Reflections

On December 6, 2025January 3, 2026 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography1 Comment

At the end of August I went to Honeymoon Island to look for a fairly rare bird. A Wilson’s Phalarope had been sighted there two days before. There have been sightings of them a few times before in the area and I keep missing them. Their range is west of Mississippi but occasionally one ends up here for a short time. The above are not it, although they are the same shape and size. These are dowitchers and are common here. They were posing nicely for me in a puddle in the parking lot.

Roseate spoonbills were napping in another pond near the bushes and created a pretty reflection.

Another bird that looks like the one I was hoping for but also not it is the lesser yellowlegs. He was feeding along the sand and also created a nice reflection.

There were several kildeer nearby.

After waiting about an hour with several other people looking for the rare bird I took a walk down the beach to get some exercise in.

It was a hot day and soon the beach would be filled with people.

I did not get the rare bird and it wasn’t seen again so it stays on my list of “birds I still haven’t gotten”. I stopped by the nature center before leaving the park and stood out on the elevated deck enjoying the slight breeze up high.

Tiny rare babies growing up on the beach

On August 16, 2025September 6, 2025 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

It was May 1st and I was back at Fort Desoto Park early. The sun was already up when I drove over the bridge into the park. I had a feeling the oystercatcher eggs might have hatched earlier this week so I wanted to get out on the beach early.

I had a short hike out to the oystercatcher nest but I got distracted by the spoonbills feeding in the tidal pool just off the parking lot. There were also several tricolored herons feeding.

I don’t see yellowlegs here often so I had to stop for a shot of it as well.

I made it out to the nesting area and the babies were already on the move. The area had been roped off so people wouldn’t trample through the nesting area and the parents were feeding the babies inside the roped area. There were three eggs but only two hatched. One hatched late Tuesday, one hatched Wednesday and I was there early Thursday morning.

They were so tiny and hard to spot across the roped off area. They stayed close to the parents as one parent would take off and then come back 5-10 minutes later with food. I was taking these with my 180-600mm zoom lens and they are cropped so they were really far away.

As we waited for the parents to bring in food to the babies we got distracted by the reddish egrets coming by including the white morph one.

Skimmers flying by.

Mom had a juicy piece of food in her beak, maybe a piece of clam.

After a while the babies got tired and plopped down for a long nap so I headed out. There were a handful of photographers there and several bird stewards watching the area so people don’t get too close. The bird stewards are all volunteers and keep watch over the nest and these rare babies while they grow up making sure they are safe from the tourist crowds.

There was an osprey nest in between the beach and the parking lot so I stopped for a few minutes and caught both babies looking at Mom.

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.

A 4 stop road trip morning

On June 15, 2023June 13, 2023 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography6 Comments

It was an early morning in April and I was looking for a new bird. A great-tailed grackle had been spotting in St. Pete somewhere in the North Shore Park area.

I found this guy but it was a boat-tailed grackle. The only real difference between the two are the color of the eyes. The boat-tailed has black eyes and the great-tailed has yellow eyes. Their call is also different.

There he was, right in the parking lot near the pool. Those bright yellow eyes gave him away. He was right in the area where people had been spotting him. I haven’t heard of one being in the Tampa Bay area before. They are found on the western part of the country so he was far off course.

Meanwhile, this Cooper’s hawk was there as well, looking at me like I was crazy.

I noticed the trees were blooming.

I’m not sure if squirrels can eat these big balls hanging from the palm tree but this one seem to be hiding in them.

I made a quick stop at nearby Crescent Lake Park to see if the white pelicans were still hanging around the lake. I only saw 2 of them on this visit. I don’t know if the other ones were somewhere else in the park or if they had already headed north for the summer.

Another quick stop on the way home and I found some black-necked stilts and yellowlegs. They were all hanging out along the ditches near the waste plant. It was still a little early for stilt babies.

My final stop of the morning (but really only a quick drive through) was of the peacock neighborhood. There’s a neighborhood in Clearwater that has tons of wild peacocks roaming the yards. I had recently heard there was an all white one there so I drove through looking for it. I found it but more on that later.

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.

A walk after work

On May 20, 2019May 21, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

Baby ducks were everywhere on my walk around Carillon Park after work in late April. It looks like those baby moorhens were sitting on cotton in the first picture but that is some kind of algae growing in the lake.

There was also a limpkin trying to feed 2 little babies.

A few of the other birds on my walk. A yellowlegs, a parrot eating something high in a tree and an anhinga with a snack.

Other critters at the lake.

Cool morning at Circle B Bar Reserve

On November 17, 2014November 18, 2014 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography11 Comments

The very common palm warbler. They were falling from the sky. I’ll try not to take too many pictures of them this winter, even though they are the most accommodating birds.

Even though you can’t see his legs in this shot, this is a yellowlegs. He’s a shorebird that should be at the beach. He was all alone in a small marsh.

Another missed baby black bellied whistling duck opportunity. They were far out in the marsh and getting ready for a nap. They were probably going to stay in that spot for hours.

I counted six but I think there were more hiding in the reeds.

Phoebes where everywhere and you could hear that distinct call all over the reserve.

This common yellowthroat sat still for 20 seconds. Long enough for me to get the above. Then he took off.

A barred owl was sleeping close to the trail and everyone was stopping to watch him. He would not wake up and he was hidden behind a lot of branches. We kept going down trail and an hour later when we came back, he was still sleeping.

“This is how I eat my dinner. Bang the fish on the branch so he won’t wiggle when he goes down my throat.”

Yes, I have a ton of blue-gray gnatcatcher shots. But they are so cute and there were so many of them.

The great blue heron doesn’t bang his fish before swallowing. He flips it over a few times and swallows it wiggling.

More of the usual stuff from Circle B Bar Reserve. The first weekend in November was perfect. Although we were a little cold starting out. 50 degrees at 8am. I didn’t even take my jacket off until we got in the car at noon.

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Black neck stilt with his reflection

On May 26, 2012May 26, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography11 Comments

These were taken a few weeks ago at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland. The black necked stilts usually stay far away from the trails. In the past, I have only seen them way out across the marsh. For some reason on this morning, one of them was feeding very close to the trail. Right in front of the main intersection. He stayed busy not paying attention to the long line of photographers taking pictures of him. He kept getting closer and closer. I was glad it was a nice clear morning and not a ripple on the water.

Camera Critters

Looking for baby sandhill cranes – Skywatch Friday

On May 3, 2012April 24, 2012 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography10 Comments

My goal for my recent trip to Circle B was to find the baby sandhill cranes that had eluded us the weekend before. As soon as I walked out on the trail, I saw the family far out in the middle of marsh.

The family was moving quickly towards the tree line away from the trail. Both babies were there but I could only get a few quick pictures of one before they were gone in the tall grass.

Hairy or downy woodpecker?

Palm warblers were everywhere that morning.

Yellowlegs walking by a handful of blue winged teals. I love the purple tint on the teal on the far right. They were keeping an eye on the shorebird.

Typical Florida great blue heron picture. He was sitting high up in a tree on Alligator Alley. He has this determined look on his face.

Early in the morning the sun was coming through the famous dead trees at the beginning of Marsh Rabbit Run trail. These trees usually have black bellied whistling ducks, woodpeckers or egrets sitting on them. This morning they were empty.

Just a few shots of a recent trip out to the reserve to look for the sandhill crane babies. This was taken several weeks ago so they are probably pretty big by now. I was glad I caught a few seconds of them before they headed out.

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