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Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork Size Comparison

By |February 15th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This photo shows a Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork on the shoreline of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and it shows how the Wood Stork can dwarf the Roseate Spoonbill in height.

Wilson’s Plover in habitat

By |December 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Wilson's Plovers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This Wilson's Plover and its mate were being run ragged chasing after the two chicks they had fledged, this adult stopped in front of me where I had laid down in the sugary white sand and rested a few moments in the dried Sea Purslane stalks.

Low angle Long-billed Curlew

By |December 3rd, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Long-billed Curlews, Low angle|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Since winter has thus far decided to stay in more northern latitudes and higher elevations I decided to post an image of a Long-billed Curlew taken in southern, sub-tropical climes a few years ago.

American Oystercatchers in Florida

By |September 25th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge, Egmont Key State Park, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Resting Black Skimmer Juvenile – My Banner Image

By |September 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Wildlife Ethics & Etiquette|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Several people have remarked on how much they like the resting Black Skimmer juvenile image that was in my rotating banner at the top of this blog so I thought I would post it to show the whole bird.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron or Orange-eyed Day Heron?

By |September 4th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Yellow-crowned Night Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Despite having "Night Heron" in their name Yellow-crowned Night Herons (Nyctanassa violacea) are not strictly denizens of the dark, they can and do stalk their prey during the daylight hours too.

Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage

By |August 17th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Ruddy Turnstones|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can appear to be two different species to novice birders and bird photographers as can several other bird species.

Least Sandpiper – The World’s Smallest Shorebird

By |August 4th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Least Sandpipers, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Least Sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) are the world's smallest shorebird, weighing in at a mere 0.7 ounces (20 g), a length of 6 inches and a wingspan of 13 inches.

Willet in the surf of the Gulf of Mexico

By |July 16th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Getting "Down & Dirty" pays off when photographing shorebirds like this Willet in the surf I photographed in Florida as it walked along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.

Western Sandpiper on the Go

By |May 23rd, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Western Sandpipers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It dawned on me this morning that I haven not posted an image of a Western Sandpiper here yet so I pulled this one out of my archives that I photographed at Fort De Soto as the small shorebird ran in front of me on the shoreline.

Willets – In Utah and Florida

By |May 3rd, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Utah, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Willets have returned to Utah, on the causeway to Antelope Island hundreds of them can be seen in the shallow water. They seem to spend some time there fattening up after migration before they get down to the serious business of mating and rearing their young.

American Oystercatcher – Friday Photos

By |April 13th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These two photos are of the same adult American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) in sequential order taken at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida. I was laying in the sand while I created the images to get a low angle and the bird was on a ridge elevated slightly higher than my location.

Forster’s Terns

By |April 8th, 2012|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Florida, Forster's Terns, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I moved from Florida to Utah I felt it was fortunate that some of the nonbreeding birds I used to see in Florida during the winter I now get to see in breeding plumage on their nesting grounds.

People, Birds And A Sea Star In A Sea Fog

By |February 28th, 2012|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Ring-billed Gulls, Sea Stars|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm glad I didn't turn around to head home when I saw the thick sea fog that morning, if I had I may have missed photographing some of these beautiful things.

American Oystercatchers Feeding

By |February 19th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was laying down in the wet sand with my lens about an inch from the surface of the beach when I photographed these shorebirds, one needs to watch out for those rogue waves because they don't only wash away the bird's prey... they can soak your lens & camera too!

Piping Plover and Semipalmated Plover – Sunday Shorebirds

By |December 4th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Low angle, Pinellas County, Piping Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

When I am out in the field I take a large amount of photos and there are times I don't get around to processing them until much later, these are two such images taken at Fort DeSoto, Florida in 2008.

Low Light Bird Images

By |November 24th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Low light, Roseate Spoonbills, Sanderlings|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

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