Look at that face! It’s not often you get this close up to a dolphin. After our dolphin boat tour my sister and I stopped at the nearby Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter the dolphin who lost his tail (The movie Dolphin Tale was about him and filmed here). They rescue, rehabilitate and house (if needed) permanently injured dolphins, turtles, otters and other sea critters. This huge turtle had lost his back legs. This turtle was hit by a boat and lost his ability to submerge properly. He swims around with his butt in the air. Some of the turtles that are rehabilitating and will be r ..read more

My sister and I were out at Sand Key beach early in the morning to look for shells since we had a 10am dolphin tour booked nearby.  We didn’t find a lot of shells at this beach compared to Honeymoon Island but I did find some interesting clam shells. The 1st one looks like it had the insides coming out. I couldn’t tell if it was alive but the tide was coming in and would wash it back out.  The next two are front and back of another shell I picked up. It had a lot of things living on it. The barnacles were still alive so I tossed it back in the water. At the Clearwater marina, waiti ..read more

After the loss of both great horned owl parents (and babies) in 2022 in a nearby park from rat poison I was hesitant to stop by when I heard a new couple had moved into the nest tree. New owls met and paired up last year and hung around the nest for several months but did not have babies. I never did make it over there because I was still heart broken after the loss of the family the year before. The locals named them Odie and Dory (named after Odet Philippe and his wife Dorothy who were the first settlers in Safety Harbor and brought grapefruit to the area). This year I heard they were back ..read more

It was a beautiful cool morning in February when I headed out to Folly Farm in Safety Harbor. I didn’t think there would be a lot of birds there but I can usually count on seeing little flying critters. There was a red shoulder hawk sitting right out in the open in the middle of the butterfly garden. He was all fluffed up and looked a little chilly. A few minutes later I saw him fly over to a palm tree next to the nature center. I could see a nest and another hawk sitting in the nest. The other hawk kept flying back and forth with sticks, bringing them to the nest. He found a big one on th ..read more

While my sisters were visiting in late February we drove over to Disney Spring early for some shopping (mostly looking though and getting a good walk in) and lunch. We decided to break up our 2 hour drive home by stopping at Lake Morton (aka Swan Lake) in Lakeland and get out to look around. There were only 2 baby swans from a black swan couple but there were a lot of nests. Redheads and ring neck ducks are easy to find in the winter. There were several that were swimming close to the edge of the lake. A young ring billed gull sits on top of one of the swan food feeders that sit on the edge ..read more

I went back to Sand Key Park (in Clearwater) in early February to see if I could spot the rare western flycatcher that has been hanging around there for several months. I had heard it was still there but finding it wouldn’t be easy. I didn’t get there super early. It was after 8 and just a few minutes after I arrived I saw it in the bushes. On my last trip I briefly saw the back of it and then searched for it for an hour without seeing it again so I was happy to see it so quick this trip. There were usual birds there as well. A lot of catbirds and blue gray gnatchatchers. After finding the ..read more

I finally made it to the Tampa airport to see the big flamingo statue. It’s really big and right in the middle of the airport.  I was there picking up my sisters. Both were in town for a week of Florida fun. We had a busy week doing tourist things and eating a lot. Our first stop was the Manatee Viewing Center at the electric plant. They had put in a new dock that goes half way across the channel. The electric plant seemed so big seeing it this close. It was much better seeing the manatees close up as they swam under the dock to get to the inside of the channel. The view from the old d ..read more

I was on my way to Crescent Lake Park but stopped at nearby North Shore Park first to get a glimpse of the sun coming up over the bay. It was a beautiful morning in late January but also chilly and there wasn’t any birds on the beach. I saw the white pelicans right when I got to Crescent Lake Park. Only about half of them were still there and I was thinking they would be gone before I made it back down here again. Luckily a few of them were right at the edge and I was able to see them close up. I stopped at the Safety Harbor fishing pier on the way home. It was cloudy when I first got there ..read more

Almost 2 weeks after my first trip down to Fort Desoto to see the baby great horned owls I was back at the park. It wasn’t as cold and windy this trip. The babies should be much bigger and I thought I would be able to see them quickly but I didn’t at first. Mom leaned over and out popped one of the babies from under her wing. The babies at this age are pretty funny looking, almost like an alien. Baby was looking up at Mom as she was preening. I walked around to the side to see the baby better but I was shooting straight into the sun. And, I was standing in the woods and getting eaten alive ..read more

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 ..read more