In my two previous posts of a Snowy Egret and a Great Egret I mentioned how the early morning light and a nearby storm gave those images a feeling of drama. These white morph Reddish Egret images were taken that same morning not long after I created the Great Egret photos.

White morph Reddish Egret with a stormy background, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, FloridaWhite morph Reddish Egret with a stormy background – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/800, ISO 125, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 280mm, natural light

As the storm moved closer it began to pour directly under the clouds and that area looked rather gray but the light was still gorgeous on my subject. I had moved south from the Great Egret when I came across this white morph Reddish Egret hunting in the shallow waters of a narrow tidal pool in between the beach and a small spit of sand that touched the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto’s north beach. The egret ignored my presence while it hunted, I was laying flat on my stomach at right on the edge of the warm water. Again the weather conditions gave these images dramatic light.

White Morph Reddish Egret hunting ahead of a storm on the gulf of Mexico, FloridaWhite Morph Reddish Egret hunting ahead of a storm – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/800, ISO 125, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 220mm, natural light

While I photographed this egret the lighting conditions changed rapidly and often, it would get a little brighter and then get darker. I’ve learned to work with the light rather than fight with it so I was not distressed about the challenges and I kept firing away, I still wasn’t sure when or if the storm would come in and I wanted as many images as I could possibly take of my subjects in the enchanting light.

White morph Reddish Egret in dramatic light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, FloridaWhite morph Reddish Egret in dramatic light – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 125, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 310mm, natural light

The Reddish Egret danced, pranced and dashed back and forth in front of me and struck some very interesting poses. They are fascinating to observe and photograph while they hunt. The storm off shore had kicked up the waves so I had to be careful to not dunk my gear into the water while still keeping my lens as low as I could.

White morph Reddish Egret under stormy skies, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, FloridaWhite morph Reddish Egret under stormy skies – Nikon D200, handheld, 5.6, 1/1000, ISO 125, Nikkor 80-400mm at 400mm, natural light

The light brightened about the time I created this photo and I could see that the storm was heading towards the northeast, I knew about then that the storm was going to miss me at Fort De Soto and I spent another hour or so photographing other birds on the beach and tidal lagoons. As I drove home to Tampa I found the storm and drove through a deluge. I lucked out though because I had several memory cards full of images that contained the great light that thunderstorm provided.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Reddish Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.