Pier Pressure
Header Image: Brown Pelicans
Our morning at Fort DeSoto Park had been wonderful so far. Birds in the mud. Birds in the water. Now that I was clean and dry less muddy and no longer dripping, Gini and I headed for the Gulf fishing pier.
The park consists of a little over 1300 acres. Although not a huge area, it is ecologically diverse and attracts a multitude of wildlife. Over seven miles of waterfront offers many opportunities for recreation and provides food and shelter for many different birds. Nearly 330 species of birds have been logged here. The park is actually five interconnected islands, or keys. Two long piers offer those without a boat a chance to enjoy fishing. One pier juts several hundred feet into the Gulf of Mexico while the second extends into the Tampa Bay shipping channel. The latter is currently under construction as the original, built in the 1940’s, needed replacement.
Remains of the actual fort are adjacent to the Gulf pier and there are plenty of parking spots, picnic tables, rest rooms, a snack bar and beach front. In the many trees around the area one can find a nice variety of birds at any time of year. We spotted an Osprey nest with an adult probably incubating eggs and another adult nearby keeping an eye on us. Woodpeckers, European Starlings, Great Crested Flycatchers, Mourning and Common Ground Dove, Northern Mockingbirds – all enjoying the breeze blowing in from the Gulf of Mexico.
Walking along the pier is essentially like “wading” into the Gulf without getting wet. Not to mention that actual wading would turn into “swimming” a few feet from shore whereas now we could stroll several hundred feet “into” the water. The structure of the pier is a magnet for small fish and crustaceans which, in turn, attract larger fish looking for a meal. Birds target the perimeter of the pier as they splash into schools of small fish.
Today we mainly saw Brown Pelicans, Caspian Terns, Laughing Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants, Great and Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Herons. Birds have learned that hanging around human fishermen offers plenty of feeding opportunities, from being tossed an unwanted catch to part of a ham sandwich to stealing bait from an untended bucket.
The cries of gulls and terns in the bright Florida sun made us feel right at home. By far, however, the best sound of the day was the squealing and laughter of children as they pulled in a silvery fish over the railing of the pier. No pressure. Just pure pier fun!
An occupied Osprey nest atop a pine tree was decorated with a variety of branches, seaweed and even a bit of anchor rope. Nearby, a second adult gave us the evil eye.
Royal Terns fly around the pier all day diving into the waters every several minutes for small minnow-sized fish.
Near the pier entrance, a female Red-bellied Woodpecker flew in, crest raised and squawking about something. She calmed down, fixed her hair and consented to a portrait.
A Snowy Egret must have thought I had a snack hiding in my camera as he flew in and perched on the pier rail a few feet away. He didn’t stay long as there was more opportunity for a handout a short distance away.
Brown Pelicans enjoy the shelter of the pier and a group of adjacent rocks. Plenty of spots to rest, preen and feed. Immature birds are brown all over and it will be up to three years before they attain the white head of an adult.
A day at Fort DeSoto is always a special treat for us. Just enjoying the sun and salt air is invigorating. Throw in some outstanding birding and photography opportunities and we have a hard time leaving. However, the lure of a fresh seafood lunch not too far from here convinced us it was time to go. We shall return.
Enjoy your search for a natural place and come back for a visit!
Our Natural Places 
That pelican sequence is great, Wally. You are fortunate to have so many locations to choose from and all with the promise of various and wonderful sightings.
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Thank you, Steve.
We really are blessed with opportunities.
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Another inspiring post Wally. Fort DeSoto is a treasure!
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Arrrrrr! Me loves huntin’ fer treasure!
It’s a great place to explore any time of year. Thank you, Ed!
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You make going out in this heat sound like fun. AND…it has to be more fun than cleaning house. I’ve stayed inside trying to get things in order so that when the weather breaks I can break out of this place! lol Love the Snowy Egret. I’ve only seen those a few times. Take care and stay safe! Enjoy your Sunday! Diane
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Thank you, Diane!
We have sunshine and humidity in our veins.
Also, one of us has a serious allergy to “cleaning house” and must keep a significant distance for health reasons.
Good luck with you plans to escape your situation. Although, a break in Florida’s weather may take awhile!
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Thank you for taking us along the pier. I love all your bird photos, as you know, but found the different Brown Pelican poses particularly enthralling today. They are such great flyers and just fun to watch.
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You are welcome, Tanja.
Those Pelicans beat television any day!
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Absolutely!
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Beautiful shots! I hope you were able to see some dolphins there as well.
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Thank you, Dina.
Flipper sent a memo that I was visiting and all the dolphins went to Egmont Key. I think he did it on —– porpoise.
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Love these shots, I’ll have to enjoy wildlife photography variously through you for the rest of summer likely fall as well. Made it to Ft Pickens this year, will definitely add this fort next time we are around there.
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Thank you very much!
Sure hope your recovery goes well. Don’t try to rush it though. Don’t want to do too much too soon.
Florida, and the entire bird world, will wait for your.
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I love all the photos but especially the brown pelicans diving. And your water there is an amazing color. We hope to make it back to Florida one day. Last time we were there we went to Sanibel Island. They got hit pretty hard with that last hurricane. Hopefully they are rebuilding with all the other beautiful areas of Florida.
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Thank you, Sandra.
Pelicans are fun!
Sanibel Island, as well as the rest of that area hit so hard, is rebuilding at a good pace. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge has re-opened and is always a great spot for birds.
Have a good weekend!
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Good to hear Wally, 😊
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Wally, great photos of our feathers friends. And quite a variety of species as well. Though it’s still funny for me to see woodpeckers on palm trees.
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Thanks, Brad.
Woodpeckers are a bit like me. Attracted to palm trees ’cause we’re nuts about ’em.
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In an interesting way, we’re pier peers. In the yacht club where I’m currently working, at the end of a rather long pier that’s adjacent to a couple of turning basins, the birds are abundant. In fact, yesterday I noticed Brown Pelicans, Terns, Laughing Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants, Great and Snowy Egrets, a lone Great Blue Heron and a Green Heron that seems to prefer ‘my’ boat’s dock lines for a fishing perch. Recognize the list?
I especially enjoyed the Brown Pelican photos. There are days when the birds dive near to me for hours at a time. I’m not sure what they’re finding; I often see Gar, Sheepshead, and Mullet, but they might be after something else, especially given the size of the Gar and Sheepshead.
Isn’t it great to come across flocks of children again? I have an opinion or two about what we did to our kids during the Covid panic, but I’ll spare you, and just enjoy the thought of those kids on the pier pulling in hours of enjoyment and fun.
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Any structure in the water will attract small things looking for shelter. Small things attract larger things which tend to want to eat the small things. Whether it’s rocks, seaweed or a pier, life in the water abounds around structure.
Children, as it has always been, are the future. What they are taught is critical. By “taught”, I don’t mean only in the school room. Gini’s wise observation has always been that we are an example to someone every day. When that someone is a child, our actions take on a crucial role in shaping our society.
The laughter of a child is a gauge for measuring the overall health of that child. More laughter, please!
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Really excellent photos, a real treat (wurst fest!). That brown pelican diving so close the rocks looks alarming, but they actually don’t dive deep, they turn their head underwater, to brake their acceleration, so can dive from heights into shallow water.
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Thanks, Sam!
It was fun watching all the fishing going on by humans, dolphins and birds.
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So many ‘WOW!’ moments in this post of yours, Wally, that I’m going to have to go and lie down for a while. What an utterly amazing place to visit!
All is good here, and I hope that the same can be said for you both.
Take good care – – – Richard
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Thank you, Richard. We said “WOW” more than a few times during the morning!
Gini and I are doing well and send our best wishes to you and Lindsay.
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What an abundance of birds and water fowl! You must have enjoyed your time. I super adore the Brow Pelicans.
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Yes! We really did enjoy our time.
Watching the birds flying and diving and feeding and preening – our kind of day.
Thank you again for visiting with us.
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I adore pelicans. Their dinosaur ancestory is so evident. We don’t have brown ones so it was a treat to see yours. Thank you.
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We are fortunate to have plenty of Brown and American White Pelicans here. It’s so interesting to see their different fishing techniques. The Browns use the direct approach and dive into a school of fish. The Whites swim in a group to form a circle and “herd” the fish in between them and then gorge.
Have a great day!
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You caught the pelican in what seems a dramatic plunge, and the heron and the tern in graceful airborne configurations. They say that one good tern deserves another, but I guess we weren’t deserving of a second picture.
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Instead of taking its picture, I offered the second bird a sausage for breakfast. Yes, I took a tern for the wurst.
It was a fun day.
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In the worst case that must have been a change from the Diet of Worms.
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