Families: Ardeidae, Ciconiidae, Phoenicopteridae, Threskiorithidae
Wading birds are long legged, long necked, long billed birds that include herons, egrets, flamingos, ibis, bitterns, spoonbills, and storks. Many of the wading birds forage by wading in shallow water but not all do that exclusively, some wading birds forage in pastures, wet meadows, on beaches, fresh and saltwater shorelines, grassy slopes, mudflats or from vegetation in marshes.
The sun had not yet crested the eastern horizon when I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it hunted in the shallow waters on the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.
While I lived in Florida I simply adored being able to photograph Reddish Egrets, they can be graceful or goofy looking, they twirl, dash and dance.
The dangers of fishing line and hooks for birds and other wildlife are real and damaging.
I'm always looking for great action or interesting poses when I am out photographing birds and usually I am not disappointed and once in awhile I get some very funny images. Mondays just seem like a great day for some humor.
For today's Friday Photos I am mixing it up a bit and posting images of Pronghorns, a Black-crowned Night Heron, a Long-tailed Weasel and an American Kestrel. Please enjoy!
Another one of the reasons I enjoy this photo is that the eye of the Great Blue Heron has a colored catchlight that is from the sun glowing yellow on the eastern horizon.
This Great Egret hunting photo was taken early in the morning as the sun had just begin to touch the grasses, the bird and the water.
Because I live far from my family and have no children at home my yearly Thanksgiving tradition includes spending a part of my day out photographing birds, mostly early morning outings.
While I lived in Florida I took thousands (and thousands) of images of Reddish Egrets and I am very glad that I did because they are rarities in Utah, where I now live.
Little Blue Herons were a wading bird that I saw often in Florida. The day I photographed this Little Blue Heron I was sitting quietly in the shallow water of a lagoon when this bird flew in and began to hunt.
The Great Blue Heron images from the series I created that blustery November morning on Fort De Soto's north beach are still favorites of mine and likely always will be.
There were high thin clouds and that worked in my favor to photograph these large white birds without blowing out the whites.
Yesterday the monsoons came up from the south which meant lots of rain on moisture laden winds.
Worth the sand in my clothes, scrapes on my knees and looking like something the cat had wanted to drag in but decided it was way too dirty? You betcha!
Reddish Egrets seem to be natural born "Dancers" when they are hunting for prey, they twirl, spin, piroquette and dip.
This young Yellow-crowned Night Heron moved very slowly and it seemed to do that deliberately.
I know this photo will always remind me of the great times I had photographing birds at Fort De Soto, one of my favorite places on earth.
In Florida White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) are a fairly common wading bird in Florida they are also seen along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
After my experience with screwing my white balance up that day I had to make a note to myself to remember to check my white balance setting on the camera.
Be prepared to become addicted to birds. You will have withdrawals if you don't shoot often enough, your shutter button finger will develop a nervous twitch
There were quite a few Laughing Gulls on and near the shoreline, a few Ring-billed Gulls and two Reddish Egrets hunting on the beach that day.
Gray days sometimes force me to slow down, to take a deep breath and they allow me the luxury of liesurely looking through my older image files
As a bird photographer I often strive for images where the subjects are out in the open, without distractions in the fore or background, but as with any photographic "rule", they are made to be broken.
Cotton candy pink... are the descriptive words I thought of when I saw my first Roseate Spoonbill.
Great Egret (Ardea alba) in flight, a balance of whites and light
It is my opinion that Wood Storks do not get nearly the same exposure as other big white wading birds.
Breeding plumage white morph Reddish Egret while it hunted and danced in the waves on the Gulf coast of Florida.
Since I moved to Utah I have never been able to get as close to Black-crowned Night Herons like I was able to approach this bird in Florida.
Another one of my favorite wading birds is the Tricolored Heron, a bird that used to be called the Louisiana Heron. It can be found in estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, in inland freshwater marshes in Florida.
Great Blue Herons are North America's largest heron and one of the three largest herons in the world.