Fort De Soto County Park

Adult American Oystercatcher Among Sea Purslane

By |June 27th, 2013|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I like to include habitat in my images when I am able to do so, especially when the habitat doesn't obstruct the view of my subject or when the habitat helps to define a sense of place.

Tricolored Heron in Breeding Plumage

By |June 23rd, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Tricolored Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was digging through my image files yesterday and came across a series of Tricolored Heron images that I had never edited from a May morning in 2009 when I was photographing birds at Fort De Soto's north beach.

Please… Give Nests And Chicks Respect

By |May 30th, 2013|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Nesting Birds, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Fluffy little chicks are adorable, they make people "ohh" and "aww" and those that hit the ground running not long after hatching are especially appealing to some folks. But they need respect and they need space so we don't endanger them.

Bubble, Bubble, Oil is Trouble

By |May 29th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Summertime is upon us now and with it comes loads of people participating in outdoor activities like hiking, sports, camping and activities on the water. Everyone looks forward to warmer weather after winter but some of those activities can impact birds and wildlife.

Eastern Willet in flight at Fort De Soto

By |May 28th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There are two subspecies of Willets which Western and Eastern, here in Utah I only see the Western subspecies but in Florida I could see both during the course of a year.

Tricolored Herons Times Three

By |May 26th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Tricolored Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I actually like the backgrounds in each of these images, all of them show the habitat that Tricolored Herons might be found in and highlight the birds too.

Adult And Juvenile White Ibis

By |May 20th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, White Ibises|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

White Ibis can be strange looking birds to people who have never seen them before, they have soft, sky blue eyes, skinny legs, long necks and a bill that could be compared to Jimmy Durante's nose.

Spot The Sandpiper On The Seawall

By |May 5th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Spotted Sandpipers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

It really isn't too hard to spot this Spotted Sandpiper on the seawall, I just thought it was a catchy title. I saw my FOY (first of year) Spotted Sandpiper this past week and that got me excited.

Mountain Plovers – Comparing two similar looking species

By |April 23rd, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-bellied Plovers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Killdeer, Mountain Plovers, Pinellas County, Rarities, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There are a few similar species that occur in Utah and surrounding states that could be confused with Mountain Plovers.

Earth Day 2013

By |April 22nd, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Coyotes, Dragonflies, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets, Roosevelt Wetlands, Utah, Wildlife, Zion National Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I wanted to share these images because today is Earth Day.

Ruddy Turnstone and a Laughing Gull

By |April 18th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Ruddy Turnstones|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Five years ago today I was laying in the warm wet sands of Fort De Soto County Park's north beach as the salty water from the Gulf of Mexico soaked my skin while photographing a Ruddy Turnstone doing what they do best, turning things.

Shades of Blue – Wildflowers, Birds, Sky and Sea

By |April 17th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Honeymoon Island State Park, Lazuli Buntings, Little Blue Herons, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, San Rafael Swell area, St. Thomas, USVI, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last week I was Thinking Pink so this week I thought I would focus on the shades of blues found in wildflowers, birds, the sky and seas.

Thinking Pink – Birds, Sky, and Flowers

By |April 8th, 2013|Categories: Auckland, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Roseate Spoonbills, Scenics|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm not sure why I wanted to do a post using images with pinks but here they are, a flower, a bird and pink kissed clouds.

Today on On the Wing Photography

By |April 3rd, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Loggerhead Shrikes, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Who knew that one day my photos would be in a book published by National Geographic? I am truly honored.

Marbled Godwit On Fort De Soto’s North Beach

By |March 8th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Marbled Godwits, Shorebirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Several years ago while I was photographing at Fort De Soto's beautiful north beach I saw a Marbled Godwit flying in with a dark tubeworm in its bill and took a few images of it from a distance.

Brown Pelicans on the Gulf of Mexico

By |February 20th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The forecast is calling for snow today and there is already a heavy cloud cover so looked back through my files and found some Brown Pelican images taken on a warm February morning in Florida to post today.

Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork Size Comparison

By |February 15th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This photo shows a Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork on the shoreline of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and it shows how the Wood Stork can dwarf the Roseate Spoonbill in height.

Sandwich Terns – Love Is In The Air

By |February 14th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Sandwich Terns|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I can recall clearly the day I took this photograph of Sandwich Terns mating. I was sitting very low in a tidal lagoon on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida.

Great Blue Herons In Florida And Utah

By |February 13th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Pinellas County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Great Blue Herons are year round residents in both Florida and Utah although conditions during the winter months can be starkly different for these large wading birds in the two locations and climates.

Breeding plumage Tricolored Heron in flight

By |February 5th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Tricolored Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I've always liked this image of a Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage that flew past me while I sat in the water of a tidal lagoon near a Spartina marsh in Florida. Warm water, a sea breeze, birds, nature and photography.

Different Plumage Phases Of Red-breasted Merganser Drakes

By |February 4th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-breasted Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Awhile back someone told me that Mergansers don't change their plumage seasonally, which is of course incorrect as all three species of mergansers that live in North America do.

Bird Images From Warmer And Sunnier Days

By |January 31st, 2013|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Snowy Egrets, White Ibises|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I love winter, I love seeing snow on the mountains and feeling the crispness in the air but I am getting tired of gray cloudy days and heavy fog so I thought I would post a few bird images from warmer and sunnier days that I took while I lived in Florida.

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