{"id":4781,"date":"2012-04-13T05:18:30","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T11:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4781"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:52:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T17:52:48","slug":"american-oystercatcher-friday-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/13\/american-oystercatcher-friday-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"American Oystercatcher &#8211; Friday Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-153338 size-full\" title=\"American Oystercatcher with wave in the background, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402.jpg\" alt=\"American Oystercatcher with wave in the background, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"13739\" 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\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5402.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">American Oystercatcher with wave in the background &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>These\u00a0two photos are of the same adult American Oystercatcher (<em>Haematopus palliatus<\/em>) in sequential order taken at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida. I was laying in the sand while I created the images to get a low angle and the bird was on a ridge elevated slightly higher than my location. I had beautiful light and did not need to use any exposure compensation to have nice details in the darks and the whites.<\/p>\n<p>When photographing with waves in the background a split second can matter because of the fluid movements of the incoming waves. In this frame the\u00a0closest wave is just about to crest thus it created the darker horizontal band of sea green just below the body of the Oystercatcher.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-153339 size-full\" title=\"American Oystercatcher on a ridge of sand next to the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg\" alt=\"American Oystercatcher on a ridge of sand next to the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"13740\" 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\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">American Oystercatcher on a ridge of sand &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In this next frame the wave had crested and rushed towards the shoreline creating a smoother blue background without the sea green horizontal band.<\/p>\n<p>Is one background better than the other? Personally I don&#8217;t think so, I find them both visually appealing. It is just a matter of personal taste.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/american-oystercatcher-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Oystercatcher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These two photos are of the same adult American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) in sequential order taken at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida. I was laying in the sand while I created the images to get a low angle and the bird was on a ridge elevated slightly higher than my location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153339,"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":[19,27,25,704],"tags":[4004,3974,4039,4083,173,4077,22,4036,5988,3816,4017,4891,274,4188,3996,4119],"class_list":["post-4781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-oystercatchers","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","tag-adult","tag-american-oystercatcher","tag-beach","tag-birding","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-haematopus-palliatus","tag-low-angle","tag-oystercatcher","tag-oystercatchers","tag-sand","tag-shore","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-shoreline","tag-water","tag-waves"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1f7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4617,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/12\/american-oystercatcher-feeding\/","url_meta":{"origin":4781,"position":0},"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":5281,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/04\/american-oystercatcher-in-a-tidal-lagoon\/","url_meta":{"origin":4781,"position":1},"title":"American Oystercatcher In A Tidal Lagoon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been working up images for a long post and this American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) image is a clue as to what that post will be about.","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 in a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-1439.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-1439.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-1439.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-1439.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2803,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/21\/american-oystercatchers-juvenile-and-adult\/","url_meta":{"origin":4781,"position":2},"title":"American Oystercatchers &#8211; Juvenile and Adult","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I watched this American Oystercatcher juvenile and its sibling from the time they were just tiny chicks beginning the day after they had hatched.","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 Oystercatchers just after sunrise, juvenile on the left, adult on the right. Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/american-oystercatchers-florida-adult-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0902.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15203,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/13\/american-oystercatcher-in-sea-foam\/","url_meta":{"origin":4781,"position":3},"title":"American Oystercatcher In Sea Foam","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a simple post of an American Oystercatcher about to be awash in sea foam at Fort De Soto's north beach taken back in September of 2008.","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 in sea foam at the edge of 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\/08\/american-oystercatcher-foamy-mia-mcpherson-0869.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-foamy-mia-mcpherson-0869.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-foamy-mia-mcpherson-0869.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-foamy-mia-mcpherson-0869.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6183,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/25\/american-oystercatchers-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":4781,"position":4},"title":"American Oystercatchers in Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't get to see or photograph Oystercatchers here in Utah but I still dream about these shorebirds and can hear their calls when I look at the thousands of images I took of them.","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":"Resting American Oystercatcher juvenile near spartina at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.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-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35054,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/21\/a-juvenile-american-oystercatcher-on-the-shore-of-the-gulf\/","url_meta":{"origin":4781,"position":5},"title":"Juvenile American Oystercatcher On The Shore Of The Gulf","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I watched this juvenile American Oystercatcher on the shore of the Gulf grow up in 2008 at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.","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":"Juvenile American Oystercatcher on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7811.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-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781","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=4781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}