Gulf Coast – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Royal Terns In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage

By Mia McPherson|November 4th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Royal Terns|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, coastal, coastal island, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, nonbreeding plumage, Pinellas County, Royal Tern, spring, tern, terns, Thalasseus maximus, water, waves|

Just a simple post today to show the differences in the breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Royal Terns.

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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.

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Dunlins in breeding and nonbreeding plumage

By Mia McPherson|August 16th, 2012|Categories: Dunlins, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, Calidris alpina, coast, coastal, Dunlin, Gulf Coast, lagoon, mudflats, nonbreeding plumage, preening, sandpipers, shore, shorebirds, shoreline, water, winter|

Dunlins exhibit a vast difference between nonbreeding and breeding plumage, so different that a novice birder might mistakenly believe that they were two different species.

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Reddish Egret

By Mia McPherson|July 21st, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: adult, bird photography, coastal, Deepwater Horizon, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, fish, Gulf Coast, habitat destruction, lagoon, oil spills, Reddish Egret, wading birds, water|

I photographed this Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) in October of 2008 at Fort De Soto's north beach.

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Ole Blue Eyes – White Ibis

By Mia McPherson|July 18th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, White Ibises|Tags: adult, aggressive, angry, blue eyes, coastal, Eudocimus albus, forgaging, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, ibus, shoreline, wading birds, White Ibis|

I think it is great to see a bird with sea blue eyes feeding along a shoreline with water nearly of nearly the hue.

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White Morph Reddish Egret in Stormy Light

By Mia McPherson|June 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets|Tags: adult, coastal, dramatic light, egret, egrets, Egretta rufescens, foraging, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, hunting, nonbreeding plumage, Reddish Egret, sandbar, stomy light, storm, stormy, stormy skies, summer, wading birds, water, waves, white morph|

In my two previous posts of a Snowy Egret and a Great Egret I mentioned how the early morning light and a nearby storm gave those images a feeling of drama. These white morph Reddish Egret images were taken that same morning not long after I created the Great Egret photos.

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Herring Gulls

By Mia McPherson|June 2nd, 2012|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: adult, American Herring Gull, beach, breeding plumage, coastal island, flight, flying, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, gull, gulls, immature, Larus smithsonianus, sand, sandbar, water, young|

Two Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) at different stages of life, one an adult in breeding plumage, the other an immature gull in flight.

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Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) in Breeding Plumage

By Mia McPherson|May 14th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Tricolored Herons|Tags: adult, blue bill, breeding, breeding plumage, coastal, coastal habitat, coastal island, Egretta tricolor, Gulf Coast, heron, herons, saltwater marsh, spartina, Tricolored Heron, wading birds, water|

Some images remind me of the wonderful day I had when I created a certain image, this photo of a Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage photographed at the north beach of Fort De Soto, Florida is one of those files.

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Short-billed Dowitcher

By Mia McPherson|April 17th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Short-billed Dowitchers|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, coastal, dowitcher, dowitchers, Gulf Coast, lagoon, Limnodromus griseus, mud flats, sandpipers, shorebirds, Short-billed Dowitcher, spring, tidal lagoon|

Short-billed Dowitchers feed on insects, crustaceans and aquatic mollusks. Quite often when I lived in Florida I would see them feeding on Coquinas which are small bivalves or tiny Fiddler Crabs.

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Adult Brown Pelican In Flight

By Mia McPherson|April 9th, 2012|Categories: Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, Brown Pelican, coast, coastal, flight, flying, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Pelecanus occidentalis, pelican, pelicans|

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) were common year round along the Gulf coast when I lived in Florida. I would see them floating in the water, resting on sandbars and beaches, diving for prey and in flight.

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Oh Long-billed Curlew, When Will I Hear You?

By Mia McPherson|March 11th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Fort De Soto County Park, Long-billed Curlews|Tags: bird photography, birding, coastal, curlew, curlews, desert island, female, grasslands, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, hunting, Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus, sandpiper, sandpipers, shorebirds, spring, tidal lagoon, water|

A few days ago I read that a Long-billed Curlew had been spotted on Antelope Island State Park and that got me excited. I've waited to see them again since they left last fall and I simply can not wait to hear their mysterious and hauntingly beautiful call.

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Ghost Crab

By Mia McPherson|November 28th, 2010|Categories: Florida, Ghost Crabs, Honeymoon Island State Park|Tags: adult, beach, burrow, coast, coastal, Ghost Crab, Gulf Coast, nature photography, Ocypode quadrata, sand, wildlife photography|

This Ghost Crab image was taken on the Gulf coast of Florida while I still lived there.

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Rotation Adjustments – Sanderling At Dawn

By Mia McPherson|October 26th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Sanderlings|Tags: autumn, beach, bird photography, Calidris alba, coastal, coastal island, fall, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, low light, nonbreeding plumage, rotation adjustment, sand, Sanderling, sanderlings, shore, shorebird, shoreline, water, waves|

Proper rotation can make an image work. Improper rotation can cause the the person viewing to wonder what isn't right about an image.

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