{"id":75117,"date":"2020-11-06T04:30:20","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T11:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75117"},"modified":"2025-08-24T13:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T18:38:15","slug":"how-an-american-oystercatcher-ruined-a-new-pair-of-pants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/06\/how-an-american-oystercatcher-ruined-a-new-pair-of-pants\/","title":{"rendered":"How An American Oystercatcher Ruined A New Pair Of Pants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s post is about an American Oystercatcher image I took in 2009 at Egmont Key in Pinellas County, Florida, and the story behind it.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult American Oystercatcher on the beach of Egmont Key – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was taking the Florida Master Naturalist class at the time. Instead of taking a boat from Ruskin, which was about an hour\u2019s drive for me, I drove to Fort De Soto County Park, which was less than 45 minutes away.<\/p>\n

I planned to spend an hour or so photographing birds on the north beach with a friend from the class. Then we\u2019d take the first ferry from Fort De Soto to Egmont Key<\/span><\/a> to meet the rest of our classmates. The ferry got us onto the key before their boat arrived, so we explored part of the island and photographed birds, animals, and scenery.<\/p>\n

I wore a brand-new pair of Mountain Hardwear pants I had ordered two weeks earlier. They were great for wearing in and out of the water. I already had three pairs and knew they dried quickly, felt lightweight, and had built-in sun protection.<\/p>\n

While photographing the American Oystercatcher, I knelt on the sand for a low-angle perspective. I liked having the Gulf of Mexico\u2019s waves in the background.<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, I felt something wet running down my left leg. When I looked at my foot, I saw blood. I sat down, rolled up my pant leg, and found a \u00be-inch cut on the soft part of my knee. My pants had a similar-sized cut right at knee level. I don’t feel pain as easily as most people, so I hadn\u2019t noticed the cut until blood was running down my leg and foot.<\/p>\n

My brand-new pants were ruined. The bleeding took a while to stop. I immersed my knee in salty water, then rinsed it with freshwater from my bottle.<\/p>\n

My day wasn\u2019t going great, but I had wonderful photos of the oystercatcher.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more to the story, but that can wait for another time.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

I’ve shared this photo once before here on my blog and thought I’d mention that.<\/em><\/p>\n

To view more of my American Oystercatcher photos please click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s post is about an American Oystercatcher image I took in 2009 at Egmont Key in Pinellas County, Florida, and the story behind it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139719,"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":[19,27,1747,25,2000],"tags":[4004,3974,4039,10602,1809,5531,4077,5988,3816,10600,10601,4017,274,4188,4901,3996,4119],"class_list":["post-75117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-oystercatchers","category-avian","category-egmont-key-national-wildlife-refuge","category-florida","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-american-oystercatcher","tag-beach","tag-cut","tag-egmont-key-2","tag-gulf","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-oystercatcher","tag-oystercatchers","tag-pants","tag-ruined","tag-sand","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-shoreline","tag-surf","tag-water","tag-waves"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-oystercatcher-egmont-key-mia-mcpherson-3219.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jxz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6183,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/25\/american-oystercatchers-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":75117,"position":0},"title":"American Oystercatchers in Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I don'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.","rel":"","context":"In "American Oystercatchers"","block_context":{"text":"American Oystercatchers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-oystercatchers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting American Oystercatcher juvenile near spartina 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-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.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-chick-mia-mcpherson-7865.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 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American Oystercatcher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2008 I had the great pleasure of observing and photographing a family of American Oystercatchers from the day after the chicks hatched until three and a half months later.","rel":"","context":"In "American Oystercatchers"","block_context":{"text":"American Oystercatchers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-oystercatchers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Thirteen day old American Oystercatcher chick on the sands of Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-4131.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-oystercatcher-chick-mia-mcpherson-4131.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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