{"id":51174,"date":"2018-03-07T06:44:11","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T13:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51174"},"modified":"2025-09-01T14:45:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T19:45:36","slug":"when-the-s___-hits-the-fan-go-to-a-happy-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/07\/when-the-s___-hits-the-fan-go-to-a-happy-place\/","title":{"rendered":"When the S___ Hits the Fan, Go To a Happy Place"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sunrise,Sunrise, Great Egret and a tidal lagoon – Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1\/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 102mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

My morning has been a mess, the s___ hit the fan and while I have most of the problems sorted I haven’t had time to do the post I was going to do so instead I am simply posting a photo of a “Happy Place” for me.<\/p>\n

A tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County Florida to help soothe my jangled nerves.<\/p>\n

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. Or like a fine Cognac had filled the lagoon.<\/p>\n

Ommm<\/p>\n

Birds, the smell of salt air, the warm, silky water on my legs and feet, the sound of the waves on the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n

Ommm<\/p>\n

Yeah, I needed to see one of my happy places today.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153783,"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":false,"_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":[4272,14752,743,351,363,173,4077,6386,4190,6387,4140,313],"class_list":["post-51174","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-ardea-alba","tag-coastal-island","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-great-egret","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-happy-place","tag-sunrise","tag-sunshine-skyway-bridge","tag-tidal-lagoon","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fort-de-soto-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-9578.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-djo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12166,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/22\/a-great-egret-on-the-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":51174,"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, 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2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret and friends, 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-mia-mcpherson-9981.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-mia-mcpherson-9981.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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