{"id":70033,"date":"2020-05-16T05:15:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-16T11:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=70033"},"modified":"2025-08-25T07:02:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T12:02:00","slug":"photographing-a-foraging-american-oystercatcher-in-the-first-light-of-dawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/16\/photographing-a-foraging-american-oystercatcher-in-the-first-light-of-dawn\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing A Foraging American Oystercatcher In The First Light Of Dawn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Oystercatcher foraging in a tidal pool in the early morning – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/350, ISO 400, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

When I lived in Florida and photographed at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park I would say that 98% of the time I arrived at the park before sunrise because I loved being at the beach when the sun came up over the horizon.<\/p>\n

I’d sit quietly waiting for sunrise and relax. Feel at peace. It was as if I watched the world wake up. I miss sitting and watching the sun come up. I’m going to have to start doing that again soon.<\/p>\n

Right after the sun came up I would start to look for birds to photograph and almost eleven years ago my first subject of the day was a foraging American Oystercatcher. I was laying in the tidal pool with the oystercatcher when I photographed it.<\/p>\n

My 80-400mm lens was being repaired at the time so I took my 70-300mm lens with me that morning. The birds were used to people being on the beach so I knew I would still be able to get frame filling images of my subjects.<\/p>\n

I could have gotten closer to the oystercatcher that morning but I wanted as much of its reflection as I could get.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Oystercatcher foraging in the light of dawn – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/320, ISO 400, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The soft light of dawn has a special quality to it and I believe that it is evident in both of these American Oystercatcher photos. Laying in the water with the oystercatcher while it calmly moved through the water foraging? It was priceless.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The soft light of dawn has a special quality to it and I believe that it is evident in both of these American Oystercatcher photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[19,27,25,704,2000],"tags":[4004,3974,5132,1030,4136,4077,22,4099,5988,3816,5160,274,9924,4190,4161,3996],"class_list":["post-70033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-oystercatchers","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-american-oystercatcher","tag-coastal","tag-dawn","tag-foraging","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-haematopus-palliatus","tag-morning-light","tag-oystercatcher","tag-oystercatchers","tag-quality","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-special","tag-sunrise","tag-tidal-pool","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-foraging-dawn-mia-mcpherson-4885.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-idz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3064,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/09\/06\/american-oystercatcher-in-pre-daw-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":70033,"position":0},"title":"American 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McPherson","date":"April 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"American Oystercatchers were among my favorite shorebirds to photograph at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach when I lived in Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "American Oystercatchers"","block_context":{"text":"American Oystercatchers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-oystercatchers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Oystercatcher with prey, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/american-oystercatcher-mia-mcpherson-1300.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-mia-mcpherson-1300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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