{"id":45277,"date":"2017-02-28T06:30:21","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T13:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=45277"},"modified":"2025-09-05T17:44:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T22:44:00","slug":"marbled-godwit-and-friends-on-exposed-mudflats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/28\/marbled-godwit-and-friends-on-exposed-mudflats\/","title":{"rendered":"Marbled Godwit and Friends on Exposed Mudflats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ForagingForaging Marbled Godwit on exposed mudflats – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Cruddy light and snow yesterday kept me at home and today is also supposed to be cloudy but starting tomorrow the weather forecasts starts to look brighter for a few days.<\/p>\n

This morning I went wandering through my archived files to look for images I had taken the 28th of February of all the years I have been photographing and found quite a few.<\/p>\n

In 2009 I photographed this foraging Marbled Godwit and friends on exposed mudflats of a Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> lagoon.<\/p>\n

It was low tide while I was there and there were hundreds of shorebirds in the lagoon feeding, preening and resting. There were willets, plovers and godwits all over the place.<\/p>\n

As soon as I could I knelt laid down in the mud and warm water of the lagoon and slowly wiggled my way across the mudflat to approach the birds.<\/p>\n

Once I was in a good position I laid there while the shorebirds moved around me and I took hundreds of images as the birds went about their normal routines as if I weren’t even there.<\/p>\n

Later when the shorebirds moved away from me I backed up just as slowly as I had crept up on them and when I could I stood up and walked away with mud dripping off of me and a smile on my face.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

(The “friends” in the background are Willets)<\/em><\/p>\n

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

In 2009 I photographed this foraging Marbled Godwit and friends on exposed mudflats of a Fort De Soto County Park lagoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154495,"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":[27,25,704,88,2000],"tags":[4004,5229,5132,4136,2546,3945,3997,4163,4930,4419,4273,274],"class_list":["post-45277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-marbled-godwits","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-foraging","tag-godwit","tag-godwits","tag-lagoon","tag-limosa-fedoa","tag-low-tide","tag-marbled-godwit","tag-mudflats","tag-shorebirds-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-willets-mia-mcpherson-6690.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bMh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1255,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/10\/shorebirds-of-fort-de-soto-marbled-godwits\/","url_meta":{"origin":45277,"position":0},"title":"Shorebirds of Fort De Soto – Marbled Godwits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Marbled Godwits are graceful birds while on the ground, feeding and in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marbled Godwit standing out from the crowd, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-one-legged-3267.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-one-legged-3267.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-one-legged-3267.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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(Limosa fedoa) paying absolutely no attention to me as I sat very still in the warm waters of a tidal lagoon photographing it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Marbled Godwit, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3321.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3321.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-mia-mcpherson-3321.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/marbled-godwit-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8942.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/marbled-godwit-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8942.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/marbled-godwit-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8942.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/marbled-godwit-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-8942.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16765,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/07\/marbled-godwit-and-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":45277,"position":4},"title":"Marbled Godwit And The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I have always thought of Marbled Godwits as graceful, elegant shorebirds and I still do.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Marbled Godwit and the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-feeding-mia-mcpherson-1165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-feeding-mia-mcpherson-1165.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marbled-godwit-feeding-mia-mcpherson-1165.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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