{"id":5355,"date":"2012-07-21T03:55:55","date_gmt":"2012-07-21T09:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5355"},"modified":"2025-09-22T11:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:56:30","slug":"reddish-egret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/21\/reddish-egret\/","title":{"rendered":"Reddish Egret With Lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"

I photographed this Reddish Egret in October of 2008 at Fort De Soto’s north beach.<\/p>\n

At that time\u00a0I was sitting in the water taking images of Great Egrets and some Laughing Gulls when the egret flew in and began fishing in the warm, shallow lagoon.<\/p>\n

It didn’t take the bird long to catch this fish.<\/p>\n

\"ReddishReddish Egret lunch time – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The other birds in the area appeared to be quite interested in the egret’s prey and the egret had a difficult time swallowing it but after about 5 minutes it was finally able to do so.<\/p>\n

The prey is swallowed head first so those sharp spines of the fins are compressed.<\/p>\n

There are only between 1,500 and 2,000 nesting pairs of Reddish Egrets in the United States and their\u00a0numbers are being threatened by habitat destruction.<\/p>\n

I’m sure their population also took a dive after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill since they are primarily a coastal wading bird and are found along the shorelines of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.<\/p>\n

All of which were impacted by the oily sludge that coated the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, the beaches, marshes and tidal lagoons. And oil companies want more drilling platforms in the Gulf?<\/p>\n

I think the CEO’s of the huge oil companies that have caused spills\u00a0should have to live with oil surrounding their fabulous mansions and forced to raise their families in the same horrible conditions\u00a0that the birds and other wildlife have been subjected to, perhaps they would be more careful.\u00a0 I can dream, right?<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

*I am away for a few days, please feel free to share this post with your friends and family. I’ll catch up on everyone’s great blogs when I get back!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I photographed this Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) in October of 2008 at Fort De Soto’s north beach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157566,"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":[27,25,704,2000,157],"tags":[4004,4021,5132,4530,1104,743,351,4185,4432,173,1692,3997,1693,160,313,3996],"class_list":["post-5355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-reddish-egret","tag-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-coastal","tag-dark-morph","tag-deepwater-horizon","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-egretta-rufescens","tag-fish","tag-gulf-coast","tag-habitat-destruction","tag-lagoon","tag-oil-spills","tag-reddish-egret","tag-wading-birds","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-fish-mia-mcpherson-7448.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1on","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63221,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/25\/fun-photographing-reddish-egrets-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":5355,"position":0},"title":"Fun Photographing Reddish Egrets In Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I had so much fun photographing Reddish Egrets when I lived in Florida and could see them nearly every time I went to Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret foraging near mangroves, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-mangroves-mia-mcpherson-8790.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50993,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/16\/pair-of-reddish-egrets-fighting-over-food\/","url_meta":{"origin":5355,"position":1},"title":"Pair of Reddish Egrets Fighting Over Food","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn't have a great angle of light when I photographed this pair of Reddish Egrets but I didn't want to move and disturb the birds so I stood still as I could.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Reddish Egrets fighting over prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egrets-pair-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-0521.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41304,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/24\/reddish-egret-hunting-in-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":5355,"position":2},"title":"Reddish Egret Hunting In The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this white morph Reddish Egret hunting in the Gulf of Mexico in June of 2008 and truly enjoyed observing its hunting behavior through my lens.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White morph Reddish Egret after missed attempt for prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-whhite-morph-hunting-mia-mcpherson-1253.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3636,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/10\/reddish-egrets\/","url_meta":{"origin":5355,"position":3},"title":"Reddish Egrets","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"While I lived in Florida I took thousands (and thousands) of images of Reddish Egrets and I am very glad that I did because they are rarities in Utah, where I now live.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret in the waves with prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-fish-waves-mia-mcpherson-0938.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15214,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/15\/reddish-egrets-wading-birds-that-delight\/","url_meta":{"origin":5355,"position":4},"title":"Reddish Egrets – Wading Birds That Delight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Reddish Egret is one of my favorite wading birds. Standing still they are a delight to the eyes and while hunting they can perform amazing turns, twists, gallops and appear to be dancing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret hunting by the sand dunes, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-lagoon-foraging-mia-mcpherson-8068.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9283,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/27\/reddish-egret-up-close-and-not-so-close\/","url_meta":{"origin":5355,"position":5},"title":"Reddish Egret Up Close And Not So Close","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I wanted to share another example of close up and full body images of another one of my favorite birds; the Reddish Egret.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reddish Egret portrait, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0503-reeg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0503-reeg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/reddish-egret-dark-morph-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0503-reeg.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355","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=5355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}