More sunrise and birds

On June 20, 2024July 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

Another week in April and another trip down to Fort Desoto Park early in the morning. The beach looks deserted here but there were 20-30 people nearby looking in the bushes for birds.

When I walked out on the beach to get the sunrise picture I noticed a flock of royal terns along the water. It looked like they were pairing up. The males were bringing in fish to give to the ladies and some pairs were doing their mating dance. I didn’t see any actually mating on this morning.

The nanday parakeets were busy in their usual spot along the dead trees on the beach trail.

There wasn’t a lot of migrating birds this morning but I did manage to find a few. An indigo bunting was resting in the mangroves.

Prairie warblers were plentiful this migration.

A male orchard oriole high up in the tree.

We saw this plant with red fruit on it along one of the wooded trails. I don’t remember seeing it before. I think it’s an elliptica yellowwood. Not a Florida native plant but it was pretty. The park has been killing or pulling out all of the non-native plants in the park but they must have missed this one.

I stopped by the East Beach turnaround to look for shorebirds. It was quiet here as the sun was high up at this point.

A cargo ship goes by.

It was windy by the time I was taking my walk on the fishing pier before leaving.

Migration has started

On June 10, 2024July 13, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

Spring migration was just starting in early April (although a few birds have trickled through since mid-March) so I was up before sunrise and made it down to Fort Desoto just as the sun was coming up (the park doesn’t open until 7am so right now we can’t get in before that). I took this on the bridge before the park.

I went straight to East Beach since I heard there was some birds on the trails at that part of the park. Before heading down the trail I stopped on the beach to catch the sun coming up over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. I took all of these with my phone. I figured even if I didn’t see a lot of birds I at least saw an amazing sunrise.

A wood thrush was easy to find on the ground.

Black and white warblers were all over the park.

A rose breasted grosbeak was eating a berry but stayed pretty hidden.

There was a prothonotary warbler right on the trail and he was not shy. He popped out of the bushes and landed right in front of me and seemed to wait for me to take his picture.

My 2nd ever worm eating warbler (the first was in my backyard in 2022). He was a little shy and I waited a while for him to come out in the open.

A prairie warbler.

Hooded warblers were all over the park and it’s usual for them to be the first migrating birds we see here.

I got a brief glimpse of a Kentucky warbler. He was shy and we looked for him for a long time. He looks a lot like the hooded warbler but he has black under his eye instead of under his chin. His head has bumps on it as well so it looks like it’s textured.

I stopped at the gulf fishing pier before leaving and found these two female red breasted mergansers hanging out in front of the stones along the wall.

It’s always fun when spring migration is in full swing although a little exhausting. Getting up early and running around looking for new birds. No rest until mid-May. I always see lots of old birding friends and make some new ones during this time. People in the area thought this spring’s migration was a bit of a dud but I thought it great and saw 5 new birds. More on those later.

Locks and butterflies

On June 6, 2024May 25, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

I didn’t quite make it out to the waterfront in Safety Harbor for sunrise. The sun was already up but not too high. In early April it was still cool in the mornings so I walked around the boardwalk area before heading to Folly Farm to look for butterflies.

People have been putting locks on the cables on the boardwalk. It’s a cute gesture (locking in your love, etc) but it weighs down the cables and is ruining the boardwalk. They get cut off every so often to keep from doing more damage.

I made a stop at nearby Folly Farm. I was hoping to see some early spring migrating birds but had to settle for the butterfly garden being full of butterflies.

I think this is a saltmarsh caterpillar. They turn into pretty white moths.

There were several pupas on the fence. The first is still new and green. The 2nd was about to be a butterfly. Maybe it was coming out that day? You could really see the monarch in it.

Other little critters. That lizard was really rusty looking.

You can usually find bluebirds here since they have several nesting boxes.

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.

Someone was having fun in the blasting wind.

On April 15, 2024May 12, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was really cold in early February. I was headed to Fred Howard Park for a cold walk and didn’t think I would see many birds but I threw my camera in the back anyway. I saw a “gulp” of cormorants out on the rocks along the causeway and after my walk I stopped on the way out to shoot them all resting. The beautiful ring billed gull was a bonus.

Cormorants were flying back and forth and another ring billed gull flew in.

My walk started out on the tiny beach at the park. I walked the little parking lot loop and then started out for the long causeway.

I was on my way back to the beach end when I saw a lone kiteboarder in the water. It was really windy so he had better know what he was doing. I could barely stand up as I walked into the wind back to my car.

He was getting some air.

A short video of him flying through the air right by me (maybe he was showing off?). He makes it look so easy. I took this and the above with my phone.

I made a quick stop at nearby Sunset Beach. I think this is the smallest beach in the Tampa Bay area. This is the entire beach. It was too windy to look for birds so I headed home.

A new bird on a full moon

On February 10, 2024February 1, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

At the end of October I heard there was a new bird in town. A Wilson’s warbler had been sighted at the Largo Nature Preserve. I had never heard of this bird being anywhere in the Tampa bay area. For several days there were tons of people posting sightings of it on Ebird so I finally made it to the preserve.

I took a quick trip around the boardwalk and noticed the moon’s reflection in the water so I took a shot before it went all the way down.

I went to the spot where the Wilson’s had been sighted and saw a few birds hopping around in the brush. I noticed the above with some yellow but I realized it was a Nashville warbler which was also a great migrating bird.

I didn’t wait long for the Wilson’s to hop into sight. A new bird for me. He’s almost all yellow with a black cap on his head. He was easy to spot mixed in with the titmouse and blue gray gnatcatchers. After those few minutes of fun seeing the new bird I went for a walk around the park.

A young purple gallinule was in the pond. This was the first time I have seen one here.

It seemed late for ducks to be mating but I guess since it was still so warm that mating season is almost all year round here in central Florida.

Seeing blue with a blue jay and a blue gray gnatcatcher.

Butterflies were still around.

A cutie on the trail.

A tiny bit of fall with the red leaves coming out.

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.

Always looking for something else

On February 1, 2024January 20, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

The sun was coming up over the north beach at Fort Desoto on the morning I was there looking for white pelicans. I was parked across the water close to where the sun was coming up and had walked around the lagoon to get out to the north end of Outback Key. You have to go wading to get across the the key. Some days it’s ankle deep and some days in knee deep.

I usually have something specific I’m looking for here but I can always find a ton of other things as well. I was heading back from spotting the few white pelicans and ran into a lone whimbrel walking around in the grass on the beach.

The great blue heron was trying to steal this guys bait fish and he chased him off with a fish in his hand. Don’t drop that fish!

A typical scene on the beach. Two great egrets hanging out in the dunes.

Another great blue heron flies by.

A least sandpiper was taking a bath.

Another one (on the far right) was feeding with the sanderlings.

A lesser yellowlegs couple.

A lone marbled godwit digging in the sand.

The beach was covered with jellyfish.

On the pier, a ruddy turnstone was picking at a piece of fish.

Rush hour traffic on the water.

Looking for white pelicans

On January 22, 2024April 15, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography5 Comments

It was getting towards the end of October and I had heard there were white pelicans at Fort Desoto. They come here to spend some time in the winter, feeding in the water around the park. It’s hit or miss whether they will be visible while they visit. Some days they are floating in the main lagoon at the north beach and some days they hide behind the spoil islands. I was driving in right before they open at 7am and made my usual pause on the bridge to snap the above with my phone since no one was behind me.

I made a quick stop at the east beach turnaround to snap the above with my camera. This is the first time I’ve seen the lights on the bridge.

After snapping the bridge I headed to the north beach tip. I saw a few white pelicans way out on a sandbar. The tide was super low this morning and it was a long walk to the tip of Outback Key. There were only a handful of the white pelicans here this morning where there had been hundreds the day before. Where were they all hiding? I hung out for a while hoping a few more would show up but eventually I started making my way back to the main beach.

Something was causing the shorebirds to all take flight. Some of the skimmers landed right in front of me.

I’m not sure what this great egret was eating. It looked pink. After flipping it around a few times he swallowed it whole.

It was easy to spot the lesser black back gull among the smaller shorebirds. He was so much bigger and really stood out.

It was hard to ignore the reddish egret dancing around looking for tiny fish. Especially when they do it right in front of you.

The piping plovers were trying to nap so I snuck around them.

After leaving the beach area and taking a quick walk on the pier I headed back to the beach one more time before heading home. The tide was out even farther and the ripples in the sand led the way to the tip of Outback Key.

I could see some type of barge or boat across from Shell Key.

Now there were even less white pelicans hanging out with the shorebirds. I guess this means another trip down while they are still in the area. More to come on my next trip.

🎵 “Here comes the sun” 🎵

On January 18, 2024January 8, 2024 By dinajohnstonIn Tampa bay sights4 Comments

In early October I was out for an early walk at the Safety Harbor fishing pier area. The sun was just coming up. I’m not often out this early. There’s usually a crowd when it’s not raining but this morning I was one of a few out.

I left the pier and headed for the mangrove boardwalk on the other side of the Safety Harbor Spa hotel.

The views along the walk.

As the sun was coming up higher, the clouds were starting to move in.

By the time I got back to the pier the clouds were moving out and it was going to be a perfect morning. I was glad I made the effort to get out early.