{"id":71715,"date":"2020-07-08T05:34:52","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T11:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=71715"},"modified":"2025-09-20T16:36:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T21:36:07","slug":"great-egret-in-front-of-stormy-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/08\/great-egret-in-front-of-stormy-skies\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Egret In Front Of Stormy Skies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday while looking through images that I have taken in previous years during the month of July these Great Egret photos stood out to me. The photos were taken on July 6, 2008 at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> in Pinellas County, Florida on a morning where I had thought about turning around and going back home because from a distance I could see storm clouds forming over the Gulf of Mexico as I drove towards the park.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Egret preening in front of stormy skies \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It was fairly clear to the east though so I decided to head to the beach despite the stormy sky because I thought the light might still be beautiful if I could find some birds.<\/p>\n

One of the birds I found that summer morning was a Great Egret perched on a stump that the waves of the Gulf had deposited on the shore of the beach.<\/p>\n

\"RestingResting Great Egret in front of storm clouds \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was right about the light that morning, it was beautiful and the stormy clouds in the distance added drama to every frame of the Great Egret that I took.<\/p>\n

I remember feeling peaceful and relaxed as I photographed the egret with warm sugar sand beneath my feet. The tang of salt in the sea breeze combined with the sound of the waves lapping the shoreline and the calls of other nearby birds was calming.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Egret about to take flight \u2013 Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 150mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Life was good. The birds I photographed that morning were wonderful, the light was terrific, and the storm clouds stayed offshore the entire time that I was at the beach.<\/p>\n

I wish life was that simple today.<\/p>\n

Despite all the turmoil and uncertainty we are facing right now life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

One of the birds I found that summer morning was a Great Egret perched on a stump that the waves of the Gulf had deposited on the shore of the beach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134441,"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":[27,25,704,362,2000],"tags":[4004,4272,4101,5132,743,351,363,4077,4204,4378,3986,4019,4156,4018,4500,9390,4197,5113,313,3996],"class_list":["post-71715","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-adult","tag-ardea-alba","tag-clouds","tag-coastal","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-great-egret","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-light","tag-morning","tag-north-beach","tag-preening-2","tag-resting","tag-sky","tag-storm","tag-stormy","tag-stormy-sky","tag-stump","tag-wading-birds","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/great-egret-in-front-of-clouds-mia-mcpherson-6453.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-iEH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8813,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/06\/five-years-ago-today-at-fort-de-soto\/","url_meta":{"origin":71715,"position":0},"title":"Five Years Ago Today At Fort De Soto","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Five years ago today I headed to the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park despite knowing that there were looming storms off of the coast hanging just off shore over the Gulf of Mexico and I am glad that I did because the light that day on the\u2026","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 Oystercatchers at north beach, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I posted a Snowy Egret hunting in early morning light and mentioned that early morning or late afternoon light can add drama to an image, in today's post I will explain a bit more about the dramatic light in the Snowy Egret image and these images of a Great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret in flight with a storm in the background, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/great-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6474.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/great-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6474.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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