Bathing Ruddy Turnstone
About half the world's shorebird populations are in decline and with climate change and rising sea levels habitat loss is happening at a faster rate than ever before.
Marbled Godwit Surprise on Antelope Island
I was surprised to see this Marbled Godwit on the island but over the years I have learned to expect the unexpected whenever I am out photographing birds!
Greater Yellowlegs at the wrack line
I get excited when spring arrives in Utah and the shorebirds return because they were my spark birds, they are what got me into bird photography
Great Egrets in varying light conditions
The best light can be fleeting though so it is always best to photograph as much as you can during the "golden hours".
Dark and White Morph Reddish Egrets in Breeding Plumage
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.
A few quiet moments with a Black-bellied Plover at low tide
Shorebirds. They were what sparked my passion for bird photography. They were what drew me back to the Gulf Coast of Florida as much as I could be there.
Great Egrets – Big White Wading Birds
After posting Great Blue Heron images yesterday I decided to post images of Great Egrets which are also a large wading bird species this morning.
Least Sandpiper at the lagoon’s edge
I came across this diminutive Least Sandpiper while photographing Greater Yellowlegs at a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto's north beach in the fall of 2008.
Reddish Egrets – Wading birds that delight
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.
White and Dark Morph Reddish Egrets Hunting
As a bird photographer I feel it is very important to me that my images show my subjects and the settings they are in as accurately as possible.
Dunlins
Dunlins are small shorebirds that are found in North America which exhibit remarkable differences between their breeding and nonbreeding plumages.
White Ibis in dark water
When I lived in Tampa, Florida the Whites Ibises were often called "Lawn Chickens" because they would feed in people's yards in big flocks.
Breeding and nonbreeding Caspian Terns
Soon Caspian Terns will be back in Utah flying over rivers, ponds, lakes and other freshwater impoundments searching for prey.
Long-billed Curlews are winging their way to Utah
Long-billed Curlews have begun to leave or have left their wintering grounds and should be winging their way to Utah and arriving here any day now.
Roseate Spoonbills on a foggy Florida morning
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.
Great Egret on the hunt
Just a simple Great Egret hunting in a quiet tidal lagoon today that takes me back to warmer memories spent with good friends on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Snowy Egret in a hurry
Snowy Egret in a hurry that I photographed almost exactly 5 years ago while sitting low in a Florida lagoon.
Marbled Godwits – A Grassland Shorebird
I hope that in 100 years Marbled Godwits will still be on this planet and future generations won't know them only from images like mine.
Female Long-billed Curlew in a Florida lagoon
It has been another very long week so I thought I'd post a female Long-billed Curlew because of her very long bill but unlike the way my week went this curlew is graceful, elegant and serene.
Reddish Egret hunting along the Gulf Coast of Florida
Recently I posted images of a Tricolored Heron and a Black-bellied Plover where I wrote that I enjoyed images that include habitat, the same could be said about this photo of a Reddish Egret hunting on the shoreline of the Gulf Coast.
Laughing Gulls in breeding and nonbreeding plumage
Both of these Laughing Gull images were taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida, the image above shows a Laughing gull in nonbreeding plumage that was taken in September of 2008.
Tricolored Herons Times Three
I actually like the backgrounds in each of these images, all of them show the habitat that Tricolored Herons might be found in and highlight the birds too.
Adult and juvenile White Ibis
White Ibis can be strange looking birds to people who have never seen them before, they have soft, sky blue eyes, skinny legs, long necks and a bill that could be compared to Jimmy Durante's nose.
Semipalmated Plover Image and a Critique
Besides, to have gotten any lower than the Semipalmated Plover I would have had to have crawled down the burrow of one of those crabs
Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork Size Comparison
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.
Roseate Spoonbills In A Sea Fog
One very foggy May morning I came across a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills in a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto's north beach and photograph them for about 15 minutes before they flew off to find food.
Calm Snowy Egret
This image soothes me because of the still water, the relaxed pose of the calm Snowy Egret and the memories of how delightful it was to be on the north beach of Fort De Soto
Great Blue Heron skimming across a lagoon
This image has always cracked me up, I wonder if the Great Blue Heron even realized its toenails were dragging in the water.
Great Egret and a Mullet – The Great Egret Wins
I remember the morning I took this photo well, it was a warm morning in February at Fort De Soto's north beach, the Great Egret was in the tidal lagoon near the Concession Stand and it had been actively hunting when it came up with this Mullet.
Adult and Immature White Ibis
This is an adult White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) that I photographed at Fort De Soto's north beach that was feeding in a tidal lagoon by the mangroves