I was able to take a nice series of low angle images of this White Ibis in the blue lagoon by staying still as it hunted for food with my lens about an inch or two above the water.
Why? Because the image is never as important as the well being and safety of my subject, especially when it comes to nests and chicks.
Little Blue Herons start off their lives with white plumage, then look piebald with blue and white fathers and finally look more "blue" as adults.
The first of March always makes me think of and listen for Long-billed Curlews, our largest shorebird of North America.
In 2009 I photographed this foraging Marbled Godwit and friends on exposed mudflats of a Fort De Soto County Park lagoon.
I expect to see Greater Yellowlegs soon because they are one of the first shorebirds to migrate through Utah on their way to their breeding grounds.
The question regarding this proposal is... Willet happen?
This morning my mind drifted back to June of 2009, to a bright, warm day on the Gulf coast of Florida and a strolling Yellow-crowned Night Heron that I photographed as waves churned up behind it.
A few days ago the ABA announced the 2017 Bird of the Year as the Ruddy Turnstone and I couldn't be any happier because shorebirds were my "spark" birds that propelled me into the world of bird photography.
I kept this photo of the Reddish Egret with the surprise curlew in the background not because it is a great image but to remind myself to look beyond the subject in front of me.
Whenever I view this photo of a lone Black Skimmer in flight on a foggy Gulf shore I feel a wave of joy and peaceful feelings wash over me.
I feel worried for the future and I am filled with angst right now and I know I am not alone. However; I do know that even when times are difficult life is good. The sun rises after every sunset.
For most of the year Ring-billed and California Gulls are some of the most common gulls here in northern Utah and for some people it might be challenging to tell them apart.
On a hazy, windy day in May of 2008 I was able to sand crawl on my belly close enough to some Black Skimmers to watch and photograph them courting.
I must admit I get a little bonkers though when I see images of birds where the name posted for the species in the photo is incorrect, for instance, it is Tricolored Heron not Tri-colored Heron.
I photographed this juvenile Roseate Spoonbill in May of 2008 from inside a lagoon at Fort De Soto's north while the immature spoonbill and a few adults preened and rested on the shoreline.
Today I am celebrating having published 2000 posts on birds, wildlife and nature at On The Wing Photography and sharing the stories behind the images along with the journeys I take to find my subjects.
Of the images I took that day on the beach, and there were tons of them, this image of a Laughing Gull sliding across the water as it chased a fish in the shallow waves was one of my favorites.
When I lived in Florida one of my great joys was to be at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach before the sun rose over the horizon and to be there even before the first bit of color touched the clouds.
I was able to lock on to the Herring Gull in flight with a sea urchin in its bill when it was close enough to me to fill the frame, it was almost too close at that point.
The Great Egret struggled to swallow the large fish and even though it readjusted the fish in its bill several times it never swallowed the fish before it dropped it into the lagoon and flew off.
I'll be out photographing birds like this Willet foraging in the Gulf of Mexico, other wildlife and the beauty of nature.
It was wonderful to be close to the juvenile Brown Pelican and to be able to take portraits of it plus I also enjoyed being able to see all the fine details of its plumage, the texture of its bill and look into its dark eyes.
I've always loved this image of a Forster's Tern in flight because the pose is wonderful and the tern looks elegant against the gray of a distant storm cloud.
I photographed this Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico on an April morning from the shoreline at Fort De Soto, Florida in April of 2008.
When I lived in Florida there were times that I would see Wood Storks at Fort De Soto and once in a while I would get lucky and find them in flight.
I did see and photograph this adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron standing on a grassy sand dune overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in beautiful, soft light.
I photographed this white morph Reddish Egret hunting in the Gulf of Mexico in June of 2008 and truly enjoyed observing its hunting behavior through my lens.
One a fall day at Fort De Soto I was able to photograph this Black-bellied Plover on a foggy morning up close on the beach.
This sleeping Willet image remains one of my favorite images because it was so comfortable in my presence that it fell asleep.