Baby skimmers growing up

The baby black skimmer colony on Redington Shores beach is growing up. They'll all be gone in another month or two. There were only a few that were still small. The rest looked like the one above, almost grown up. It's so funny to watch them dig a little hole and lay down to sleep in the hole. They seem to do well on this busy little beach. Hopefully, they'll be back next year.

Skywatch Friday - Storm at the pier

I headed over to Redington Shores one day last week after work to see how the baby skimmers were growing. It started out sunny but then the storms moved in not long after I had gotten there. It's been raining every day lately. At this point there weren't too many people on the beach. The shorebirds and pelicans were having a nice quiet time.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/.

Oystercatcher couple giving me the eye.

Parent royal tern feeding it's baby.

Young royal tern.

These guys stayed close together. I'm guessing it's a royal tern family. One of the parents is in the back with the bright orange beak. The 3 up front look like first year terns. They make a nice family.

Loggerhead shrike 1, Dragonfly 0

I was driving into the parking lot at the fishing pier at Fort Desoto and noticed a strange looking bird sitting on the utility wire. I thought "Wow, that's a loggerhead shrike." You don't see them very often in this area. I drove over to it and parked and got out of my car with my camera. He was holding some kind of dragonfly. He seemed to enjoy having me watch him eat his catch. After he gulped down the dragonfly he cleaned his beak on the wire and then flew away.

Interesting things at Fort Desoto

This was an interesting sight. He was paddling in the north beach lagoon. It was pretty shallow there.

Yes, another dragonfly picture.


Someone had made a shell tree and the dragonflies were all landing on it.


Cute little plover running around.


First time I've seen a bunny at Ford Desoto. He was at the north beach.

One night last week I stopped off at Fort Desoto after work. Yea, it's on the way home if I take a 35 minute detour. It was hot and not crowded. There weren't many birds there. Only a few willets and plovers (besides the usually laughing gulls). The park is still full of dragonflies. They were everywhere. The highlight of the trip was having the bunny jump out from some mangroves. He sat there eating grass in front of me. I heard the long billed curlew has been hanging around the north beach lagoon again so I'm going to have to head back down there soon to find him.

Stork thinks he's a reddish egret

I was at Fort Desoto recently watching the below reddish egret to see if he would do anything funny. Reddish egrets usually dance around in the water when they are feeding. They use their wings to shade the water so they can see the fish better and it looks like they are dancing. He must have already eaten because he barely moved for a long time. I noticed a wood stork hanging around the egret. It almost seemed like he was copying the egret. I've never seen a stork raise his wings up and down when he was feeding. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe he was trying to impress his friend.

Limpkin nest

Mom limpkin eyeing me from the nest. I was standing on the boardwalk.

She stood up to stretch and you could see the eggs.

She was looking at the eggs. Think she was counting them?

Later the other parent showed up.

I had heard there was a limpkin nest near the boardwalk at Lake Seminole Park. They had built a nest out in the water on a shallow section that had reeds growing on it. The eggs incubate for 27 days. Since I'm not sure when these were laid, I may have to check back several times to see when the babies are born. I've never seen limpkin babies so I'm excited to see them grow up. Although they have some odds against them. It's now rainy season and it's been raining hard every night. That area may flood. There are also alligators that live in that lake. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Below is why the limpkins hang out near that end of the lake. Lots of apple snail eggs were all around there. Limpkins eat apple snails, as well as frogs and bugs.

Skywatch Friday - Big ball of fire

Another stop on the Courtney Campbell Causeway late last week provided a great sunset. As the sun was getting closer to the ground it kept getting bigger and bigger. Of course, this week it's been raining every night on the way home. My husband loves to say "We need the rain". I tell him "That sounds like something an old person would say." When we lived in a townhouse we didn't have to worry about the yard. Now that we have a house with a yard my husband wants it to rain all the time.

For more skyscape photography from around the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/.