{"id":2815,"date":"2011-07-26T08:08:49","date_gmt":"2011-07-26T14:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2815"},"modified":"2025-03-25T14:04:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T19:04:41","slug":"reddish-egret-aka-big-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/26\/reddish-egret-aka-big-red\/","title":{"rendered":"Reddish Egret – aka Big Red"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ReddishReddish Egret portrait at Fort De Soto\u2019s north beach – Nikon D200, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine that the temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit, pretty hot even by Florida\u2019s standards for March. Then imagine that the humidity is about 97%. You get out of your air-conditioned vehicle to take a short walk to the beach & lagoons, and before you get even the equivalent of one city block, you are drenched with sweat, rivulets coming down your face and getting into your eyes.<\/p>\n

Your clothes are damp, and the sugar sand is beginning to stick to your ankles because of the perspiration that is there.<\/p>\n

Slipping quietly into the water of the lagoon helps some\u2014the water is just a bit cooler than the air. First kneeling, then moving one knee forward at a time to slowly move closer to my subject. Stopping, watching to see if the bird shows any sign of alarm or that it might take flight.<\/p>\n

Creeping forward again at a snail\u2019s pace. Tiny pink shrimp tickle the exposed skin on my legs as a flounder that had been buried in the sand scoots away as fast as it can. The water is to my waistline, but it feels refreshing considering the heat you can see simmering like a mirage off the surface of the water. A Pipefish wiggled by just barely under the surface of the water, just inches from my thighs.<\/p>\n

I had to stop and take my bandana from my backpack to wipe my eyes because the sweat was burning them, and I couldn\u2019t see clearly through the viewfinder. I recall swallowing a small sip of water from my bottle when I felt like pouring the entire thing over my head to help me cool off.<\/p>\n

Then in flew a Reddish Egret\u2014a large wading bird\u2014who landed on the sandy shoreline, which is slightly above me where I was kneeling in the salty water of the tidal lagoon. The egret was in breeding plumage\u2014what a treat.<\/p>\n

It was so comfortable in my presence that it just stood there, changing position once in a while, allowing full-body shots, close-ups, wide and vertical shots. Elegant poses, funny poses, and relaxed postures.<\/p>\n

In 9 minutes, I took almost 200 shots of \u201cBig Red\u201d before I realized that I felt like I was melting in the heat. The sun was getting higher, and I knew I had to find relief from the scorching sun. I backed away as slowly as I had approached the shoreline, not wanting to disturb the egret. The egret remained there, standing still on its long, thin legs.<\/p>\n

Was it worth feeling like a wrung-out dishrag for those shots? Or feeling that every pore on my skin had opened like faucets? Worth the sand in my clothes, scrapes on my knees, and looking like something the cat had wanted to drag in but decided it was way too dirty?<\/p>\n

You betcha. I\u2019d do it again in a heartbeat. I\u2019m addicted to bird photography, just in case I had not mentioned it before.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Reddish Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Worth the sand in my clothes, scrapes on my knees and looking like something the cat had wanted to drag in but decided it was way too dirty? You betcha!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,157],"tags":[4004,215,4142,5229,5132,743,351,4185,37,3970,3980,4046,160,165,313],"class_list":["post-2815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-reddish-egret","tag-adult","tag-bird-id","tag-close-up","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-egretta-rufescens","tag-florida-2","tag-hunting","tag-pinellas-county","tag-portrait","tag-reddish-egret","tag-spring","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/reddish-egret-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0511.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Jp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63221,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/25\/fun-photographing-reddish-egrets-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":2815,"position":0},"title":"Fun Photographing Reddish Egrets In Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I had so much fun photographing Reddish Egrets when I lived in Florida and could see them nearly every time I went to Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret foraging near mangroves, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49290,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/05\/immature-reddish-egret-adult-in-flight-with-nesting-material\/","url_meta":{"origin":2815,"position":1},"title":"Immature Reddish Egret & Adult in Flight with Nesting Material","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Immature or adult, dark or white morph, Reddish Egrets are spectacular and fascinating wading birds to see, observe and photograph.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Reddish Egret at Lassing Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-immature-water-mia-mcpherson-6223.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3636,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/10\/reddish-egrets\/","url_meta":{"origin":2815,"position":2},"title":"Reddish Egrets","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret in the waves with prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50993,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/16\/pair-of-reddish-egrets-fighting-over-food\/","url_meta":{"origin":2815,"position":3},"title":"Pair of Reddish Egrets Fighting Over Food","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't have a great angle of light when I photographed this pair of Reddish Egrets but I didn't want to move and disturb the birds so I stood still as I could.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Reddish Egrets fighting over prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9283,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/27\/reddish-egret-up-close-and-not-so-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":2815,"position":4},"title":"Reddish Egret Up Close And Not So Close","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I wanted to share another example of close up and full body images of another one of my favorite birds; the Reddish Egret.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret portrait, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0503-reeg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0503-reeg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0503-reeg.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5897,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/23\/reddish-egret-at-low-tide\/","url_meta":{"origin":2815,"position":5},"title":"Reddish Egret At Low Tide","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret in breeding plumage on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park, 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