{"id":39371,"date":"2016-05-09T04:44:20","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T10:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=39371"},"modified":"2025-09-01T14:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T19:03:09","slug":"gulf-shore-great-egret-with-a-loose-head-feather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/09\/gulf-shore-great-egret-with-a-loose-head-feather\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulf Shore Great Egret With A Loose Head Feather"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Egret with one loose feather – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 270mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

While working on my new photo galleries yesterday I cam across this image of a Great Egret that I had never processed and decided to share it this morning. I took this in October of 2008 at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> on the shoreline early in the morning when there was still a bit of the golden light of dawn. It might look like sky in the background but it was actually the water in the\u00a0 Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

It was one of those times when the bird approached me so close that even at 80mm I couldn’t fit the entire egret in the frame so I decided to take portraits instead. The egret paid zero attention to me as it searched for prey in the waves lapping the shore.<\/p>\n

This might be the only image I have in my portfolio that shows a Great Egret with a loose head feather waving above its head at such a jaunty angle. And I like it, I like it a lot. Even nature’s imperfections are perfect.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This might be the only image I have in my portfolio that shows a Great Egret with a loose head feather waving above its head at a jaunty angle. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153772,"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":[27,25,704,362,2000],"tags":[4004,4272,4142,743,351,363,4077,5141,4031,4246,4046,313,3996],"class_list":["post-39371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-egrets","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-ardea-alba","tag-close-up","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-great-egret","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-loose-feather","tag-nonbreeding","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-portrait","tag-wading-birds","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-portrait-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-af1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110948,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/08\/when-life-gives-you-a-twisted-neck\/","url_meta":{"origin":39371,"position":0},"title":"When 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