Reddish Egret – aka Big Red
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!
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!
I watched this American Oystercatcher juvenile and its sibling from the time they were just tiny chicks beginning the day after they had hatched.
This young Yellow-crowned Night Heron moved very slowly and it seemed to do that deliberately.
When looking at a Greater Yellowlegs there is NO mistaking how they got the name "Yellowlegs".
American Oystercatchers are fascinating birds to photograph, They can strike unusual poses and their plumage is spectacular in flight. I enjoyed watching them pry open bivalves with their long bill
Spotted Sandpipers are fun to watch as they walk along the shoreline as they teeter, bob and bounce their rear ends up and down.
Any bird that eats those nasty sand spurs is a hero in my book and Nanday Parakeets are one of them.
Fish Crows are fairly commonplace along the coast of Pinellas County and they are often ignored by photographers because they are a "plain" common bird.
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.
Laughing Gulls are quite common on the east and Gulf coastlines of the US, during breeding season they are usually found near saltwater but in nonbreeding season they are known to wander widely.
Great Egret (Ardea alba) in flight, a balance of whites and light
This Ghost Crab image was taken on the Gulf coast of Florida while I still lived there.
Marbled Godwits are graceful birds while on the ground, feeding and in flight.
One of the easier medium-sized shorebirds to identify on Fort De Soto's beaches and tidal mudflats are the Ruddy Turnstones. The only other turnstone that frequents North America is the Black Turnstone and it occurs on the Pacific coast.
Proper rotation can make an image work. Improper rotation can cause the the person viewing to wonder what isn't right about an image.
Throughout the year you can see and photograph many different species of Plovers on Fort De Soto’s beaches, tidal lagoons and spartina marshes.
It didn't take long for the Yellow-crowned Night Heron to grab the crab and send the sand flying.