{"id":64845,"date":"2020-02-20T05:06:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T12:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=64845"},"modified":"2025-09-02T18:50:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T23:50:18","slug":"photographing-limpkins-at-lake-seminole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/20\/photographing-limpkins-at-lake-seminole\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing Limpkins At Lake Seminole"},"content":{"rendered":"

Limpkins are the only member of their taxonomic family and although they might resemble wading birds they are more closely related to cranes. Their bill is adapted to eating snails, specifically Apple Snails, but they will also eat frogs, mussels, insects, and spiders.<\/p>\n

\"LimpkinLimpkin foraging for snails in a wetland area \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 310mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Eleven years ago today I was wandering and looking for birds to photograph at Lake Seminole Park in Florida and found a very cooperative Limpkin that was foraging for breakfast.<\/p>\n

Limpkins can be quite approachable in the Sunshine State where they can be found near freshwater marshes, ponds, lakeshores and swamps as well as man made canals.<\/p>\n

Because of wetland destruction Limpkins are listed as a Species of Special Concern and their populations are on the decline.<\/p>\n

\"LimpkinLimpkin taking a break from foraging for snails \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/320, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 260mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I watched and photographed as this Limpkin foraged, caught snails, ate them, fluffed its feathers and went on to hunt some more.<\/p>\n

It was quiet, peaceful, and relaxing to photograph this Limpkin and for a while I just sat on the boardwalk and simply watched it.<\/p>\n

The calls of Limpkins helped me to locate them quite often in Florida, their calls are distinctive<\/span><\/a> and I believe unforgettable.<\/p>\n

In hindsight I wish I had spent more time photographing the birds in Florida that lived away from the coast more often than I did but the pesky, biting insects always tore me up badly so me, my camera and my feet spent more time on the coast where the sea breeze kept insects at bay. Most of the time.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Eleven years ago today I was wandering and looking for birds to photograph at Lake Seminole Park in Florida and found a very cooperative Limpkin that was foraging for breakfast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,1882,479,2000],"tags":[4004,481,1045,4935,8844,4136,5178,2431,4977,8843,8834,8845,3996,3485,373],"class_list":["post-64845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-lake-seminole-florida","category-limpkins","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-apple-snails","tag-aramus-guarauna","tag-call","tag-distintive-calls","tag-foraging","tag-lake","tag-limpkin","tag-limpkins","tag-snail","tag-snails","tag-species-of-special-concern","tag-water","tag-wetland","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/limpkin-foraging-mia-mcpherson-4693.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gRT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48790,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/05\/limpkins-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":64845,"position":0},"title":"Limpkins in Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida is about as far north as Limpkins are found in North America and they can be seen in freshwater marshes, ponds, lakeshores and swamps.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Limpkin and an Apple Snail at Lake Seminole Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/limpkin-snail-mia-mcpherson-4556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/limpkin-snail-mia-mcpherson-4556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/limpkin-snail-mia-mcpherson-4556.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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