{"id":4711,"date":"2012-04-02T05:01:45","date_gmt":"2012-04-02T11:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4711"},"modified":"2025-09-01T11:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T16:22:54","slug":"great-egret-hunting-in-stll-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/02\/great-egret-hunting-in-stll-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Egret Hunting in Still Waters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreatGreat Egret in tidal lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve always liked the calm mood this image conveys partially because\u00a0the stalking pose of the Great Egret (Ardea alba<\/em>), the silky smooth surface of the water, the reflection and how the out of focus Snowy Egret and Little Blue Heron give the frame a depth that wouldn’t be there without them.<\/p>\n

It also brings the memory of that morning to the surface of my mind, a cool February morning, my friend Adrian and I laying in the wet sand at the edge of the tidal lagoon, my other friends Mac and Rachel were photographing to my left, the salty smell of the Gulf of Mexico and the sun that had begun to gently warm my back.<\/p>\n

Friends. Birds. Photography.<\/p>\n

Peaceful. Serene. Delightful. Ahhh.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Image taken at Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a>, Florida.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Great Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always liked the calm mood this image conveys partially because the stalking pose of the Great Egret (Ardea alba), the silky smooth surface of the water, the reflection and how the out of focus Snowy Egret and Little Blue Heron give the frame a depth that wouldn’t be there without them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153713,"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],"tags":[4272,5132,14752,743,351,363,173,3970,3997,812,4140,4001,373],"class_list":["post-4711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-egrets","tag-ardea-alba","tag-coastal","tag-coastal-island","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-great-egret","tag-gulf-coast","tag-hunting","tag-lagoon","tag-still-water","tag-tidal-lagoon","tag-wading-bird","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-florida-mia-mcpherson-9981.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1dZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12166,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/22\/a-great-egret-on-the-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":4711,"position":0},"title":"Great Egret On The Hunt","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a simple Great Egret hunting in a quiet tidal lagoon today that takes me back to warmer memories spent with good friends on Florida's Gulf Coast.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret hunting prey in a Florida lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-hunting-mia-mcpherson-0131.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-hunting-mia-mcpherson-0131.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-hunting-mia-mcpherson-0131.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-hunting-mia-mcpherson-0131.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51174,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/07\/when-the-s___-hits-the-fan-go-to-a-happy-place\/","url_meta":{"origin":4711,"position":1},"title":"When the S___ Hits the Fan, Go To a Happy Place","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun hadn't yet come up when I spotted this Great Egret in the tidal lagoon with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the background and it looked like the water was on fire.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunrise, Great Egret and a tidal 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2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I know this photo will always remind me of the great times I had photographing birds at Fort De Soto, one of my favorite places on earth.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Great Egret in a Florida lagoon, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-florida-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-5667.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-florida-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-5667.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-florida-lagoon-mia-mcpherson-5667.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-mullet-mia-mcpherson-0007.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-mullet-mia-mcpherson-0007.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-mullet-mia-mcpherson-0007.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-mullet-mia-mcpherson-0007.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42447,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/06\/great-egret-with-the-catch-of-the-day-that-didnt-get-eaten\/","url_meta":{"origin":4711,"position":4},"title":"Great Egret With The Catch Of The Day That Didn’t Get Eaten","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Great Egret struggled to swallow the large fish and even though it readjusted the fish in its bill several times it never swallowed the fish before it dropped it into the lagoon and flew off.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret with large fish, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-egret-fish-mia-mcpherson-4917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-egret-fish-mia-mcpherson-4917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/great-egret-fish-mia-mcpherson-4917.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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