waves

Willet Delight

By |2021-04-25T08:56:16-06:00January 13th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

For those of us; including myself, who are tired of gray, cold days I thought this Willet photographed in Florida might delight in the sweet light, sea foam and warm Gulf waters the image contains.

Adult and juvenile American Oystercatchers feeding side by side

By |2022-05-13T16:44:11-06:00October 27th, 2013|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In 2008 I spent several months during the summer watching an American Oystercatcher family from the time the chicks were tiny until one of the chicks became independent.

Reddish Egret hunting along the Gulf Coast of Florida

By |2020-01-25T12:15:37-07:00September 16th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Recently I posted images of a Tricolored Heron and a Black-bellied Plover where I wrote that I enjoyed images that include habitat, the same could be said about this photo of a Reddish Egret hunting on the shoreline of the Gulf Coast.

Waves and a Forster’s Tern

By |2022-09-13T03:41:54-06:00September 3rd, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Forster's Terns, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The nonbreeding Forster's Tern in these two images is the same bird and the images were taken ten frames and a few seconds apart as the tern stood on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.

Tricolored Heron in Breeding Plumage

By |2021-03-10T08:02:51-07:00June 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.

Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage with prey

By |2023-10-06T13:01:16-06:00November 10th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Tricolored Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

While in breeding plumage Tricolored Herons have redder legs, darker red eyes, blue lores and blue on the bill plus a longer, white occipital plume than they do during the nonbreeding season.

American Oystercatchers in Florida

By |2020-11-06T04:43:37-07:00September 25th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge, Egmont Key State Park, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

4 Years ago today when Hurricane Ike stirred things up at Fort De Soto

By |2020-01-25T05:56:45-07:00September 12th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets, Ring-billed Gulls, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Four years ago today Hurricane Ike was out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and the waves that it generated made a strong splash at Fort De Soto County Park.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron or Orange-eyed Day Heron?

By |2021-07-03T04:02:03-06:00September 4th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Yellow-crowned Night Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Despite having "Night Heron" in their name Yellow-crowned Night Herons (Nyctanassa violacea) are not strictly denizens of the dark, they can and do stalk their prey during the daylight hours too.

Laughing Gull – Small in the Frame

By |2021-08-16T13:37:50-06:00August 5th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Small in the frame|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On the day that I photographed this Laughing Gull either Hurricane Ike or Gustav was out near the center of the Gulf of Mexico that was churning up the water

Willet in the surf of the Gulf of Mexico

By |2021-04-25T10:22:52-06:00July 16th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Getting "Down & Dirty" pays off when photographing shorebirds like this Willet in the surf I photographed in Florida as it walked along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.

Three and a half months with a young American Oystercatcher

By |2021-04-08T03:53:31-06:00July 4th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Nesting Birds, Pinellas County, Wildlife Ethics & Etiquette|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In 2008 I had the great pleasure of observing and photographing a family of American Oystercatchers from the day after the chicks hatched until three and a half months later.

White Morph Reddish Egret in Stormy Light

By |2024-02-07T15:56:53-07:00June 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Snowy Egret hunting in early morning light

By |2021-05-21T07:28:23-06:00June 9th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Snowy Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Light plays a huge part in my photography, I try to be at my location just before the sun comes up or goes down to take advantage of the beautiful light that occurs at those times of the day.

Western Sandpiper on the Go

By |2024-03-21T06:06:31-06:00May 23rd, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Western Sandpipers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It dawned on me this morning that I haven not posted an image of a Western Sandpiper here yet so I pulled this one out of my archives that I photographed at Fort De Soto as the small shorebird ran in front of me on the shoreline.

Snowy Egret – Moody Blues

By |2021-05-21T04:02:43-06:00May 18th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Low light, Pinellas County, Snowy Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This Snowy Egret image was taken just after the sun had risen above the horizon in about the same location as the egret image I posted yesterday but at a completely different time of the year.

Willets – In Utah and Florida

By |2021-09-07T05:36:28-06:00May 3rd, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Utah, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Willets have returned to Utah, on the causeway to Antelope Island hundreds of them can be seen in the shallow water. They seem to spend some time there fattening up after migration before they get down to the serious business of mating and rearing their young.

Reddish Egret Being Shadowed by Laughing Gulls

By |2020-01-25T04:34:44-07:00April 23rd, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

There were two Reddish Egrets (Egretta rufescens) on the north beach of Fort De Soto that day and it was a blast to watch them race around catching the small fish.

American Oystercatcher – Friday Photos

By |2020-11-06T06:18:55-07:00April 13th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These two photos are of the same adult American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) in sequential order taken at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida. I was laying in the sand while I created the images to get a low angle and the bird was on a ridge elevated slightly higher than my location.

American Oystercatcher Feeding

By |2020-11-06T06:16:53-07:00March 12th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've always liked this photo because it shows how this American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) is using its long bill to pry open a shell.

American Oystercatchers Feeding

By |2022-07-06T17:56:26-06:00February 19th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was laying down in the wet sand with my lens about an inch from the surface of the beach when I photographed these shorebirds, one needs to watch out for those rogue waves because they don't only wash away the bird's prey... they can soak your lens & camera too!

Reddish Egrets

By |2020-01-25T08:30:12-07:00November 10th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

While I lived in Florida I took thousands (and thousands) of images of Reddish Egrets and I am very glad that I did because they are rarities in Utah, where I now live.

Sanderlings – Tiny Dynamos

By |2022-12-28T06:35:01-07:00October 5th, 2011|Categories: Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Honeymoon Island State Park, Sanderlings|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Sanderlings can be a challenge to photograph because they move erratically at a very fast pace but creating images of them at their level is well worth the trouble of getting dirty and being exhausted by trying to follow the movements of these tiny dynamos.

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