{"id":6183,"date":"2012-09-25T05:58:19","date_gmt":"2012-09-25T11:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6183"},"modified":"2025-08-24T13:36:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T18:36:03","slug":"american-oystercatchers-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/25\/american-oystercatchers-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"American Oystercatchers in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-153350 size-full\" title=\"Resting American Oystercatcher juvenile near spartina at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg\" alt=\"Resting American Oystercatcher juvenile near spartina at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"850\" height=\"567\" data-id=\"13956\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27567%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20567%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27567%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-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Resting American Oystercatcher juvenile &#8211; Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This juvenile American Oystercatcher belonged to a family that I followed for a few months at Fort De Soto County Park in\u00a0Florida\u00a0from the time the chicks were two days old until they left the adults. I&#8217;d written about them <a title=\"Three and a half months with a young American Oystercatcher\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/04\/three-and-a-half-months-with-a-young-american-oystercatcher\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I like the resting pose and the eye contact I got from the young oystercatcher and the background of the Spartina marsh. It was a great deal of fun to observe and photograph this oystercatcher family for three and a half months.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-153356 size-full\" title=\"American Oystercatcher adult on Egmont Key with the Gulf of Mexico behind it, Pinellas County, Florida\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218.jpg\" alt=\"American Oystercatcher adult on Egmont Key with the Gulf of Mexico behind it, Pinellas County, Florida\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" data-id=\"13957\" 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-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-mia-mcpherson-3218.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">American Oystercatcher adult on Egmont Key- Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I was on on Egmont Key when I photographed this adult American Oystercatcher, I was in a Florida Master Naturalist class at the time and we spent the day there.<\/p>\n<p>The class instructor cut her foot open while jumping off of the boat she came on.<\/p>\n<p>It took less than ten minutes after stepping off the ferry from Fort De Soto for me to ruin brand new hiking pants and slice my knee open on a broken shell. I don\u2019t feel pain like most people, so it wasn\u2019t until blood was streaming over my foot that I knew how bad it was.<\/p>\n<p>Then about mid day we saw a boat get swamped by waves on the western shore of the island. Despite all of those mishaps it was a great day to be out there.<\/p>\n<p>I adored the color of the water in the background of this image, a wonderful\u00a0turquoise blue that reminded me of the Caribbean. Or the water off of the coast of New South Wales.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;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.<\/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>I don&#8217;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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153350,"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":[19,27,1747,1746,25,704],"tags":[4004,3974,4039,14752,173,4077,22,4067,4071,10603,4094,5988,3816,4156,4017,4139,3996,4119,4193],"class_list":["post-6183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-oystercatchers","category-avian","category-egmont-key-national-wildlife-refuge","category-egmont-key-state-park","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","tag-adult","tag-american-oystercatcher","tag-beach","tag-coastal-island","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-haematopus-palliatus","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-kneeling","tag-marsh","tag-oystercatcher","tag-oystercatchers","tag-resting","tag-sand","tag-spartina","tag-water","tag-waves","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1BJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":153665,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/08\/29\/american-oystercatcher-images-from-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":6183,"position":0},"title":"American Oystercatcher Images From Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I am sharing a group of American Oystercatcher photos today that were taken at Fort De Soto County Park and Egmont Key from when I lived in Florida.","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 feeding in early morning light, 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-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.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-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-feeding-adult-mia-mcpherson-6254.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":6183,"position":1},"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":[]},{"id":2497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/06\/14\/american-oystercatchers\/","url_meta":{"origin":6183,"position":2},"title":"American Oystercatchers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"American Oystercatchers are fascinating birds to photograph, They can strike unusual poses and their plumage is spectacular in flight. I enjoyed watching them pry open bivalves with their long bill","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":"Strolling Oystercatcher 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-florida-mia-mcpherson-0345.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-florida-mia-mcpherson-0345.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-florida-mia-mcpherson-0345.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-adult-florida-mia-mcpherson-0345.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8724,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/27\/adult-american-oystercatcher-among-sea-purslane\/","url_meta":{"origin":6183,"position":3},"title":"Adult American Oystercatcher Among Sea Purslane","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I like to include habitat in my images when I am able to do so, especially when the habitat doesn't obstruct the view of my subject or when the habitat helps to define a sense of place.","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":"Adult American Oystercatcher and Sea Purslane at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-habitat-adult-mia-mcpherson-3880.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-habitat-adult-mia-mcpherson-3880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-habitat-adult-mia-mcpherson-3880.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/american-oystercatcher-habitat-adult-mia-mcpherson-3880.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20901,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/10\/american-oystercatcher-family\/","url_meta":{"origin":6183,"position":4},"title":"American Oystercatcher Family","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been five and a half years since I photographed American Oystercatchers at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and oddly enough I still dream about these shorebirds.","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 family, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.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-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-family-mia-mcpherson-8101.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10000,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/27\/adult-and-juvenile-american-oystercatchers-feeding-side-by-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":6183,"position":5},"title":"Adult And Juvenile American Oystercatchers Feeding Side By Side","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2008 I spent several months during the summer watching an American Oystercatcher family from the time the chicks were tiny until one of the chicks became independent.","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":"Adult and juvenile American Oystercatchers at Fort De Soto, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatchers-mia-mcpherson-8466.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-oystercatchers-mia-mcpherson-8466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatchers-mia-mcpherson-8466.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatchers-mia-mcpherson-8466.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\/6183","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=6183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}