Landing Black Skimmer
Black Skimmers are known by several nicknames which include scissorbills, knifebill and cut-water for how their bills slice through the water when they are hunting and how their bills snap shut on prey.
Nonbreeding Plumage Black Skimmer
When I did my post the other day on "Missing Fort De Soto" I found this Black Skimmer image in my archives while looking for photos to put in that post and wanted to share it.
Snowy Plovers – North America’s Smallest Plover
A while back I did a post on the Least Sandpiper which is the world's smallest sandpiper so I thought I would do a post about North America's smallest plover, the Snowy Plover.
Why Do They Call Them Laughing Gulls?
Laughing Gulls are quite noisy when they are in a flock but I never minded listening to them, in fact they often made me laugh.
Adult American Oystercatcher Among Sea Purslane
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.
Royal Tern Over
Royals Terns make amazing dive bombs for their prey which are usually small baitfish running close to the surface and sometimes if you are lucky you get to see them "Tern Over" in mid air.
Semipalmated Plover Image And A Critique
Besides, to have gotten any lower than the Semipalmated Plover I would have had to have crawled down the burrow of one of those crabs
Spot The Sandpiper On The Seawall
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.
Gulf Coast Whimbrel
Among the shorebirds I enjoyed seeing and photographing while I lived in Florida were Whimbrels, I could see flocks of 25 or more during the winter along the coast.
Tricolored Heron Striking At Prey
I am intrigued by how these herons evolved to have long necks that give them the ability to make lightning fast strikes at their prey some distance from their bodies.
Reddish Egret Morphs
These two Reddish Egrets; a dark and a white morph, were photographed on the same day at Fort De Soto's north beach in May of 2009 and both of them were showing signs of being in breeding plumage.
Roseate Spoonbill In Evening Light
Evening can have marvelous light too though as shown in the Roseate Spoonbill image above that I photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a tidal lagoon.
Red Knot In Early Morning Light
A simple image of a Red Knot taken in Florida in early morning light. Morning has been; and is, my favorite time of day to photograph birds and other wildlife because the rising sun can add drama and a warm glow to whatever subject I am photographing.
Sanderlings In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage
Sanderlings look very different in appearance during breeding season and winter and novice birders might even think they are two different species.
The Ant Slaying Snowy Plover
While photographing this Snowy Plover in June of 2008 I was able to observe the tiny shorebird snatch an ant from the sugar sand of the north beach of Fort De Soto.
Royal Terns In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage
Just a simple post today to show the differences in the breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Royal Terns.
Tricolored Heron Twist
Maybe the Tricolored Heron thought Monday might look better upside down? Just a bit of humor for a Monday.
American Oystercatchers in Florida
I don't get to see or photograph Oystercatchers here in Utah but I still dream about these shorebirds and can hear their calls when I look at the thousands of images I took of them.
Tricolored Heron In Seafoam
I photographed this Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) a few years ago when I still lived in Florida.
Caspian Terns
Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) are North America's largest tern with a wingspan of 50 inches and weighing in at 1.4 pounds.
Bathing Laughing Gull in breeding plumage
I photographed this adult Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) in breeding plumage while it bathed in the shallow waters of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto's north beach a few years ago.
Reddish Egret At Low Tide
This adult Reddish Egret was going into breeding plumage, it has the pink and black bi-colored bill and the lores are turning bluish purple.
Dunlins In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage
Dunlins exhibit a vast difference between nonbreeding and breeding plumage, so different that a novice birder might mistakenly believe that they were two different species.
Little Blue Heron On The Hunt
This Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) was photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a shallow lagoon the edge of a marsh in late afternoon light.
Landing Wood Stork
Wood Storks (Mycetaria americana) are the largest wading bird in North America and the only stork that breeds in the U.S.. Wood Storks are considered endangered primarily due to loss of habitat.
Reddish Egret With Lunch
I photographed this Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) in October of 2008 at Fort De Soto's north beach.
Ole Blue Eyes – White Ibis
I think it is great to see a bird with sea blue eyes feeding along a shoreline with water nearly of nearly the hue.
Odd Black Skimmer Behavior
The Black Skimmer had a Mangrove seed pod in its bill and it was twirling the seed pod with its bill, at times the seed pod even went over the top of the bill but unfortunately I didn't get any images of that.
White Morph Reddish Egret in Stormy Light
In my two previous posts of a Snowy Egret and a Great Egret I mentioned how the early morning light and a nearby storm gave those images a feeling of drama. These white morph Reddish Egret images were taken that same morning not long after I created the Great Egret photos.
American Herring Gulls
Two Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) at different stages of life, one an adult in breeding plumage, the other an immature gull in flight.