Tag: storms

Neighborhood critters in late September

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

The summer rains were continuing through September. We had a constant small puddle in between our yard and the golf course. The ibis spent a lot of time taking baths in the puddles. One afternoon I slipped outside to get some shots of them that were not through the window.

The doves preferred to take their baths in the bird bath.

Another bluebird shot with a worm in his beak.

 

Migrating house finches were passing through and stopping by the feeder.

I was coming into the neighborhood one morning and saw a black bellied whistling duck family in the pond at the entrance. I luckily had my camera in the car and pulled over to catch the babies napping.

I sat in my car for a while watching and after a few minutes they got up and waddled over closer to the water. I thought they were going in for a swim but they took another break.  This was the last time I saw them until recently and now they are all grown up.

Summer storms moving through the area. I walked out on the golf course across the street to get that last shot. The sun was just peeking out and turned the sky pink.

Saturday's Critters

Watching the storms roll in and out

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights8 Comments

It was mid-June and the summer rains were in full swing. I love to walk on mornings like these unless the rain keeps me indoors. I could see the rain far south of me as I started my walk at the Safety Harbor waterfront. I walked around the area in short circles and stayed close to the car in case the weather turned quickly, always keeping an eye out for lightning. I did not see any this morning and the rain had already passed my area and was moving farther south.

When I looked north the sun was already out and had a halo around it.

The storm looked like it was getting bigger as it got farther away.

A week later I was back out there walking and the storm was moving in.

The shelf cloud took over the entire waterfront.

The crab trapper came back into the marina quickly and got his boat on the trailer. It started to drizzle after this and I headed to my car right as it started to pour.

SkyWatch Friday

Dark skies and a rainbow

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography4 Comments

I love stormy mornings in the summer. It makes my walk so much cooler although I still get soaked because the humidity is over 90% on mornings like these. When I got to the Dunedin causeway  in mid-June I could see a faint rainbow.

The rainbow stayed through the beginning of my walk.

Heading over the bridge I could see rain far off towards Clearwater Beach. I didn’t hear any thunder and kept my eye on the skies for any sign of lightning. I walked back and forth near my car instead of walking all the way across the causeway.

The sun was trying to peek out as I made my way back over the bridge.

More rain on the other side. I was surrounded by storms but it was not raining over me and the sun was peeking out.

The sun was still out as I got back to my car.

I saw the reddish egret in the low tide but I had left my camera at home so I quickly snapped the above with my phone.

More storms coming in as I headed home.

SkyWatch Friday

Watching the storms roll in

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights5 Comments

We were expecting rain before lunch in mid-January so I went out for a late walk on the Dunedin causeway hoping to see the storm coming in. Looking back towards land I could see the sunlight peeking out underneath the cloud cover.

Looking north I could see the rain. I was hoping to get some lightning shots but didn’t see any and was on the lookout for it. I would have to make a mad dash back to the car.

Rain was coming from the south side as well as I walked back over the bridge.

I noticed a sailboat that had sunk right underneath the bridge. I could barely make out the boat underneath the water and could see the broken masts stuck on the bridge bumpers. That boat was probably abandoned and the city will have to get it towed and pulled out. As of this post date, it’s still there.

Crossing under the bridge to get to the other side.

The storms were moving in quickly so I headed back to the car.

I noticed all of the moss (or is it algae?) growing on the exposed rocks at low tide. It looked pretty but I’m sure it’s slippery.

A great blue heron was keeping watch over this fisherman’s stuff, hoping he turns his back on his bait fish.

Open every Tuesday! Get those posts seen and make others happy! Come join the #happynowlinkup #bloggersan image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup

Linking to A Stroll Thru Life.

The day before everything changed

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights6 Comments

Hurricane Helene was due to sneak by the Tampa Bay area with a direct hit much farther north on a Thursday night in late September (on my birthday). The area was expected to have rain, wind, record tides and flooding. I went out for a long walk the morning before. The morning was a little dreary which kept the heat down. The first thing I noticed when I got to the Dunedin marina was the flag. The usual flags were down and a single hurricane flag was flying. I don’t remember seeing this before.

It looked like any other rainy morning. Although people were still there pulling boats out of the marina and putting them on trailers to leave.

The water along the seawall was clear and I could see fish swimming around. I think these are tiny sheepshead fish with those stripes.

A great egret was still hanging around. I wonder if he knew what was coming.

Later that afternoon the clouds were getting crazy so I ran over to the Safety Harbor fishing pier area to see if I could catch some lighting.

The shade sails that cross the picnic area were already down and the tables were tied together.

These kiteboarders were enjoying the blasting wind. They were doing some great tricks and knew what they were doing. The wind was so strong it was no place for amateurs.

Six oystercatchers flew over my head and I was wishing I had my camera with me.

A sun dog halo was peaking through the palm trees.

Helene came through the next day with catastrophic flooding. Anyone near the coast, channel, inlet or river was flooded. You can read what I posted a few days after here. It’s now early December and a few of the parks near the coast are still closed including Fort Desoto Park. Many of the restaurants, shops and motels along the beach areas are still closed. Some are trying hard to renovate and get opened by spring break, some will not ever open again. Most of the homes that flooded are still waiting on permits, inspections, insurance money, workers, etc. It could be a year or two before most move back into their homes.

an image of a camera lens for Wordless Wednesday PhotographySkyWatch Friday

A multi colored walk

On By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In mid-August we were getting mostly late afternoon storms but occasionally a storm would come through early in the morning. I was out for a walk at the Dunedin marina and saw the above rainbow over the marina.

I could see it storming over Clearwater beach.

Usually the rainbows don’t stick around long but the sun was out for a while and the storm was moving south to north instead of into the sun. I decided to head up to the causeway for a quick walk on the bridge before going home.

Less than 10 minutes later I had gotten to the causeway and the rainbow was still there. I pulled over before the first bridge and got out to take a quick picture thinking the sun was going in.

I could see the entire rainbow as I drove over the first bridge.

Getting out for my walk I noticed the sand was covered in these tiny new shells.

It’s not often I see an entire rainbow.

Walking back to my car the clouds were starting to move in.

an image of a red sports car with a lady caricature going at Vroom Vroom high speed, Senior Salon Pit Stop Vroom Vroom Linkup

Summer storms

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography3 Comments

It was the morning of August 4th. Tropical storm Debby was heading our way and by the time it got here it was a hurricane. We didn’t get a direct hit but it skirted by and caused flooding along the coast. I was out for a morning walk at the causeway nearby, enjoying the cooler breezy weather before the storm.

By the time my walk was almost finished the dark clouds and rain were moving in.

The tide was super low. I was able to walk under the bridge which is rare.

An interesting thing to see on the causeway. Is it art or junk?

I also took a quick walk at the marina.

Early the next morning after the storm had come through I drove over to the nearby Oldsmar pier. The tide was higher than usual and I could tell it had come up over the pier.

The pier was lined with dead baitfish that had been stranded up on the pier when the tide went back down.

The tide was up through the mangroves and into the grass but stopped short of the parking lot.

The surprise was seeing frigatebirds cruising along the shoreline. This was the first time I had seen them this far north of St. Pete. I only see them down at Fort Desoto Park at the southern most point of St. Pete. There were at least 6 and I took the above video with my phone. You can hear the wind blasting. I noticed they were getting closer to the pier and was glad I had put my camera in the car.

The sky was dark gray but they stood out pretty well.

A few flew close to the piers.

Other fly-bys included a great egret, an osprey and a black tern.

Hurricane Debby was the first of three hurricanes to hit the west coast of Florida this season. Debby made landfall early on August 5th near Steinhatchee (in Florida’s Big Bend region) as a category 1. Less than 2 months later Hurricane Helene would make landfall in Perry, just 40 miles north of Steinhatchee as a category 4. You can read my post about Helene here. 

There’s an old Florida saying – “Floridians favorite day of the year is not Christmas, Thanksgiving or 4th of July. It’s 11/30, the end of hurricane season.”

 

Rescues transports in late March and early April

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography, flowers and plants9 Comments

It was near the end of March and I was heading to Penny’s (the rehabber) house in south St. Pete to pick up some osprey. I got into a little traffic jam waiting for peacocks to cross the street before her house. These birds are everywhere now.

Heading back to Tampa, it looked like I was going to be driving through a storm.

I made it to the Raptor Center with 2 osprey that were going to be released. They had come in injured and both were going home. I didn’t even open the boxes to get a pic. Someone else was picking them up from the Raptor Center and taking them to central Florida (near Lakeland) to be released.

A few days later I got the text that there was a baby duck that had been brought into the emergency vet office. I picked it up along with the screech owl below that had been brought in and drove them to the Raptor Center in Brandon.

Nancy was checking the owl’s crop to see how skinny it was. It was pretty malnourished but should be okay once she got it eating again.

April started off with me picking up a tiny baby blue jay at the emergency vet and taking it to the Raptor Center. What a mouth!

Later that week I took a barred owl with an injured eye and a screech owl with an injured nose from the Raptor Center to Moccasin Lake Nature Park where another rehabber works out of. Barbara was going to take the barred owl to a vet that works with wildlife the next day. They wanted to make sure his eye would be okay long term. The screech owl was going to rehab at the park where other injured screech owls were living.

Moccasin Lake Park has a raptor sanctuary where permanently injured birds reside. While I was there I was able to spend some time in the hospital room. This little screech owl had the cutest little hum.

This red shoulder hawk had an injured eye and feet. He had just come back from the vet. He was going to be getting well here at the hospital.

The park also has some great hiking trails and a turtle pond. It’s a little bit of nature in the middle of Clearwater and right off of a busy road.

Wild peacocks roam the park here as well and this guy was admiring himself in someone’s bumper.

Some of the permanently injured birds here include a kestral and a swallow tail kite.

The above eagle is missing any eye so he’s always looking to one side.

These two live here. One is blind in one eye and the other is missing a wing. You can hear them having a conversation with the volunteer.

I stopped by the nearby Safety Harbor fishing pier before heading home. It was a beautiful afternoon and not hot yet.

A few days later the barred owl with the injured eye made the trip back to the Raptor Center. The vet had cleared his eye and after a few more days of Nancy putting drops in it the owl will be released.

SkyWatch Friday