dunes – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Sunrise with a Long-billed Curlew In A Florida Lagoon

By Mia McPherson|May 27th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Long-billed Curlews, Pinellas County|Tags: beach, coastal, curlew, curlews, dunes, early morning light, female, First Spring, Gulf Coast, immature, lagoon, Long-billed Curlew, north beach, Numenius americanus, sand, shorebirds, water|

I will say that my favorite and most memorable times photographing Long-billed Curlews happened while I was still living in Florida well away from their breeding grounds.

6

Fun Photographing Reddish Egrets In Florida

By Mia McPherson|January 25th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: adult, beach, breeding plumage, calling, canopy feeding, close up, dark morph, dunes, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, feeding behavior, fish, flight, flying, foraging, Gulf of Mexico, lagoon, mangroves, nesting materials, nonbreeding plumage, photographing, portrait, prey, Reddish Egret, sand, sand dunes, shadow, umbrella pose, wading birds, walking, white morph, Wing-Flicking|

I had so much fun photographing Reddish Egrets when I lived in Florida and could see them nearly every time I went to Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.

6

Spread-eagle Red-winged Blackbird at Fort De Soto County Park

By Mia McPherson|February 23rd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-winged Blackbirds|Tags: adult, Agelaius phoeniceus, beach, blackbird, blackbirds, coastal, dunes, Gulf of Mexico, male, mangrove, Red-winged Blackbird|

In Florida I most often photographed Red-winged Blackbirds at north beach of Fort De Soto County Park where I could reliably find them in the sand dunes, sea oats, spartina and mangroves all year long.

3

Immature Reddish Egret & Adult in Flight with Nesting Material

By Mia McPherson|November 5th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Lassing Park, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: adult, beach, breeding plumage, dunes, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, flight, flying, foraging, immature, Near Threatened, nesting material, Reddish Egret, wading birds, water|

Immature or adult, dark or white morph, Reddish Egrets are spectacular and fascinating wading birds to see, observe and photograph.

10

Dark and White Morph Reddish Egrets in Breeding Plumage

By Mia McPherson|February 15th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: beach, bi-colored bill, bird photography, breeding plumage, dark morph, dunes, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, foraging, Gulf of Mexico, hunting, lagoon, Reddish Egret, shoreline, wading birds, water, waves, white morph|

One May morning in 2009 I was able to photograph both the dark and white morph Reddish Egret in breeding plumage just minutes and yards apart at Fort De Soto's north beach.

7

Reddish Egrets – Wading birds that delight

By Mia McPherson|June 15th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: adult, canopy feeding, dark morph, dunes, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, endemic, Gulf of Mexico, hunting, lagoon, Reddish Egret, sand dunes, spartina, splashing, wading birds, water|

The Reddish Egret is one of my favorite wading birds. Standing still they are a delight to the eyes and while hunting they can perform amazing turns, twists, gallops and appear to be dancing.

11

Roseate Spoonbills on a foggy Florida morning

By Mia McPherson|February 25th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Roseate Spoonbills|Tags: adult, coastal, dunes, fog, foggy, Gulf of Mexico, immature, juvenile, lagoon, low light, Pinellas County, Platalea ajaja, preening, resting, Roseate Spoonbill, sea fog, spartina, tidal lagoon, water, young|

As soon as I crossed the north beach footbridge I spotted several Roseate Spoonbills in the tidal lagoon on my right. There were adults and a few juveniles, some were resting while others preened.

7

Shades of Blue – Wildflowers, Birds, Sky and Sea

By Mia McPherson|April 17th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Honeymoon Island State Park, Lazuli Buntings, Little Blue Herons, Montana, Mountain Bluebirds, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, San Rafael Swell area, St. Thomas, USVI, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: Ardea herodias, blue, Blue-eyed Grass, bluebird, bluebirds, blues, bunting, buntings, dunes, Egretta caerulea, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, Lazuli Bunting, Little Blue Heron, Magens Bay, Mountain Bluebirds, Passerina amoena, Saint Thomas, sand dune, Sialia currucoides, Sisyrinchium angustifolium, Unites States Virgin Islands|

Last week I was Thinking Pink so this week I thought I would focus on the shades of blues found in wildflowers, birds, the sky and seas.

14

Reddish Egret flying over the dunes

By Mia McPherson|October 9th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Reddish Egrets|Tags: adult, clouds, coast, coastal, dunes, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, flight, flying, Pinellas County, Reddish Egret, sand dunes, sky, stormy sky, wading bird|

Just a very simple image today of a Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) flying over some sand dunes.

21

Caspian Terns

By Mia McPherson|September 10th, 2012|Categories: Caspian Terns, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: adult, autumn, breeding, breeding plumage, Caspian Tern, coastal, dunes, fall, flight, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Hydroprogne caspia, landing, mudflat, mudflats, nonbreeding, nonbreeding plumage, sky, spring, tern, terns|

Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) are North America's largest tern with a wingspan of 50 inches and weighing in at 1.4 pounds.

13

Three and a half months with a young American Oystercatcher

By Mia McPherson|July 4th, 2012|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Nesting Birds, Pinellas County, Wildlife Ethics & Etiquette|Tags: American Oystercatcher, chicks, comfort zone, dunes, eggs, ethics, family, feeding, foraging, Gulf of Mexico, Haematopus palliatus, immature, juvenile, nest, nest ethics, oystercatcher, oystercatchers, shore, shorebirds, shoreline, water, waves, young|

In 2008 I had the great pleasure of observing and photographing a family of American Oystercatchers from the day after the chicks hatched until three and a half months later.

36

Red Fleet State Park, Utah

By Mia McPherson|May 28th, 2012|Categories: Dunes, Red Fleet State Park, Utah|Tags: clouds, dinosaur tracks, dunes, geological formations, junipers, landscape photography, nature photography, Navajo sandstone, outcrops, petrified sand dunes, Red Fleet Reservoir, Red Fleet State Park, reservoir, sky, trees, Utah, Vernal, water|

I recently visited Red Fleet State Park in north-eastern Utah near Vernal and came away with a few landscape images that I liked.

10

Great Egret – Preening

By Mia McPherson|April 30th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Great Egrets, Humor|Tags: adult, Ardea alba, beach, coastal, dunes, egret, egrets, Florida, funny, funny bone, Great Egret, humor, nature, preening, pretzel, sky, spartina, twisted|

Just a simple Great Egret (Ardea alba) image that always seems to tickle my funny bone when I view it because of the pose.

8

Friday Photos: Great Egret

By Mia McPherson|June 10th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Egrets|Tags: adult, Ardea alba, dunes, egret, egrets, Great Egret, habitat, photography, Pinellas County, shore, shoreline, tidal lagoon, wading birds|

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.

3