{"id":35529,"date":"2016-02-14T06:41:06","date_gmt":"2016-02-14T13:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=35529"},"modified":"2016-12-07T12:06:26","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T19:06:26","slug":"a-calico-heart-on-a-shell-covered-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/14\/a-calico-heart-on-a-shell-covered-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"A Calico Heart on a Shell Covered Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20212\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-20212\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856.jpg\" alt=\"Calico Heart\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Calico Heart on a shell covered beach<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I believe this is an Atlantic Giant Cockle shell which I found on the north beach of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pinellascounty.org\/park\/05_ft_desoto.htm\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. That morning I was at Fort De Soto to take the ferry over to Egmont Key for one of my Florida Master Naturalist classes and even though I didn&#8217;t take many images of the shells on this beach I couldn&#8217;t resist the heart shape I saw in this beautiful shell. As much as I loved the beaches in Florida it felt symbolic to find a Calico heart on the sandy shore of the Gulf.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that you all spend the day with people you love or simply doing what brings you joy.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As much as I loved the beaches in Florida it felt symbolic to find a Calico heart on the sandy shore of the Gulf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20212,"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":[25,704,2000],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/calico-shell-mia-mcpherson-2856.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9f3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8139,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/18\/ruddy-turnstone-and-a-laughing-gull\/","url_meta":{"origin":35529,"position":0},"title":"Ruddy Turnstone and a Laughing Gull","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone with Calico shell, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4447,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/19\/american-oystercatchers-feeding\/","url_meta":{"origin":35529,"position":1},"title":"American Oystercatchers Feeding","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Oystercatchers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Oystercatchers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-oystercatchers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Oystercatcher with Pen shell, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-shell-mia-mcpherson-6248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-shell-mia-mcpherson-6248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-shell-mia-mcpherson-6248.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-shell-mia-mcpherson-6248.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35959,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/21\/piping-plover-on-a-shell-covered-beach-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":35529,"position":2},"title":"Piping Plover On A Shell Covered Beach In Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I took this image of the Piping Plover on a shell covered beach right after the sun came up when the light had that sweet golden tone to it","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Piping Plover on a shell covered beach at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-beach-mia-mcpherson-6381.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-beach-mia-mcpherson-6381.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-beach-mia-mcpherson-6381.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-beach-mia-mcpherson-6381.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5916,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/17\/ruddy-turnstones-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":35529,"position":3},"title":"Ruddy Turnstones In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can appear to be two different species to novice birders and bird photographers as can several other bird species.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone close up, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4617,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/12\/american-oystercatcher-feeding\/","url_meta":{"origin":35529,"position":4},"title":"American Oystercatcher Feeding","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Oystercatchers&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Oystercatchers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-oystercatchers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Oystercatcher with incoming wave from the Gulf, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6278.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6278.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6278.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-mia-mcpherson-6278.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33953,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/06\/a-ghost-crab-at-fort-de-soto-county-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":35529,"position":5},"title":"Atlantic Ghost Crab at Fort De Soto County Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am not sure why this particular Ghost Crab was out of its burrow during the day but I was happy that I had the opportunity to photograph it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Atlantic Ghost Crabs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Atlantic Ghost Crabs","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/ghost-crabs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Atlantic Ghost Crab eyestalks above the water of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-eyes-mia-mcpherson-6987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-eyes-mia-mcpherson-6987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ghost-crab-eyes-mia-mcpherson-6987.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}