Boat trip in Tampa Bay - Skywatch Friday

Hubby getting the boat ready. He didn't realize he had a visitor sitting by the lamp watching him. This is the first time I've seen an egret get so close. I guess he heard the boat motor and thought we were coming back with some fish.

Ibis and 2 laughing gulls fighting over a dead horseshoe crab.

Spotted sandpiper bobbing up and down the beach. He stayed pretty far away.

Osprey looking for lunch. That's the Bucs football stadium behind the airport parking deck in the background. We were on the other side of the bay.

Mallards swimming by.

Osprey catching a fish in the bay.

I noticed this bulldozer tearing down mangroves along the water.  I thought it was now illegal to do that. Not sure what they're doing.

Tampa from across the bay.

We took our boat out recently and heading for a small lagoon near the St. Petersburg/Clearwater airport. It's usually quiet there and we rarely see any other boats. There's a small beach there and we call it the "horseshoe crab graveyard". The beach is always littered with dead horseshoe crabs. I don't know why they end up here. Maybe the tide and the way the waves are flowing. Sometimes there are shorebirds hanging around. We anchored and swam over to the beach and walked around. Although, as soon as we start swimming onto shore the shorebirds take off. I hate scaring them away from their small piece of paradise. Last time we were there it was still a little cold and the water near the beach was full of stingrays so I stayed in the boat. I'm all for the stingray shuffle but when there's not even an inch to put your feet down I get creeped out. We stayed for a while and watched the small commuter planes land and take off at the small airport. I was a little disappointed we didn't seen any dolphins or manatees this trip.

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