orange ball popped out.

Everything looked orange as we headed back through the intercoastal waterway and passed under the bridge taking us back to the marina.

When we got back the sun had just gone down and was turning the clouds orange. The moon looked almost full through the clouds. I loved the reflection on the water.

The sun through palm trees

On January 19, 2023January 18, 2023 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.

Downtown St. Pete parks

On July 28, 2022March 22, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

You can always find turtles chilling on the trash bumpers at Crescent Lake Park near downtown St. Pete.

I found some cute duckies walking along the sidewalk.

Usual birds around the lake include the loggerhead shrike, a roseate spoonbill and an anhinga drying out.

I found an unusual pair of birds sitting in front of my car, northern rough winged swallows. I’ve seen them in other parks before but they are fairly rare.

A cloudy morning at the park.

The big banyan tree has been fenced in for several years now. They are trying to keep it alive since it’s so old (not sure how old though). It’s taken a beating over the years with people climbing and playing on it.

It looked like it has snowed along the street in front of the park. I realized there were several cottonwood trees in someone’s yard. I had never noticed this before so I must not have been here when they were blooming. I’m sure it’s beautiful when it’s in full bloom but what a mess it was in the street and yard.

After leaving the park I stopped by Rouse park on the bay in St Pete, only a few minutes away. The royal poinciana trees were blooming and the are a lot of them in this small park.

Enjoying an early morning on the bay in late May.

Around town

On April 11, 2022March 30, 2022 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights2 Comments

My sister from St. Louis came to visit for a week in February. We did a lot of tourist things and one of them was visiting Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. The botanical gardens, located near downtown, is over 100 years old. I think it had been at least 30 years since my sister had been and a few years for me. There’s a lot of old tall trees here including that beautiful rainbow eucalyptus tree in the bottom shot.

Watching the small flock of flamingos.

I only saw a few butterflies since it was still a little chilly.

One of the small moss covered waterfalls (I took this with my phone).

The bougainvillea bush wall was in full bloom and it was a beautiful to see how it had been growing for years.

Some of the miniature ponds.

The next day were in downtown Tampa for lunch and found these cool statues. I think this was once a forgotten industrial area and is now a booming area with new apartments and restaurants.